Four years ago, Nigerian Ernestino Amaechi got a visa to study business in the US but now he worries he might be forced to go back home and be separated from his two American-born children if visa rules are tightened after the US election, Reuters reports.

Amaechi is one of around 50,000 students from sub-Saharan Africa who come to the US every year to study. Though China and India still send the lion’s share of students, sub-Saharan Africa is the region experiencing the most rapid growth in student flows, with an increase of 18 per cent in 2022-23.

But the future of student visas — as well as coveted working visas and training visas students can apply for after graduation — is up in the air ahead of the presidential election next week.

That’s because numerous policies — from the allocation of consular officials to process visas abroad, to the length of time students are allowed to stay and work in the US — can be altered, “with just a stroke of a pen,” by a US president, said Ben Waxman, the CEO of consulting firm Intead - International Education Advantage, which helps universities attract foreign students.

“It really does matter who is going to be president and their attitude towards international education,” he said.

Student visas have not been a hot-button topic during the election campaign and have not featured in debates between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.