Air India today said that they will allow Indian students on its flights to San Francisco to pursue higher education in Silicon Valley University and North Western Polytechnic College after they secure necessary clearance s from the US authorities.

In a statement issued today, Air India said it received communication on December 19, 2015 from the US Customs and Border Protection agency that two universities--Silicon Valley, San Jose, California and North Western Polytechnic College, Fremont, CA are under scrutiny and students who arrived into San Francisco were not allowed to enter the US and were deported back to India.

Thus far 14 students who travelled on Air India flights to San Francisco have been deported. Students travel on a One Way ticket to US and in the event of deportation, the student incurs huge expenditure to buy a ticket back to India on first available service. Further, seats are often not available on any airlines to travel back.

Considering the situation, as a precautionary measure and to avoid inconvenience, students booked for travel to take admission to these universities are not being accepted on Air India flights.

Air India further said it will start accepting students travelling to the US, to join these two universities, at no additional cost, as soon as clearance is received from Air India US office, for their travel.

Accordingly, Air India has waived all charges involved. Full refund of air fare has also been offered. It further stated that Air India will permit the students, who could not be accepted now, to travel against the same tickets upon receipt of clearance.

Published on December 21, 2015