Government restricts visas
By Jane Stevener and Elizabeth Blan
Old Gold and Black Reporter and News Edidtor

President George W. Bush said Oct. 29 that his administration plans to “tighten up the visa policy” and track foreign students more carefully when they are in the United States. This policy, adopted following the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., will have an effect on universities across the country and here as well.
“Something big in terms of renovating the recent system and how it applies to students is on the horizon,” said Kent Greer, the university’s international student adviser.
Michael Becraft, the acting deputy commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, spoke before the House Education Committee Oct. 31 about the possible policy changes.

“Although the INS currently maintains limited records on foreign students and is able to access that information on demand, that information is on old technology platforms that are insufficient for today’s need for rapid access,” Becraft said in his speech.
According to Becraft, a new program, Student Exchange Visitor Information System, will be implemented to keep better tabs on international students. “Objections, primarily by the academic establishment, have delayed implementation of the student tracking fee necessary to complete deployment of the system,” Becraft said, “However, with the events of Sept. 11, that objection has nearly disappeared.… The INS intends to beat Congress’ deadline of January 2003 to start implementation of SEVIS.”
Many believe that the new tracking program will increase efficiency and fill in current gaps in communication between universities, the INS, the FBI and the CIA.
“I am in favor of CIPRIS (the former name of SEVIS); we are always battling efficiency,” Greer said.

The new law requires a 30-day waiting period during the background check process.
According to Greer, this increased scrutiny and “blanket policy” may cause students to be unfairly targeted as “potential terrorists” and denied visas.
“I think that the INS will be more stringent and thorough in their background checks for international students from the Middle East,” he said. “They may experience some delay.”

Akhil Bhansali, a student in the Babcock School of Management, said he personally was granted a visa without any problems, though he knew of friends in India whose visas for the upcoming spring semester were recently denied.

“I do think that in a postwar scenario there is a need for more scrutiny ... as it is quite justifiable for the country’s security,” Bhansali said. “I was thoroughly checked when I was issued a visa, but it was not much a problem as I applied my visa through USEFI (United Student Education Foundation in India).”

“I do not believe that this bill will limit the number of students here,” Greer said. “If there is an effect, it’ll be delays in getting visas and increased scrutiny on the part of the INS.”.