This also bars people from leaving the country to attend conferences (an essential part of many grad students’ training), visit family or just travel - all things that many students need to do regularly. Having an expired visa is very much not a situation you want to be in.

I wonder if the "one entry doesn't count if you're going to Canada" wildcard works for those kind of visas

Automatic Revalidation? Yes it works for F visas.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-inf...

>>> The visa lets you _enter_ the country.

No, the VISA gives you an opportunity to talk to border control and not to deny entry immediately. They decide if they let you in or not.

For the uninformed downvoter crew:

"Entering the U.S. on an employment visa may be described as a three-step process in most cases.[5] First, the employer files an application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requesting a particular type of category visa for a specific individual.[5] If the employer's application is approved, it only authorizes the individual to apply for a visa; the approved application is not actually a visa.[5] The individual then applies for a visa and is usually interviewed at a U.S. embassy or consulate in the native country.[5] If the embassy or consulate gives the visa, the individual is then allowed to travel to the U.S.[5] At the border crossing, airport, or other point of entry into the U.S.,

>>>>>> the individual speaks with an officer from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ask for admission to the U.S.[5] If approved, the individual may then enter the U.S.[5] <<<<<<<"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_Stat...

So once a student has been on a F-1 visa for more than a year, they face a risk of being barred from re-entering the US if they choose to visit their families?

Yes. Arguably, it's not common, though. But it's certainly possible, and the reason some decide not to leave.

So... A de facto ban on exiting the country?

No, iirc F1 visas are usually granted for length of program plus one year (5 for a BS etc). As long as the person maintains student status with the university, traveling to and fro is permitted.

No, there is no such a rule.

F-1 VISA are _typically_ granted for 5 years, but PhDs may be longer (6 or even more). Once your VISA expires, and if you go home, you need to reapply for a new one.

For some (a small fraction through), VISA are granted for 1 year or are single entry. Those categories of students sometimes chose not to leave the country, for the risk of getting their VISA denied (and, hence, their whole studies and everything with it) is too high (since they got a short in the first place). This is very common thinking within Chinese or Iranian communities.

This is depressingly inhumane. Why is there no advocacy around the issue?

The current political climate has immigrants being the punching bag for every ill of society: drugs, gangs, unemployment, you name it. Pushing for legislation in the area is a non-starter for any politician that wants to get reelected.

Because bureaucratic injustice committed against (typically) rich foreigners aren't exactly high up the priority list for most Americans.

Is the F-1 5 years these days? In my day (~10 years ago) it was 4 years plus a 12 months work permit. If you had a paid summer internship inside of the 4 years, those months worked got deducted from your post-graduation work permit. I had 2 summer internships and a little less than 6 months on my work permit when I graduated.

If you overstay the length of your Visa you also run the risk of being eliminated from any future Visa considerations,whether for work, study or tourism.