Reversing the tide: a complex visa process has contributed to a decline in the number of international students coming to the country since 9/11

Black Issues in Higher Education, Nov 4, 2004 by Dahna Chandler

In January, Humphrey Tusimiirwe, a native of Uganda, finally realized his dream of pursuing a psychology degree at a U.S. university. What he didn't realize, however, was how arduous the U.S. student visa process would be. Although Tusimiirwe, 23, submitted the required paperwork and had outstanding recommendations from a U.S. senator, as well as from the president of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., where he was applying to attend, the U.S. Consulate in Uganda denied his application twice. They asserted that Tusimiirwe--who is single, owns no property and has only one living parent--was denied because he could not prove he had enough social and economic ties to Uganda that would make him return after obtaining his degree.

"It's ridiculous to make those things considerations for granting visas to students since most don't have a spouse, children or property," Tusimiirwe says of a process that he believes weeds out those who can't or don't persevere.

Tusimiirwe says he didn't contemplate giving up even though each denial meant reapplying and driving 40 miles before dawn to Uganda's capital, Kampala, and waiting in line and paying additional fees for a two- or three-minute interview. The interviews, which are held in an open room where all present can hear the proceedings, are humiliating, says Tusimiirwe, who began the visa process in July 2003 hoping to enter St. Thomas that fall. Fortunately for Tusimiirwe, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., whose son also entered the university in September, intervened, and Tusimiirwe got a one-year visa. But even Coleman had to make two attempts to sway reluctant consular officials.

It is this visa process, along with perceptions that a post-Sept. 11 America is unwelcoming, not to mention fierce competition from non-U.S, schools, that is driving declines in international student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities.

"These are really smart students, accepted at universities all over the world, wanting to come here because a U.S. university education is best," says Tusimiirwe. "But the visa process is grueling and discouraging, so many just go to schools in Australia or Europe."

And because attending institutions outside of the United States is easier than navigating the U.S. visa process, schools in countries such as India and China aggressively market to international students to bring their intellect, work ethic, skill and tuition money to their schools, says Heath Brown, director of research and policy analysis at the Council of Graduate Schools.

ENDURANCE AND THEN SOME

Tusimiirwe's experience is hardly unique among international students and scholars who want to enter the United States to study and conduct research.

"In particular, always travel-oriented West Africans find the West an attractive destination, and most Africans want an American education enough to endure the visa process," says Nancy Keketu, a regional educational advising coordinator for NAFSA's OverSeas Educational Advisers based in Ghana.

While students from other parts of the globe have also been affected by post-Sept. 11 visa policies, "Getting visas in Africa is no harder than it's always been," says Keketu, an African American who has lived in the West African country for 28 years. She remains optimistic about her students and scholars obtaining visas, but she expects the Sept. 11-related difficulties that students in China, India and Korea are experiencing to begin to affect Africa in the next few years. She is concerned about seeing the discouragement among her students who generally only get visas if accepted into elite U.S. institutions.

But Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials defend tightened visa requirements, saying that the war on terrorism makes such heightened restrictions necessary. Accordingly, DHS launched the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) in 2002. Used by immigration and customs enforcement to track and monitor foreign students and scholars issued F-1 visas to study in the United States, SEVIS now collects and manages information on 730,000 international students and scholars at 8,700 approved schools and programs nationwide.

But obtaining visas through this complex system is fraught with delays, inconsistent methods for application screening and denials for arbitrary reasons. Students and scholars with short-stay visas, like Tusimiirwe, must return to their home countries to renew their visas. Those who visit family sometimes must reapply for U.S. re-entry to continue programs in which they're already enrolled. The process is multi-tiered, different countries have different roles for family members of married students, for students who don't have scholarships who have the additional burden of proving the ability to pay for their entire program, and other regulations based on area of study.

For example, scholars coming to the United States to do scientific research go through the more rigorous Visas Mantis, which intensely scrutinizes those involved with sensitive technologies. In some countries, getting an interview for that process can take up to 12 weeks.