Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/07/2003070301n.htm
State Department Puts Foreign Students and Professors First in Line for Visa Interviews
By MICHAEL ARNONE
Under pressure from college advocacy groups, the U.S. Department of State has told its overseas consular offices to schedule students, professors, and researchers first in interviews that are part of antiterrorism screenings of nearly all visa applicants.
Copies of the notice were sent by telegram on June 3 by Janice L. Jacobs, deputy assistant secretary for visa services. The message tells all diplomatic and consular posts to "give priority to students and exchange visitors in the professor, student, and research-scholar categories."
The telegram, which the State Department did not publicize, modifies a May message that required almost all foreigners seeking visas -- millions of people -- to have in-person interviews with consular officials before getting approval for the documents. The program scrutinizes foreign visitors more closely in the hopes of weeding out potential terrorists. All consular offices must begin following the rule by August 1.
In a related matter, Science magazine reported Tuesday on its Web site that foreign researchers who work for the U.S. government or who are financed by federal grants will no longer face visa delays when they try to return to the United States after trips abroad. "Under the new procedure, American consulates can fast-track applications for returning visas by those who have received a U.S. visa or otherwise cleared an interagency security review within the past year," Science reported. The change will not apply to researchers and students who are not supported by the federal government, the Web site said.
College groups applauded the news of the June telegram. The State Department has "listened to the concerns that the higher-education community has expressed," Nils Hasselmo, president of the Association of American Universities, said on Wednesday.
His association, a collection of elite research institutions, was among four advocacy groups that sent a letter last month to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell seeking the postponement of the May rule. The other groups were the American Council on Education, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
College officials are afraid that the requirement will lead to increased delays that will keep students and scholars from arriving on campuses in time for the fall term. By requiring so many people to have interviews, "we were afraid that our people would just get lost in the queue," said Victor C. Johnson, associate executive director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Reports are already circulating of foreign students and scholars who cannot obtain visa interviews before they are due on their campuses, Mr. Johnson said. He and other college officials fear that the delays will discourage foreign students and scholars from coming to American institutions to study, teach, or do research.
In the most recent telegram, Ms. Jacobs also said that a "small number" of consulates already report waiting times for interviews of four weeks or more.
But, Ms. Jacobs wrote, "The department is sensitive to the potential impact on our nation's academic and research institutions if students are not able to begin their courses of study." She also praised consulates that have already put students and scholars at the head of the line for visa interviews.
The college associations are willing to work with Congress and President Bush, said Mr. Hasselmo, to help the State Department get more money and personnel to handle the increased workload.
In the meantime, international-student officers at colleges are relieved at the news. Katherine S. Bellows, assistant dean and director of international programs at Georgetown University, said she is "very, very grateful" for the new policy. "It demonstrates," she said, "that the government is actually doing things to acknowledge the importance of international education."
Background articles from The Chronicle:
- Colleges Want Change in Visa Regulations (7/4/2003)
- Fewer Foreign Students Enroll in U.S. Programs This Summer, Survey Finds (6/18/2003)
- State Department Is Said to Plan Interviews With Nearly All Foreigners Seeking Visas (5/19/2003)
- Closing the Gates: A Special Report (4/11/2003)
- College Officials Urge Lawmakers to Fix Problems That Security Measures Pose for Foreign Students (3/27/2003)
- Kept Out: Foreign Students Find It a Difficult Year to Win the State Department's Favor (11/15/2002)
