The problems and delays in the tracking of foreign students and the
processing of visa applications for students and visiting scientists
have been addressed in several hearings recently, and in an April 10
keynote address by OSTP Director John Marburger at the annual S&T
Policy Colloquium of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science.
"The current situation is untenable," declared Chairman Sherwood
Boehlert (R-NY) at one of a series of House Science Committee hearings
exploring how the war on terrorism is affecting the nation's science
enterprise. The backlogs in the visa system, he said at the March 26
hearing, are "unnecessarily impeding the flow of foreign students
and scholars" who are "a vital source of new ideas and perspectives."
A State Department official explained that the delays are due to stricter
reviews, agencies' response time, a greater caseload, and insufficient
infrastructure to handle the additional cases. She reported that the
relevant agencies recognize the problem and are taking measures to decrease
the delays, but she "didn't see a return to the rapid processing
we enjoyed" before the September 11 attacks. Many committee members
concurred with the comment by Ranking Minority Member Ralph Hall (D-TX)
that more American-born students should be "enticed...to pursue
science and engineering careers," to "reduce the need to attract
such a high percentage of foreign students." College and university
officials voiced support for stricter visa procedures, but added that
it was important for the U.S. to continue to "remain the destination
of choice" for the world's best students and scholars.
A week later, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border
Security and Claims heard university witnesses testify about difficulties
with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) program
to track foreign students studying in this country. They described technical
glitches with entering and viewing data, insufficient training on the
part of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) personnel, and
the potential for greater problems with an increase in data volume as
all foreign students currently in the U.S. are required to be registered
by August 1. The Justice Department's Inspector General reported that
while the INS has made "significant progress" in improving
the system, it is "not yet fully implemented." He stated that
more resources are needed for training, contractor oversight, and to
address the technical problems.
At the AAAS Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy, OSTP Director
Marburger focused on the issue of visa delays. "Most of the current
delays and backlogs are related to our efforts to screen applicants
more rigorously," he explained, "and not as the result of
policies to exclude." Marburger said he has reviewed the rates
of acceptance and rejection for visas in recent years and found "a
small but significant decrease in acceptance rates over all categories,"
with rates for scientists and students comparable to those for other
populations. He indicated that the main problem is delays resulting
from more cases being submitted for additional reviews, and "more
careful scrutiny" during those reviews. He concluded by stating
that the problems are understood, and agencies are working to correct
them. Selected excerpts from his speech will be provided in FYI
#57, and the full text is available in pdf format at http://www.ostp.gov/html/jhmAAASvisas.pdf
.
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