The now US President-elect Donald Trump promised to end the long-standing J-1 Visa programme last August, which would bring about the end of what has become an institution for generations of Irish students. But will his administration actually axe the programme? [...] While concern over the long-term future of the J1 Visa programme is understandably high after the election results of November 8th, the Honourable Kevin O’Malley, Ambassador of the United States of America to Ireland, doubts that Trump’s administration will actually go ahead with the proposed change.

Dozens of Taiwanese citizens who completed interviews for student visas to the United States attended the first "Student Visa Day" held by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Taipei on Friday to promote people-to-people exchanges. [...] The AIT has conducted several events to attract Taiwanese students to study in the U.S. and Friday's activity was designed to connect education and studying in the U.S. with visa experiences.

Welcoming international students used to be one of the key ways that Britain developed long-term, soft power relationships to aid trade and wield political influence. (...) A 2011 report by the Home Affairs Select Committee was highly critical of the government’s approach to welcoming international students and expressed concerns that more regulation of visas could have serious unintended consequences.