<p>My daughter has 4 roommates. Two days ago, while my daughter was making dinner, her Kenyan roommate walked out the back door, bags in hand, stating she had to move in with the woman in charge of international students. Long story short, she just found out Saturday that her mother had to choose between a life-saving surgery that now has to be performed in either South Africa or India or tuition. Though she is going to college at a VERY reduced rate, (math honors student) she cannot come up with the tuition. The college gave her a 60 hour per week summer job and free housing this summer to help her make expenses, but it’s not enough. She would have been an advanced junior this school year.</p>
<p>She told my daughter that she will be deported because she will no longer have a student Visa. She also needs to go home to help her mom. There is probably also an issue of the cost of a plane ticket…</p>
<p>Do any of you have ANY insights I can pass on to this sweet girl? Along with the trauma of her mother’s health, she will have to leave the college and adopted country she loves. We have given her some money, but we can’t spare the $7,000 it will cost for this year’s tuition & room and board. (We have two children in college right now on a teacher/farmer salary.)</p>
<p>Tell the girl to ask for a leave of absence from the school due to the health concerns. Hopefully a year from now things will be brighter for her.</p>
<p>Although the student’s financial situation and international status complicate this somewhat, it sounds like this is a classic family leave situation. Students can take leaves of absence to deal with family problems. Perhaps the student can take a formal LOA for a semester, thus preserving her financial aid and academic status for future semesters. I’m sure the international student coordinator is doing all she can to help this student, within the bounds of the college’s financial aid policy and immigration law. Your D’s friend is more than halfway through the program, and colleges don’t like to see students drop out at that stage.</p>
<p>Your impulse to consider paying for the semester is very generous, but there is also the issue of long-term unaffordability. If her mother is ill and the family can not longer support the student’s studying abroad, one semester of funding will not be enough and the student will have to change her plans. Temporary emergency fund-raising is not going to solve the underlying problem.</p>
<p>I can understand your concern and anyone in a position to help would most likely feel compelled to do so. Of course I know nothing about the situation but it occurs to me that all you know is what the girl is telling your daughter. It may or may not be true in whole or in part. Please carefully verify information before you take any action or make any commitments.</p>
<p>Great advice! I’ve forwarded this on to my daughter. We’ve given her minimal money. (We are going through one of the worst droughts in recent history.) We will encourage her to investigate the leave. I know her plight sounds like one of those scamming emails from boiler room email scammers, but if you met her, you would know she’s the real deal.</p>
<p>It’s wonderful that you are reaching out to help this young woman. Questioning authority is almost second nature for many Americans, but not to foreign students studying here. Hopefully the woman in charge of foreign students will use her contacts to ensure the student knows her options. It seems that money is only part of the issue, as she will be helping her mother after the surgery. It’s a long shot, but perhaps a short note to the editor of the paper in the metropolitan area closest to the school would inspire them to do a feature story on her plight. Her situation may not be unique, but something about her touched you to reach out for help and the same thing may happen with a larger audience.</p>
<p>Is there a Kenyan community is the city where the college is located? The church I work for leases space to such a community and they help members with problems like this0they have a network of professionals they recommend. If there IS such a community, point this girl there. An international adviser is one thing, an adviser from the girl’s home country is something else again. I hope she makes it-my older D has a friend who basically had to escape her African country and get protection here because she was held against her will for being willful enough to want an education, something females in her country typically don’t get.</p>
<p>That is a good suggestion, sseamom.
I would think the student could create a payment plan and earn the money during the school year. If she made ten dollars an hour for 24 hours a week, she could make enough to pay this gap of $7,000 during the coming school year.</p>
<p>Update. The roommate is planning on going home to help her mother. She is taking a leave of absence. We are all hoping she can continue her education at a later date. Because of your excellent advice, I was able to contact the International Adviser to make sure that the proper steps were followed. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Another update! Roommate’s older sister is going to help with mom in Kenya. Roommate is going to live with the International Adviser to save money and the rest will be covered by a small loan and an anonymous benefactor! She will enroll on Tuesday. Many thanks to all who cared!</p>
<p>Is she aware of “economic hardship” employment provisions? She may be able to get a work permit to pursue off-campus employment, which might pay more than the $8 of a typical on-campus job. She’d still be subject to a 20 hours/week limit while classes are in session.</p>
<p>It does not sound right. She is not going to get deported, if she were here legally and of age, just because her parent needs to leave to have a surgery. Have you considered that the girl could be trying to scam you all?</p>
<p>I mean, I understand that if she is not enrolled, she cannot maintain the visa necessarily, but there was also the comment that she needs to leave to take care of her mom and cannot afford the ticket.</p>
<p>Her mother is not here with her - she would have needed to leave because her mother could not afford her share of the tuition, because the money is needed for the surgery. If her sister had not been able to care for the mother, someone would need to be hired to care for her following surgery, and that would cost even more. The solution was to find a less expensive option for housing, and loans to cover any additional costs. That seems to be a reasonable response on the part of the college, and a way for them to salvage a difficult situation. While the OP might not have a way to verify half of the information, the university does, and they arranged a compromise that works for everyone.</p>
<p>It sounds like she has substantial financial aid, so the university had already invested quite a bit in her education, so it makes sense they would want to work with her.</p>
I would agree with you if the girl was actually being “deported.” I assume that it was an unfortunate choice of word by the OP. It sounds like the girl would have left the US because her student visa was about to become invalid when she couldn’t afford to pay for tuition, room and board. That’s a voluntary departure, not the formal removal proceedings normally referred to as deportation.</p>
<p>The word deported was tearfully said by the roommate. She was under the impression (and so was my daughter) that if a student is not enrolled they loose their visa and must return. And as soon as possible. College had already been in session for a full week and her clock was ticking…</p>
<p>The reason I originated this post was this situation was very dire for this girl last week and wanted the best advice I could find, and your advice helped!</p>
<p>I think that the advice given here helped her gain some equilibrium. It also helped my daughter see there were a few more options. This girl hasn’t been home for two years and the stress of distance and having her mother in a difficult situation, let alone discovering there is no money, would cause one to lose it. (And gheesh! Some people on this site get all hepped up over much smaller things! This was serious stuff in my book!)</p>
<p>Though it is a work of fiction, the book Little Bee by Chris Cleave has elements of truth. I didn’t want this girl to suffer the plight of Little Bee. As sseamom stated, life for smart African girls can sometimes be very difficult. </p>
<p>Thanks again for your concern. She will be fine now.</p>
<p>I am glad it worked out for all parties involved! Just to clarify:</p>
<p>
Yes, foreign students must leave the US when their visa becomes invalid. That’s not a deportation though. A deportation follows a hearing in immigration court, after the foreigner has declined (or was refused by the judge) the option of a voluntary departure. Deportation makes an individual inadmissible to the US. In contrast, a voluntary departure within 180 days of a visa becoming invalid would leave an individual with the option to apply for a new visa in the future.</p>