Proclamation 10043 Notices Hit Chinese F-1 Change of Status

A 2020 entry ban aimed at a narrow group of Chinese graduate researchers is turning up in USCIS notices to Chinese nationals switching to student status inside the U.S.

Chinese nationals who apply inside the United States to change to F-1 student status are receiving USCIS notices of intent to deny that cite Proclamation 10043, the 2020 order suspending entry of certain Chinese graduate students and researchers, immigration attorneys handling the cases report. The notices generally allege no wrongdoing; they suggest that applying for a change of status, rather than for a visa at a U.S. consulate, may be a way of circumventing the proclamation, and they count that against the applicant when USCIS weighs its discretion. Recipients include laid-off H-1B workers who have enrolled in U.S. master’s programs, attorneys say.

The timing matters. Layoffs have pushed more H-1B workers toward student status just as USCIS archived its old guidance on options after a job loss and DHS proposed eliminating the 60-day grace period. For Chinese applicants, a once-routine change of status now carries an extra argument to rebut.

What the proclamation actually covers

Signed May 29, 2020, and published at 85 FR 34353, Proclamation 10043 suspends the entry of PRC nationals seeking F or J status for graduate study or research who receive funding from, are employed by, or study or research at an entity that implements or supports China’s “military-civil fusion strategy.” The proclamation defines that strategy as actions by or at the behest of the PRC “to acquire and divert foreign technologies.” Undergraduate study is excluded, and lawful permanent residents and spouses of U.S. citizens and permanent residents are exempt.

Two features of the text matter for these notices. The proclamation governs entry, and it says nothing about change of status. And its only reference to circumvention, in Section 3(c), makes people who get around it “through fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, or illegal entry” a priority for removal. A change-of-status application under section 248 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a route Congress created, is none of those. The notices in effect stretch an entry ban into a discretionary factor the proclamation never mentions.

That does not make the notices toothless. A change of status is discretionary, the applicant carries the burden, and USCIS can deny if it finds negative factors outweigh positive ones. A careful response matters even for applicants plainly outside the proclamation’s scope.

The population is large. China sent 265,919 students to the United States in the 2024-25 academic year, 120,229 of them at the graduate level, according to the Open Doors fact sheet published by the Institute of International Education with the State Department.

Building a response that holds up

Strong answers first show the applicant is outside the proclamation: the field of study, prior Chinese schools checked against the Commerce Department’s Entity List, and no PRC government research funding or covered employment. They then explain, with documents, why the applicant stayed in the United States rather than leaving to apply for a visa, and they point to the vetting already completed through earlier visas, OPT and H-1B filings. Tax transcripts, an FBI identity history summary, school and employer letters, and community ties fill out the discretionary side.

What to watch

USCIS has not published a policy memo or alert explaining when Proclamation 10043 should weigh against a change of status, so the practice is visible only through individual notices. If denials follow, they are likely to become test cases, through motions on Form I-290B or federal lawsuits arguing that USCIS applied an entry ban to a statutory route it does not reach. Until then, recipients have a short window, usually 30 days, to answer every point without creating new problems in the file.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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