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Chronicle of Higher Education
December 9, 2004

"Congress Blocks Exemptions That Colleges Had Hoped Would Ease Visa Delays"

By KELLY FIELD

Washington

Hidden in the intelligence-reform bill that cleared Congress on Wednesday is a provision that would bar the U.S. State Department from exempting more foreign students and scholars from a requirement that they have a personal interview with a consular officer before getting a visa.

The language in the bill (S 2845) would codify current regulations, making it impossible for the State Department to offer additional exemptions in the future. The existing regulations, which were revised last year, allow consular officers to waive visa interviews for diplomats, travelers on NATO business, and members of international organizations like the United Nations, among others, but require interviews with consular officers for most visa applicants.

Higher-education groups have been lobbying the State Department to let consular officers waive the interview requirement for some students and scholars, although the department has said it was unlikely to do so (The Chronicle, October 8, 2004). The lobbyists had hoped that the waivers would reduce the visa delays that many scholars and students have faced in coming to American colleges.

Victor C. Johnson, associate executive director for public policy at Nafsa: Association of International Educators, said the language in the bill "was very unfortunate because we've been working with the State Department over the last year to try to find ways to ease up on the visa restrictions."

A spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, Kelly G. Shannon, said the agency had not requested the provision.

The intelligence bill, which would create a director of national intelligence and a counterterrorism center, was passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday and the House of Representatives on Tuesday. It is expected to be signed into law by President Bush.

This file was updated on December 10, 2004