US embassy holds over 600 student visa interviews on “Super Friday”
The US Embassy in Dhaka today (July 22, 2022) interviewed over 600 students applying for nonimmigrant student visas in a special workday called “Super Friday.”
“We recognise the unique opportunity that study in the United States offers,” said US Embassy Consul General William Dowers, adding that they are prioritising student visa interviews.
The US embassy plans to hold another “Super Friday” on July 29 as part of a campaign to allow the embassy to meet high demand for student visas, said the embassy today.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted international educational exchange and student mobility around the world, the US embassy in Dhaka has resumed regular consular services and is making special efforts to ensure as many students as possible receive interviews before the start of the fall semester.
These special efforts include spending selected Fridays dedicated to interviewing applicants for student visas.
The United States remains a popular destination for higher education.
During the 2020-2021 academic year, it welcomed over 914,000 international students from over 200 places of origin.
The number of Bangladeshi students in the US has nearly tripled, to over 8,500 in the last decade.;
According to the 2021 Institute of International Education Open Doors report, Bangladesh currently ranks 14th among the countries sending the most number of students to US from around the world, moving up from 17th place during the 2019-2020 academic year.
32 arrested in raid against drugs on CU campus
The Chittagong University (CU) authorities have arrested 32 people including students and outsiders in a crackdown against drugs on the campus.
During the raid yesterday, 11 mobile phones, 28 motorbikes, two private cars, cannabis, drugs and means used for taking drugs were seized. It continued for four hours from 5:00pm.
The arrestees include eight CU students, and the rest were outsiders.
Assistant Proctor Liton Mitra said as part of the crackdown against the drugs they conducted raids on the banks of Biological Faculty’s pond, Central Field, behind Bangabandhu Hall, Social Science Faculty Jhupri, Onmukto Manch and other spots from yesterday afternoon to night.
He informed that they will impose academic penalties on the arrested students as per the university rule while police will take legal actions against the outsiders under rules.
Earlier this year, the CU administration imposed a restriction on the entry of outsiders to the campus and students were instructed to keep their ID cards with
