February 14, 2025

U.S. Policy Challenges for Iranian Students

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Overview of Policies and Impact

Student visa restrictions

Field of study – Federal law prohibits issuance of student visas for Iranian students seeking to study in a field that would prepare them “for a career in the energy sector of Iran or in nuclear science or nuclear engineering or a related field in Iran,” as determined by the Secretary of State (became U.S. law in 2012 – ITRSHRA).
Single-entry visa – A federal policy change in 2010 made Iranian students eligible for multiple-entry visas but excluded Iranian students in technical fields who are limited to single-entry visas like all Iranians.
Student visa revocations – Students who had already been accepted into programs at U.S. universities and who held valid visas have been prevented from boarding their flights to the U.S. or turned away in U.S. airports. The majority of these cases were reported during 2019 and 2020, a period of time which saw increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Travel ban – The Trump Administration is expected to reimpose a travel ban that may once again bar visas for Iranians. While a waiver process was eventually mandated in Trump’s first term to enable Iranian students to potentially secure visas in spite of the ban, the number of student visas issued for Iranians was severely diminished.

Sanctions and embargo related restrictions

Banking discrimination – U.S. banks often refuse to open or maintain accounts for Iranian students as part of their efforts to comply with U.S. law that prohibits the export of financial services to “Iranian accounts,” which are defined as “accounts of persons who are ordinarily resident in Iran.”
Embargoed technology – Prohibition on Iranian students having access to “dual-use” goods and technologies prevents Iranians from studying or working in certain fields and programs.
Limited means – Because of restrictions on banking, as well as the state of the Iranian economy, and the high cost of securing a visa that involves e.g. traveling out of Iran for visa interview, Iranian students face increased challenges paying for tuition, housing, etc.

State-level restrictions

Florida public colleges and universities are prohibited from making offers of employment and/or providing grants to graduate students who are “domiciled” in Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria (became FL law in 2023 – SB8446, currently being challenged in court).

Background

Iranian students were significantly impacted by the travel bans implemented in Donald Trump’s first term and could be targeted again – President Donald Trump has issued an Executive Order that sets up the return of the travel ban.

The first travel ban, Executive Order 13769, barred all entry for Iranian nationals without exception.
The final travel ban of Trump’s first term, in place until Joe Biden rescinded it on his first day as President, contained exemptions for Iranian students to secure student visas. However, numbers still cratered amid the ban and were slow to be restored.
- In Fiscal Year 2016, the Obama administration processed 3,139 visas for Iranian students, or 261 students per month.
- While technically exempt from Trump’s final Muslim ban, in Fiscal Year 2020 only 655 student visas were processed, or just fewer than 55 per month.
- Fortunately, the Biden administration was able to restore processing of Iranian student visas quickly, which was not the case for other visa categories. In 2021 the Biden administration managed to process 3001 Iranian student visas, or 250 students per month.
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order that sets up the return of the travel ban, directing his administration to issue a report by March 21, 2025, identifying “countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries pursuant to section 212(f) of the [Immigration and Nationality Act].”

Iranian students have been harshly treated at ports of entry, leading to unjustified deportations and other harsh treatments.

At the request of the National Iranian American Council, the Department of Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties office launched an investigation into reports of discriminatory treatment and unjustified deportations of Iranian students at the border, which was documented by the New York Times.
CRCL has noted in its investigation, which is ongoing, that it “determined that (Customs and Border Patrol) Officers may be susceptible to making determinations based on race, ethnicity, or nationality, due to the lack of sufficient guidance about the factors that may be used to determine that a noncitizen does not meet the statutory standards for an F-1 visa.” https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/23_0824_crcl_cbp-f1-iranian-visa-cancellation-close-summary-revised_508.pdf

In 2012, the Iran Threat Reduction & Syria Human Rights Act was signed into law, which banned visas for Iranian students seeking to study in a field that would prepare them “for a career in the energy sector of Iran or in nuclear science or nuclear engineering or a related field in Iran,” as determined by the Secretary of State.

While this particular sanctions law did not require universities to carry out direct sanctions enforcement on their end, schools like the University of Massachusetts Amherst still took it upon themselves to ban Iranian students from their various science and engineering programs.
However, following significant outcry and a coordinated campaign led by students, faculty, and the National Iranian American Council, the University of Massachusetts Amherst ultimately reversed its policy in February 2015. A handful of other universities made similar policy decisions, including Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), to which NIAC wrote urging steps to correct their discriminatory and wholly unnecessary restriction. This university also ultimately addressed and removed the discriminatory language in their policy.

SB 846, signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in May 2023, is one of several efforts at the state level that threaten to undermine Iranian students seeking to study in the U.S.

This legislation restricts Florida public colleges and universities from making offers of employment and/or providing grants to graduate students who are “domiciled” in Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria. While determinations for university partnerships with graduate students from adversarial countries are made on a case-by-case basis in collaboration with the Board of Governors, the law has seen backlash from both students and faculty at Florida universities.
Two graduate students from China along with a Florida professor filed a lawsuit against Florida education officials in March 2024 in response to the discriminatory impacts of the bill. Additionally, more than 300 faculty members signed a petition addressed to the President of the University of Florida opposing the law. The Department of Justice is also aware of this case and interested in its outcome, and may consider weighing in.
In an interview with the Alligator, a Florida-based news outlet, Iranian student Sara Hejazi described how the passage and subsequent implementation of SB 846 impacted her best friend’s decision and ability to apply to study with Sara in Florida as she currently still resides in Iran.

In 2011, the Obama administration repealed its single-entry visa policy for Iranian students, which barred Iranians from returning home amid their studies without losing their visa. Under the updated multiple-entry policy, Iranian students could return home to see their families and travel elsewhere while maintaining their original visa.

NIAC led the campaign to fix the single-entry visa policy and to allow Iranian students to receive multiple entry visas, educating officials in the White House, State Department, and Congress about the issue.
A damaging loophole to this policy is that students are not made aware of whether or not they qualify for a multiple entry visa. So they must sacrifice their existing visa, leave the U.S., and reapply for a new visa in order to discover, at that point, if they are qualified to obtain a multiple entry visa specifically.
Multiple-entry visas were allowed in 2010 but only for social sciences. Students in technical fields are not eligible and so are limited to single-entry status.

With the struggle to even obtain a visa, Iranian students also face further barriers with U.S. banks, which also often engage in the over-enforcement of sanctions, resulting in discrimination based on national origin.

For more than a decade, Iranian students have dealt with either significant restrictions from U.S. banks while holding an account or have been turned away by U.S. banks entirely. Under U.S. law, there is a prohibition on the export of financial services to “Iranian accounts,” which are defined as “accounts of persons who are ordinarily resident in Iran.” The ambiguity of this language, particularly surrounding “ordinarily resident,” has long-been interpreted by U.S. banks as a greenlight for turning away and/or completely closing the accounts of Iranians with little to no explanation, especially those who remain in the U.S. under student visas. Chase Bank remains one among many big-name banks that has engaged in discriminatory account closures against Iranian students for years. Bank of America has also been guilty of the same practice for more than a decade now.
In 2013, following the impacts of the 2012 sanctions banning students from studying in science, engineering and math programs at U.S. universities, TCF Bank reportedly closed the accounts of at least 22 Iranians students at the University of Minnesota. As the primary bank connected to the University of Minnesota, this instance – wherein sanctions were clearly being over-enforced – prevented Iranian students from being able to pay their tuition, among other financial necessities while studying within higher education.
Adding to financial difficulty, apart from U.S. banks, many Iranian students have previously turned to crowdfunding as a means to pay their tuition fees and living expenses due to tightened sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. These worsened conditions also eliminated the possibility for Iranian students’ parents to send money to their children to the U.S. from Iran in order to maintain their place in school, given the high conversion rate created by stricter U.S. sanctions.

While the process of applying and receiving a visa can take years at a time, Iranian students have often faced the revoking of those very visas upon entry to the United States with little to no explanation.

Students who had already been accepted into programs at U.S. universities and who held valid visas were either unable to board their flights to the U.S. or turned away in U.S. airports. The majority of these cases were reported during 2019 and 2020, a period of time which saw increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran, particularly after the U.S. assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.