Congress tightens controls on granting visas

For years, students have left their homes in countries across the globe to study at IU and other universities in the United States. Because of recent legislation, IU President Adam Herbert and other university officials fear this traditionally large international student population could decline significantly.\nAt the invitation of Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., President Herbert went to Washington, D.C. last October to ask Congress to loosen its regulations for granting visas to students wishing to study in the United States. He testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Lugar is the chair, that post-Sept. 11 visa procedures were causing problems for international students. \nDespite his testimony, Congress passed a major security bill just before Christmas preventing U.S. consular officials from waiving the 90-second personal appearance interviews, which became part of the visa application process after Sept. 11. \nChristopher Viers, associate dean for International Programs and director of the Office of International Services, said these mandatory interviews have resulted in bottlenecks at U.S. embassies and consulates, making it difficult for international students and scholars to travel to and from the United States. He said IU advocated allowing officials to waive the interviews in low-risk cases. Viers said an example of a low-risk case would be a current student who has been in the United States for a while with no status violations, has returned home for a visit and must apply for a new visa to return. \n"Unfortunately, the new legislation takes this discretionary authority away from consular officials and mandates an interview for all visa applicants, irrespective of their previous history with our country," Viers said. "In many countries, this means that students and scholars must now make three personal visits to the embassy to apply for a visa, often having to travel extremely long distances to do so."\nThis procedure also creates delays. Lynn Schoch, senior associate director of International Services, said embassies are overwhelmed with requests for interviews. \n"It can take a very long time just to get your five minutes with an officer," Schoch said. \nSchoch said students often have to make their requests months ahead of time, which leaves no room for last minute decisions and admissions. Some students who face the decision to put off their educations for a year opt to study elsewhere. \n"As it becomes harder and harder to be a scholar in the U.S., other countries are making it easier, so we are seeing an increasing number of students going to Australia, Canada and Great Britain," Schoch said. "I fear that the long-term effect will be to discourage international students from studying in the U.S."\nSchoch's fear may soon become a reality. This year was the first in more than a decade in which IU saw a decline in international students, said Larry MacIntyre, IU's director of media relations. There are 4,455 international students currently enrolled at all eight IU campuses combined, which represents a 4.2 percent decrease from 2003, when IU had 4,647. He said the decrease in the number of international applicants could become a potential problem for the University and other schools across the nation.\nMark Helmke, a senior staff member for Sen. Lugar's Foreign Relations Committee, said things need to change. Helmke said Sen. Lugar is working to improve the situation by holding a series of roundtable forums in D.C., which assemble representatives from universities throughout the country, senators and representatives from the Departments of State and Homeland Security. These forums aim to discuss ways to strike a fair balance between national security concerns and the preservation of international students' access to a U.S. education. Helmke said there are at least three forums scheduled for upcoming months.\n"The law is the law. We still don't want foreign terrorists to come to the U.S. disguised as students, as has happened," Helmke said. "But the U.S. wants foreign students here. We want to see a change in attitude (about the process) because right now these students are being treated as guilty until proven innocent."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Lindsay Lyon at lrlyon@indiana.edu.