Kenyan students in the United States face the risk of having their visa status revoked for simply missing classes, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi has warned.
The caution was issued on Wednesday, August 13, with the embassy specifically targeting prospective and current Kenyan students pursuing studies in the United States.
The embassy also warned that students who secure student visas to study in the US, but then withdraw from their academic programmes, also run the risk of having their visa status revoked.
"Heading to the U.S. on a student visa? Ensure you stay on track! Skipping classes or leaving your program without notifying your school could impact your visa status and future travel plans," a statement from the embassy read.
According to the embassy, simply dropping out of a programme without necessarily informing the school also bore the risk of losing eligibility for future U.S. Visas.
The statement from the U.S. embassy came amid a shift in U.S. immigration policy since Donald Trump took office for a second term. Since Trump took office in 2025, his administration has upped efforts to crackdown on unlawful immigrants, including international students, particularly those on F-1 and J-1 Visas.
Trump's administration has introduced strict vetting practices and intensified visa enforcement while also invoking tougher counter-measures to curb Visa fraud, including denying visas on based on factors as simple as one's social media history.
Kenyan students are particularly on the spot, since there has been an emerging trend of individuals securing student Visas, only to get to the United States to attempt to set up a life by engaging in business or other forms of employment.
In other cases, financial constraints force students abroad to skip classes or overlook the semester altogether.
Trump's regime showed intent in their crackdown on foreign-born students in April when they cancelled over 4700 international student visas. A report by NBC News indicated that these revocations were carried out without due process as students claimed to have received little to no explanation.
There have also been reports of U.S immigration and Customs Enforcement appearing in campuses to enforce immediate removals.
A classic case of U.S. Visa enforcement on Kenyans came to light earlier in July 2025, when a Kenyan student was denied a Visa at the Nairobi Embassy because she “didn’t show enough ties to her home country.”
In a separate case, a student was placed in detention for failing to update his school's international office after changing his major, which is a requirement under the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
