- Student
- 16/04/2025
Situation in U.S. complicates exchange
Students who plan to go on exchange to the U.S. often spend months preparing. However, since Trump took office, it’s no longer entirely certain whether their exchange can even go ahead. It’s a difficult dilemma in which the travel advisory will be the deciding factor. TU/e’s International Office follows an adjusted travel advisory. There are currently seven TU/e students residing in the US. Martina Goverts is one of them.
It’s almost impossible to keep up with all the developments in U.S. politics regarding universities and the incidents surrounding travel into the U.S. At the same time, it remains very uncertain what the effects will be in the coming months. TU/e’s International Office, through the departments’ exchange coordinators, has sent students who are currently doing or are planning to do an exchange or internship in the U.S. an email with an adjusted travel advisory. It stresses the importance of having the correct travel documents and a gender designation – either male or female – in the passport.
According to the departments’ exchange coordinators, about a dozen students have indicated that they would like to go to the U.S. in Q4 or Q1 of the next academic year. “These students will soon have to incur expenses for this. With the consulate in Amsterdam closed until the end of June due to renovations, students will need to travel to Belgium or Germany to apply for visas – and will therefore incur additional costs.” A designated TU/e working group is currently analyzing the potential consequences of developments in the U.S. that may affect travel into the country and stays there.
Trips abroad
Martina Goverts is already in the U.S. The master’s student in Applied Physics is doing a research internship at Harvard University in Boston. She received the following advice from AP’s exchange coordinator: The travel advisory color for the U.S. is green. This means there are no direct consequences for your planned educational activities. However, we do recommend that you keep an eye on the travel advisory and any developments.
“It’s good to get an update, but the information I receive from the Harvard International Office (HIO) is more concrete and relevant to me. HIO’s most recent advice states: be cautious when traveling abroad and be aware of the added risks of posting about the situation in the Middle East,” says Goverts. “Not much changes for me. One of the concerns among international students is whether they will be allowed to re-enter the U.S. after traveling abroad.”
Two weeks ago, Goverts went on a weekend bus trip to Montreal (Canada). “It’s a border crossing that is used by lots of people every day and for me, the crossing went smoothly. I don’t plan on leaving the U.S. again before the end of my internship.”
Controversial topics
Since Goverts’ research project is not (directly) dependent on federal funding, she is not worried that her project will suddenly be shut down. However, she is careful about what she shares on social media. “I would think twice about posting on controversial topics right now. I didn’t really do much of that to begin with, but now it’s a conscious thing.”
Goverts is in an environment with many universities and therefore many scientists. “Most people I talk to are against the current policy. So for an in-person conversation, there’s no need to be cautious about using “forbidden” words. From what I’ve heard, it’s more important to choose your words carefully on social media or in grant applications. According to several news articles, AI is used to screen the social media accounts of visa holders.”
The political situation in the U.S. is highly uncertain right now, Goverts stresses. On April 15, she writes in an email: “There’s ‘breaking news’ here today: Harvard has decided not to agree to the administration’s demands to eliminate its diversity programs, limit student protests and submit to state interference in exchange for federal funding. In addition, more and more stories are circulating about Harvard students whose visas are being revoked. Because of all this uncertainty, making the decision to go to the U.S. on an internship at this point would be more difficult for me.”
Travel advisory
On March 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs adjusted its travel advisory for the U.S. rather than issuing negative advice. In particular, it points to the checks at U.S. borders. Of course, there have always been document checks, but they have recently been tightened. The Ministry urges Dutch citizens to have their documents in order and to comply with the entry requirements. The purpose of travel must be clearly defined and the visa’s validity date is important. Potential penalties include arrest, detention or deportation, writes Tanita Nieuwenhuizen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an email.
The Ministry also makes mention of the new U.S. rules regarding gender designation in documents (M/F). ‘The impact of this is not clear (yet); for more information, we refer to the U.S. government (in this case the U.S. consulate in Amsterdam). These are American regulations, after all; the Netherlands or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no say in the matter,’ she writes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees no reason to issue specific advice for scientists/researchers as a group.
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