The State Department has temporarily paused scheduling new visa appointments for international students hoping to study in the United States. Officials say the pause is to prepare for expanded screening of students' social media activity.
San Diego is home to thousands of international students, and even those who are already on student visas are concerned that their status could change without warning.
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Natalia Titevalova has been in the U.S. on a student visa for the last three months. She's studying English in Los Angeles.
"I really worry, and every day, I'm just scrolling the internet when I have time," Titevalova said, about monitoring for any developments about the pause.
She's from Russia and plans on studying in Los Angeles for another six months. But now she's worried about her future after the State Department announced it was halting the scheduling of new appointments.
"I really was very sorry to hear that it's on pause because it will affect my friends," Titevalova said.
U.S. officials say the pause is only temporary and doesn't apply to those who already have their appointments scheduled. They say it's to expand social media vetting.
Titevalova's attorney, Jacob Sapochnick, says this vetting could be subjective.
"So many people will be denied for arbitrary reasons, not actual factual reasons that they should be eligible," he said.
Sapochnick, who's based in San Diego, was also an F1 visa holder 20 years ago. He says this pause will throw a wrench in plans for students who intended to come to the U.S. for the fall semester.
"Most students who are planning to come in the fall are gonna find it almost impossible to get their visas on time to be able to come to university," Sapochnick said.
The attorney says he's already getting questions about studying somewhere that isn't the U.S.
"Students are gonna be choosing Canada, Australia, and Europe. It's gonna happen and we're gonna be losing a lot of talent," Sapochnick said.
The Trump administration hasn't announced how long this pause will last.
This story was originally published by Laura Acevedo with the Scripps News Group.