“I thought that was the end of it,” he says.

Appealing to Harvard

He passed the intervening week with his sister in Scotland and then returned to the U.S. embassy in London for his interview. There, he was told that because of the July legislation, his passport would have to be sent to Washington for a complete background check.

“I was utterly shocked,” el-Gaili says.

This new delay meant that he would not be able to return to Cambridge in time for the first classes of the new term.

“The officer was explaining that it was nothing personal, which I thought was ironic because it was turning my life upside down,” he says. “After wandering the streets of London for many hours, I tried to investigate which options I had.”

El-Gaili sent a long e-mail note detailing his visa problems to HLS Dean of Students Suzanne L. Richardson, who told him exactly what his options were.

He had three choices: defer his enrollment and graduate late; accept an enrollment extension until Sept. 30; or he could try to get HLS credit for classes taken in England under an existing “hardship-out” program for students who cannot return to campus due to extenuating circumstances.

Unsure of when he would be receiving his visa, el-Gaili decided to try to enroll in a local law school—a difficult prospect because the term would begin in a matter of days.

“I started e-mailing and calling law schools in London under urgent request, trying to get accommodated as a student,” he says. “Life wasn’t that much fun.”

Three Harvard professors sent letters on his behalf to colleagues at British law schools—which, he says, made it possible for him to get a last-minute admission to a London institution.

El-Gaili says he is grateful for the help he got from professors and the HLS administration.

But the University should have lobbied harder for its stranded students, he says.

“I’m a little perplexed that a school with the political weight of Harvard could not do more for its exiled students,” he says.

But University officials say that, because el-Gaili’s experience and those of students like him, they are pushing for a solution. Since September, Harvard has been sharing information with other universities in an effort to catalogue the vast challenges that visa restrictions have imposed on its international community, according to Casey.