NH Schools See Potential Challenges in Visa System
WASHINGTON – New Hampshire college officials are voicing concern that the newly tightened U.S. visa system could seriously delay the student visa application process and hurt their chances of attracting quality foreign students who may choose to go elsewhere for their education.
Recently, a Rwandan doctoral student in environmental studies at Antioch New England Graduate School missed his first semester of classes because of a delay in his visa application.
The school allowed “plenty of time” for him to receive his visa, but the need for clearance in Washington caused delays, according to Laura Andrews, Antioch’s associate director of admissions. The student finally received his visa in August after months of delays and was able to begin his studies in September.
“That I don’t think would have happened prior to Sept. 11,” Andrews said.
Since the government instituted higher scrutiny of non-immigrant visas in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New Hampshire college officials have been concerned that international students might be deterred by the lengthy and more in-depth application process.
Testifying before a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, John Aber, the University of New Hampshire’s vice president for research and public service, praised the federal government’s work in strengthening the country’s immigration process to avoid another terrorist attack but raised concern about the impact on foreign students.Since 2001, the United States has stepped up border security, requested more data from visa applicants and asked schools to report on the activities of foreign students.
To date student visa applications at UNH have not been affected by the government’s increased scrutiny, Aber told the International Operations and Terrorism Subcommittee, which Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) chairs. The university receives approximately 800 applications a year from international students, scholars and families, and two to four of them are rejected each year because of suspicions of terrorist affiliations, he reported. That number has not increased since before the terrorist attacks.
But international students could begin looking to other countries for schooling to avoid long waits for non-immigrant visas – a three- to nine-month process — leading to a sharp decline in science and technology students, Aber said. He said one-third of U.S. science and engineering doctoral degrees are awarded to foreign students.
“There is general agreement that the optimum management of our research enterprise requires free and open access by U.S. universities and laboratories to the pool of aspiring students and scholars who hold citizenship in other countries,” he said. “This pool provides a significant part of the energy and talent that drives our technological advancement.”
Other countries, such as Canada, have begun to compete for these scholars by boasting faster visa applications processes, Aber said. Because of the lengthy process, some foreign students attending American universities have been prohibited from traveling home to visit their families during holidays, he testified.
But Antioch’s Andrews said that many of the college’s approximately 20 international students- have had few problems when returning to the United States after a holiday. She has heard from some students that crossing the border has become a “smoother” experience.”
“None of them are from the particular countries which are being watched, but from what I’ve [heard] รก none of our students have any trouble,” Andrews said.
None of the international students who started at Franklin Pierce College this fall were denied visas, but added interview requirements have lengthened the application process, said Susan Oehlschlaeger, the school’s director of international student services.
“The worst impact on maybe one or two of them was that they actually had to change their travel arrangements,” she said.
Students at Keene State College have not seen many problems either, according to Angela Yang, director of national and international exchange. One student attending the college under an exchange program did, however, miss a portion of his semester when his visa application was delayed.
“We haven’t had immediate or direct experiences in terms of what the students have been able to share with us of their experiences,” Yang said.
For Oehlschlaeger, the tightened visa system requires better communication with international applicants.
“I think mostly what it tells us is the warning that we have to give to students about how long this process is going to take,” she said.
