BYU grad student has I-20 visa revoked, leaving student, family, unclear
Apr 15, 2025, 5:26 PM | Updated: Apr 18, 2025, 5:34 pm
BYU grad student Suguru Onda in a BYU research lab. (Suguru Onda)
(Suguru Onda)
SALT LAKE CITY — A BYU graduate student has had his Form I-20 revoked without notice and told to go back to Japan before the end of April. He is among dozens of international students in Utah who were told their visas had been revoked last week.
Suguru Onda has been living legally in the United States and said he has one more year before completing his doctoral degree.
He and his attorney, Adam Crayk, told KSL NewsRadio the federal government revoked his visa without prior notice due to what the government said was “otherwise failing to maintain status.”
The explanation section of that notice reads, “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked.”
Onda was given 15 days to go back to Japan or face the risk of deportation.
“I feel helpless,” Onda told KSL NewsRadio. “Like nobody knows (the) answer, nobody knows what to do, what’s going to happen.”
Onda was given these orders despite the fact that he has no legitimate criminal history, according to his attorney.
Crayk said he only has two speeding tickets on his record, as well as a catch and release violation from a fishing trip in 2019, which was dismissed with prejudice in court.
Crayk told Dave & Dujanovic that Onda has little to no social media footprint. He said he does not have a history of speaking out about politics or participating in protests; rather, he just posts pictures of his family.
Crayk said he’s learned through court filings that the government is using AI technology to locate any criminal activity amongst student visa holders and revoke their visas. He said this is being done without human cross-references.
KSL NewsRadio has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for comment on the matter, but has not heard back at the time of publication.
Uncertainty
Onda is married with five children, two of whom were born in the U.S.
He said they are all now having to pack for a flight across the world, not knowing if they’ll actually have to leave. Either way, he said what’s happening to him is unfair and it’s ruined his family’s plans.
BYU grad student Suguru Onda and his wife, Kazumi. (Suguru Onda)
“We were planning to go back to Japan in the summer … we have no clue what to do,” Onda said.
Onda said his children are worried about the situation and don’t know if they’ll get to finish the school year here in the U.S.
If worst comes to worst, he said he and his wife do have family in Japan they can lean on, and he said BYU is working to accommodate his school work through this situation.
But Onda, like many other Utah college students in the same boat, is facing a lot of uncertainty.
Crayk said he is fighting to allow Onda to stay in the country and to get his visa reinstated, but ultimately that decision will be made by a judge.
What is a Form I-20, or I-20 visa?
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a Form I-20 is issued “to nonimmigrant students who have been accepted for enrollment at a U.S. educational institution certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.”
It is described as a “critically important” document for non-immigrant students, or, a student in the United States for purposes of study only and not immigration.
