China and Japan welcome return of international students

China will allow international students to return for their studies. Although reports indicate spotty progress, 450,000 students are potentially eligible to return. Especially for those whose degree progress was interrupted by the pandemic, getting back to studies is critical.

Ending months of waiting, the Japanese government has signaled intent to allow international students to return. However, the actual rate of return is very low with only 87 of 147,000 having been granted reentry by January of 2022. The hope of Japanese institutions is that they will be able to recover approximately 147,000 visiting students after months of indecision, which was likely related to fear of backlash should Japan experience a resurgence of COVID19.