April 7, 2025
Statement on UW students having visas revoked without notice
Update: 4/28/25: The University of Washington has confirmed as of Monday that all of the records of students and recent graduates across the UW’s Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell campuses that had been unilaterally canceled have been restored. The UW has not received any notification from the government of these changes or reason for the reversals, however we have verified in SEVIS the records are returned to active status and we are hopeful the remaining records will also be restored soon. The UW will continue to work students and recent graduates individually to understand what actions they have already taken and to discuss options for how to proceed with their studies and immigration status.
Update: 4/25/25: The University of Washington is heartened by the reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has announced a reversal of the unilateral and sweeping cancellation of many international students’ visas that began earlier this month. Given the rapidly changing situation, we can confirm as of late this morning (Friday) that many of the records of students and recent graduates across the UW’s Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell campuses have been restored. The UW has not received any notification from the government of these changes or reason for the reversals, however we have verified in SEVIS the records are returned to active status and we are hopeful the remaining records will also be restored soon. The UW will work students and recent graduates individually to understand what actions they have already taken and to discuss options for how to proceed with their studies and immigration status.
Update 4/24/25: We are heartened to share that eight students whose visas had been revoked have now had their SEVIS records reinstated. The UW was not given any formal notification of these changes, however we have verified the reinstatements and know that at least one was due to litigation that the student pursued. We have not been given a reason for all of the reinstatements. Given the eight reinstatements, that leaves 15 individuals whose revoked status remains in place.
Update 4/17/25: As of this update, 13 current UW students and 10 recent graduates participating in post-graduation training have had their visas unilaterally cancelled by the federal government without prior notice to the University or the students. All other information regarding this situation as described below is unchanged.
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The University of Washington has learned that, as of this posting, five current UW students plus four recent graduates participating in post-graduation training have had their visas unilaterally cancelled by the federal government without prior notice to the University or the students. We are deeply concerned about the well-being of these students and graduates and are working to support them. International students and scholars are essential and valued members of our University and they contribute immensely to our community, state and nation. The UW will continue to support them and provide the resources they need to be able to learn, teach and succeed here.
We became aware of these actions during recent checks of international student records in the federal government’s Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). The SEVIS record states the visa revocations were due to an immigration status violation. No additional information or details were provided, but we have no indication these actions are due to activism or other protected free speech. We are also not aware of any immigration officials coming to UW campuses related to this situation.
In a situation like this, the relevant campus’ international student services office immediately reaches out to the affected individual to encourage them to contact the office as soon as possible so that we can connect them with information and resources. These resources include access to legal services available to students as part of their student fees, as well as mental health and academic support.
Our priority remains supporting our international students and scholars and we will continue to proactively communicate directly with them about these issues. Because the federal government is not notifying universities of status changes, we have been checking SEVIS records daily so that we can proactively contact students whose records have been changed.
We respect the privacy of the students and graduates affected by these actions and will follow their wishes on how and whether to share their names and information publicly. If a member of the UW community learns of a UW student or scholar who has been affected by a similar visa action, they are encouraged to have them contact their campus’ international student services office immediately.
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