“In accordance with the US logic, should China deny visas to US intelligence and law enforcement personnel and their families?” Hua said on Thursday, adding that China hoped the US would recognise its mistakes and help allow normal personnel exchanges.

But the US embassy in Beijing told the South China Morning Post there had been a temporary discontinuation, imposed last year by the Trump administration, of visa issuance to some applicants in response to China’s lack of cooperation in accepting the return of its nationals under final orders of removal from the United States.

01:25

US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic

US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic

The suspension would be lifted if China showed its commitment to accepting the return of such nationals, the embassy’s spokesman said in an emailed response on Monday.

The student’s case was not a visa refusal but fell under this suspension of issuance, they said, adding that the suspension did not affect already issued visas, and valid visas would not be revoked.

The Biden administration last month eased restrictions on Chinese and other students, and the vast majority would be unaffected by this suspension, the spokesman said.

The letter was posted on WeChat by Beijing Gewai Education Consulting on Thursday morning, showing that the visa application had been “temporarily discontinued” under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

US embassy, consulates resume visa processing for Chinese students

It said China had denied or unreasonably delayed accepting the return of its citizens who were subject to final orders of removal from the United States, and that normal visa issuance would resume if China complied with US requests on that matter.

Applications for certain types of visas were suspended for officials ranked deputy director and above with China’s National Immigration Administration, and their spouses and children under 21, along with officials at the National Supervisory Commission (China’s highest anti-corruption agency), Ministry of State Security (the top intelligence organ) and Ministry of Public Security (the top law enforcement organ) and their spouses and children under 30, it stated.

It is unclear how many people could be affected by the suspension, because the numbers employed by the four departments are not made public.

“This is the first time I received such a refusal notification,” Qiao Xiangdong, the owner of the consultancy, said, adding that the student, whose father works for the public security department, had received offers from nearly 10 American universities to major in computer science.

01:36

China to restrict visas for Americans ‘interfering’ in Hong Kong

China to restrict visas for Americans ‘interfering’ in Hong Kong

“How can the child of a grass-roots police officer pose a threat to the national security of the US?” Qiao said.

The refusal comes days after the US embassy and consulates in China resumed visa applications for students, although restrictions on those with a “hi-tech” background remained in place, according to a senior US official.

According to the International Education Exchange, Chinese students accounted for 35 per cent of all the international students in the US in the 2019-20 academic year.

“The United States welcomes students and researchers from China and is committed to providing the highest quality service to all visa applications,” the US embassy spokesman said on Monday. “Foreign students and scholars contribute greatly to the rich intellectual traditions and diversity that make the educational experience on a US campus one of a kind.”

Additional reporting by Catherine Wong