Foreign Students and Scholars (updated)

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, efforts to increase national security have had significant impacts on foreign students and scholars. When the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 tightened both the requirements and the enforcement of entry procedures for foreign visitors, academia was one of the areas affected most. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) was created to allow officials to maintain up-to-date information on foreign students and exchange visitors in the US, but the logistics of gathering individuals' information, maintaining such a large database, and paying for the program have proven formidable. Now almost a year after the August 1, 2003 deadline for registering all new and continuing students and exchange visitors into the SEVIS database, foreign students and scholars are still enduring visa frustrations while universities across the nation are trying to cope with their absence.

Various surveys conducted since 2001 have indicated declines in the number of foreign students enrolling in US colleges and universities. In a survey released in February 2004, nearly half of the 250 institutions that provided data on prospective graduate students reported a drop in international applicants [1]. Another study released in March by the Council of Graduate Schools confirmed this decline, noting a 32% decrease in the number of international graduate student submissions for fall 2004 compared to fall 2003 [2]. The countries hit hardest by the tighter entry requirements have been China and India; graduate applications from students in China declined by 76% while those from India fell 58% [3].

The scientific fields in particular have been affected by these declines. Because students in the science and engineering fields are more likely to study one of the sensitive subjects on the government's Technology Alert List, they are likely to face even greater security checks by the Visas Mantis program---a program designed to protect against the transfer of sensitive technologies. In a study of 71 cases, the Government Accountability Office (formerly the General Accounting Office) found that it took an average of 67 days to review applications requiring this more extensive Visas Mantis review [4]. With such long delays, students are becoming discouraged with coming to the US, which may explain increases in foreign applicants for other countries. For example, Australia experienced a 16.5% increase in the number of foreign students in the 2003 academic year [5].

Increased security has also kept many foreign students and scholars from even attending short academic meetings in the US. In November 2003, two Chinese-born University of Toronto students were prevented from attending a scientific conference in Austin, Texas despite the fact that they had applied for visas, booked all travel plans, were invited to present research posters and had attended the same meeting in 2002 [6]. It took 3 months to process the security and background checks on the students, which was well after the end of the conference [7]. Previously in October 2002, an Iran-born University of Toronto professor and Canadian citizen was so angered by having to be fingerprinted, photographed and questioned prior to coming to chair a National Science Foundation meeting in the US, that he decided to cancel his trip [8]. Such rigorous background checks of Canadian citizens born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Syria were part of the National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS) law that went into effect nationally on October 1, 2002 [9]. NSEERS has now been predominately replaced by SEVIS and US-VISIT, which is another set of security measures that went into effect at 115 airports and 15 seaports in January 2004 [10].

Believing that improvements to the visa process need to occur soon and can be made without jeopardizing the security of the nation, many scientific, academic and professional organizations are urging reforms. In May, 25 leading scientific, engineering and educational organizations representing nearly 95% of the American research community, sent a statement to President Bush and Congress with six suggestions on how to improve the current visa process [11]. The suggestions included:

" 1.) Extending the validity of Visas Mantis security clearances for international students and scholars from the current one-year time period to the duration of their course of study.
" 2.) Establishing more timely visa renewal processes including renewals that can be started prior to leaving the US.
" 3.) Creating a mechanism whereby applicants and sponsors can track their applications and have applications pending for 30+ days moved to the top of the waiting list.
" 4.) Ensuring clear protocols and trained consular staff for screening applications so as to avoid inconsistent treatment.
" 5.) Revising visa reciprocity agreements between the US and countries like China and Russia that send large numbers of scholars and students in order to reduce the number of times visiting scholars have to renew their visas.
" 6.) Implementing a fee collection system for SEVIS [12].
In June 2003, the State Department started to allow American consulates to fast-track visa applications for foreign scientists and federal workers returning to the US who had already received visas or cleared a security review within the past year [13]. Additionally, on July 1, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that the SEVIS fees will be $100 for most full-time students and scholars and will be levied by mail or credit card on the Internet prior to applying for US visas [14]. This removes the burden of collecting fees from colleges and universities and will reduce the amount of tax money needed to support the SEVIS system.

A somewhat controversial case involving visa fraud and possible terrorist conspiracy began in February 2003 with the arrest of a Saudi Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the University of Idaho. Sami Omar al-Hussayen, found to be the webmaster to a number of Islamic organizations linked to supporting terrorism, was arrested and charged with three counts of conspiracy and 11 counts of false statements and visa fraud [15]. After two months at trial and debate over the constitutionality of the charges against him, al-Hussayen was eventually acquitted of the terrorism counts and freed of the remaining accusations of visa fraud and false statements, but only upon his deportation back to Saudi Arabia [16]. This case was one of the few instances when an individual, and in particular, a foreign student, has been prosecuted under the USA Patriot Act that makes it a criminal offense to give expertise or aid to groups affiliated with terrorism [17].

The business sector has also been feeling the strain related to visa issues. A survey released in June 2004 estimates that since July 2002, US exporters have lost more than $30 billion in revenue and indirect costs due to problems in handling visas for foreign business travelers [18]. More than half of the 734 companies surveyed agreed that the visa process is worse today than it was one year ago. In response to this survey, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) released visa reform recommendations similar to the ones outlined above by the nation's research community [19].

Allison Chamberlain
July 2004

Notes
1 "Survey of Applications by Prospective International Students to U.S. Higher Education Institutions." February 2004. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/68kqs
2 Arnone, Michael. "New Survey Confirms Sharp Drop in Applications to U.S. Colleges From Foreign Graduate Students." The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 4, 2004.
3 Arnone, Ibid.
4 United States General Accounting Office. "Border Security: Improvements Needed to Reduce Time Taken to Adjudicate Visas for Science Students and Scholars." Report. GAO-04-371, February 25, 2004. URL: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04371.pdf.
5 Bollag, Burton. "Australia Sees Strong Gains in Enrollment of Foreign Students." The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 9, 2004.
6 Payne, Doug. "Students blocked from US meeting." The Scientist. February 2, 2004.
7 Payne, Ibid.
8 Szustaczek, Christine. "U.S. Border Laws Keep Professor Home." University of Toronto, News@UofT. November 22, 2002. URL: http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin3/021122b.asp.
9 Payne, Ibid.
10 Department of Homeland Security website. Travel and Transportation: US-VISIT. URL: http://tinyurl.com/3oewn
11 "Statement and Recommendations on Visa Problems Harming America's Scientific, Economic and Security Interests." May 12, 2004. http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/0512visa.shtml.
12 "Statement and Recommendations…Interests," Ibid.
13 Bhattacharjee, Yudhijt. "Reentry Erased for Government Grantees." Science. July 4, 2003, vol. 301, p. 28.
14 Karlin-Resnick, Joshua. "U.S. Agency Publishes Final Rules for Collecting $100 Fee From Foreign Students." The Chronicle of Higher Education. July 2, 2004.
15 Schmidt, Susan. "Saudi Student's Trial Opens in Idaho." The Washington Post. April 15, 2004.
16 Read, Brock. "U. of Idaho Student Who Was Acquitted of Terrorism Charges Will Be Deported." The Chronicle of Higher Education. July 2, 2004.
17 Egan, Timothy. "Computer Student on Trial for Aid to Muslim Web Sites." The New York Times. April 27, 2004.
18 The Santangelo Group. "Do Visa Delays Hurt US Business?" Survey. June 2, 2004. URL: http://www.nftc.org/default/visasurveyresults%20final.pdf.
19 Recommendations can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/6ugw4