U-M, education groups call for changes in visa process

Updated 5:10 PM June 17, 2004

U-M, education groups call for changes in visa process

By Katie Gazella

Tom Lamb thought everything was in order when he and a student went to Shanghai last fall to present a paper on ship production.

The student assured Lamb, research scientist in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, that she had checked with the International Center to ensure that there would be no problem in visiting her homeland and returning to the United States after the presentation.

But it turned out she had a visitor's visa instead of a student visa. She was told she would have to apply for a student visa, a process that would take at least seven weeks. She had to stay in Shanghai for nine weeks as she waited for a new visa to be issued, missing much of the fall semester.

"She was only going to be there for two weeks," Lamb says, and he cautions students to be aware of the tighter security regulations related to visa applications in the post-9/11 world.

"Things are different now than what they were a few years ago. Students should plan for the extended time it takes to get visas today, and once here should not leave the U.S. until they have finished their studies."

Because of incidents such as this, U-M administrators are among the leaders of a growing national chorus of people concerned that a slowdown in the processing of visa applications for security purposes is causing a brain drain in the United States.

The bottleneck is affecting universities in a variety of ways, including a noticeable decrease in student applications from abroad and difficulties in getting faculty and speakers from other countries, says John Godfrey, assistant dean of international education at the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

"It's a very serious problem. We've seen a decline of about 25 percent in international student applications in the past year," Godfrey says.

In May, more than 20 science, higher-education and engineering groups—representing about 95 percent of the U.S. research community—urged the federal government to adopt recommendations for solving what they call the "visa-processing crisis" by removing unnecessary barriers to multi-national discoveries.

"We are resolute in our support of a secure visa system and believe that a more efficient system is a more secure one," the groups wrote in a statement to U.S. policymakers. "We also are confident that it is possible to have a visa system that is timely and transparent, that provides for thorough reviews of visa applicants, and that still welcomes the brightest minds in the world."

The groups included the Association of American Universities (AAU), the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The statement says there is increasing evidence that visa-related problems are discouraging and preventing the "best and brightest international students, scholars and scientists" from coming to the United States for study and work.

Recommendations include extending the validity of Visas Mantis security clearances for international students, scholars and scientists from the current one-year period to the duration of their course of study or academic appointment; providing consistent treatment of visa applications; and more (to view the letter, visit http://www.aau.edu/resources/JointVisaStatement.pdf).

At U-M, President Mary Sue Coleman has been involved in the issue through her position in AAU, and the International Center Director Rodolfo Altamirano has been involved with the issues of visa clearances and the tracking of foreign students and scholars under the Student and Exchange Visitors Information System (SEVIS). Rackham administrators have written letters to Secretary of State Colin Powell asking for a more streamlined visa process.

Cindy Bank, assistant director of the U-M Washington Office, was a member of a group that served as a sounding board for the new recommendations and has been actively involved in national efforts to craft more user-friendly regulations.

Security problems have caused some faculty members to get stuck in other countries for lengthy periods due to security-related delays, Bank says. A faculty member from Ukraine, for instance, went to that country to give a lecture. He was unable to return to U-M for nine months.

The Population Studies Center last October invited Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi, chair of the Department of Demography at the University of Tehran, to a June conference, but he was unable to attend due to what Godfrey calls a "creaky" security clearance process. Numerous other incidents have delayed or prevented others from visiting or attending U-M, Bank says.

Godfrey notes countries such as Canada, Britain and Australia now are becoming more appealing to many foreign students, researchers and faculty members.

"As we raise barriers," he says, "we're doing so at a time when other countries have been opening the door to more international students."

If you have experienced delays in the visa process and wish to report them to Godfrey, contact him at jgodfrey@umich.edu.

U-M, education groups call for changes in visa process

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