DUSHANBE, November 22, Asia-Plus — In 2007, the Department of State issued a record number of student and exchange visitor visas — more than 600,000 — greater than 10 percent more than last year. The numbers are proof of the success of the U.S. government’s effort to reverse the drop in student and other visa applications after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty told USINFO, according to press release issued by the US Embassy in Dushanbe.
“For the last several years, we have been working very hard to address that turnaround and in no category have we been more active than in attracting foreign students,” she said.
Speaking at the end of International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. departments of State and Education, Harty said that “the best advertisement for America is America.” She said having foreign students in the United States is a matter of national security because academic visitors are the United States’ potential friends, allies and business partners.
“If they come to America … they will learn everything they possibly can about our culture, our people, our academic institutions. They’ll see the free lifestyle of the American college campus. They’ll have a chance to challenge themselves and grow in ways informed by what they learn about American society,” Harty said.
More than 200 alumni of U.S. exchange programs have become heads of foreign states or influential leaders in their own countries, according to State Department data. They include the presidents of Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Harty agreed that the “regrettable perception” that the events of September 11, 2001, made the U.S. visa process more cumbersome was correct in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. But she said the “horror stories” of endless waits for name checks are a matter of the past. About 97 percent of people who are told their applications have been approved get their visas within two or three days, she said.
Since September 11, 2001, the United States had to put in place more stringent security measures. “At the same time, we’ve worked hard over the past years to streamline procedures and make the visa application process easier and more efficient,” Harty said. “I regret that some people are hearing the old stories and applying them to the current situations,” she said.
The State Department also has made an effort to “demystify” the visa process, Harty said. Both the United States government and every U.S. embassy have special Web sites with information about the required documents, how far in advance an applicant can schedule an appointment for an interview and what to expect during that interview with a consular official.
In many countries, students can make interview appointments online, and they are usually put in the front of the line. “We won’t have a student miss their first day of class because we could not get them an appointment in time,” Harty said.
