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How Trump visa ban is making life difficult for UAE students

Dubai - This decision by Trump may have affected simple travel plans for many, but for hundreds of students here, it has impacted life plans too.

There's been no getting away from President Donald Trump's recent executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. While a negative outcry has been reciprocated by millions across the world, for many students in the UAE, it has potentially ruined future career plans.
The US president's order has thrown the higher education dreams of many students here into chaos. And after years of studying in a bid to win a place at one of several hundred US universities, many have now been left wondering if it has all gone to waste.
This decision by Trump may have affected simple travel plans for many, but for hundreds of students here, it has impacted life plans too.
Here, Khaleej Times speaks to two Syrian students who have now been left in limbo since Friday's order was laid down.
'I'll still take my chances'
Dubai based medical student Noura  Al-Eisa has had her sights set on applying for a hospital residency in the US for years.

And she has been studying non-stop for the past year and a half to sit her medical licensing exam, which is due in March.
But now that dream could be cut short. Not because she's not confident, nor because she's had a change of heart. The only thing that could get in her way now, is simply the colour of her passport.
As a Syrian national studying at the University of Sharjah College of Medicine, Al-Eisa could be refused entry to the US.
The US President Trump's recent travel ban on citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen has left her in a state of flux.
"To undertake a residency at a US-based hospital has been my plan for three years. All my studies have been directed towards taking my US-licensing exam for that very reason, but now this. It is such a critical time for me."
Al-Eisa has already paid out $1,000 to sit the exam in March in Dubai's Knowledge Village, and following that, the next step would have been choosing which hospital to apply for.
But now she has other things more pressing to worry about. Such as will she even make it to the country?
"This could potentially change everything I've worked for. If I sit the exam, pass, but then get rejected entry, I'll have to start from scratch again and study for a licence which is country-specific to the alternative destination I choose."
And that would mean spending another year and a half in studies. "I'm still going to go ahead and take the exam and take my chances," she said.
But shockingly, and rather admirably, she said it has not left a bitter taste in her mouth with regards to studying in the US.
"I cannot let this man's decision mix with my future plans, or my feelings towards a US residency. It wouldn't be right too, that's why I'm pressing ahead."
'It changed my whole career plan'
Like fellow medical student Noura Al-Eisa, Syrian national Abdullah Nazem Asreb had big plans this summer.
"I wanted to travel to the US to do some clinical training as a way of exposing myself to the hospital environment in the States."
Aside from looking good on his CV, Asreb said the experience would also count towards more points for his final US medical licensing exam.
However, that vision may no longer become a reality.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, the University of Sharjah College of Medicine student, said he has been left in a huge dilemma, for a decision which was practically "made overnight".
"This has potentially changed my whole career plan."
Although the initial order laid down by Trump only effects the citizens of the seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, it is still a guessing game for many.
"This ban has been issued only temporarily, but we have no guarantee it won't be extended. If I simply wait and hope, I'll be opening myself up for the unknown."
And that is not something he can take lightly, he said.
"I've had to look at pursuing my medical training in other countries now, like the UK and Ireland."
But as a result of that, he said he will now have to re-evaluate his whole study plan too.
"If I do go elsewhere I will have to pay out more money for exams and I will have to invest my time in learning the medical licensing practices for that country - even though I've just spent years learning the US protocol."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com