The travel ban has become a major burden given the finances and time involved in getting the visas cleared for the same.
Amid the deadly resurgence of COVID-19 in India, several countries have put travel restrictions in place to avoid transmission of the new variant in their country. As of April 26, Germany, Italy, Maldives, and Bangladesh were the most recent countries to join the long list of countries that have already done so.
The sudden announcement of the travel ban has disrupted the academic year for many Indian students who wished to go overseas for their further studies. The travel ban has become a major burden given the finances and time involved in getting the visas cleared for the same.
“We all have already cleared our respective visa processes, booked our flights, transferred our Blocked Account Amount towards our living costs as well as have signed written Rental contracts towards accommodation in Germany and this sudden ban has been imposed over the weekend on 26th of April causing a very stressful impact on our future,” said Aditya Dalvi, a student studying at an institute in Germany.
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Apart from online classes, a major hurdle for these students is exams, for which they are supposed to report to campus. “Most of us have already begun with our online semesters for our respective master’s program and our studies cannot be completed from abroad (here in India) since we are required to give exams on Campus. We have been already issued the letters of physical presence for the same.” Dalvi added.
Many such students took to social media to voice their concerns and just allow Indian students by tagging relevant authorities and hashtags like #OffshoreDreamsMatter #Educationisnottourism #justiceforinternationalstudents
Indian Students are struggling since last year's Fall to get a visa. With high pressure, keeping quality in studies with a 1.7 GPA. At least now, remove the ban!#OffshoreDreamsMatter #Educationisnottourism #justiceforinternationalstudents @DrSJaishankar@HeikoMaas @jensspahn
— Neha Deog (@DeogNeha) April 26, 2021
Please remove the Ban on Indian Students, it takes lot of time and efforts to get this Visa. We have and are investing a lot of money.#OffshoreDreamsMatter #Educationisnottourism #justiceforinternationalstudents @HeikoMaas @jensspahn @AmbLindnerIndia @IndianInGermany
— Renuka Supekar (@SupekarRenuka) April 26, 2021
@HeikoMaas it's a request from the Indian students, please grant permission to enter Germany for at least Indian students.#Educationisnottourism #Daad #OffshoreDreamsMatter
— Rohit Bandichode (@b_rohit237) April 26, 2021
Meanwhile, India continues to grapple with the second wave with 3,86,452 cases and 3498 deaths in the last 24 hours.
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