This editorial appeared in Volume 51, Issue 7, Page B10 of the Chronicle of Higher Education, published October 8, 2004

By ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CONSULAR AFFAIRS MAURA HARTY

We at the U.S. State Department are keenly aware that fostering academic and scientific exchanges is crucial to the national security of the United States. That is why we have greatly improved the visa process with the goal of balancing, in Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's words, "secure borders" and "open doors." In no other area have we worked as hard to achieve a balance as with students, scientists, researchers, and exchange visitors.

The security changes required in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, have been criticized for discouraging students and scholars from studying or teaching in the United States. However, working with other government agencies and academic and scientific groups, we have made real progress in improving the transparency, efficiency, and predictability of the visa process. I am pleased to note that we have turned a corner.

For instance, because students and exchange visitors are subject to admissions deadlines, last spring we instructed all of our consular sections worldwide to give priority to such visa applicants. In response they developed innovative and effective ways of doing so, and most student applicants receive visa appointments within one week -- some the very next day after requesting it. A student applying for a visa in Beijing, Istanbul, or Mumbai today, for example, can secure an appointment within two days.

We have also made reforms in the Visa Mantis system, which carries out interagency security checks on applicants for visas to study in approximately 200 scientific and technical fields related to national security. Although the screening process applies to only a small number of all visa applicants worldwide (2.5 percent), it was dependent upon outdated technology, and we recognized early on that it needed to be overhauled so that the several federal agencies involved could communicate with each other quickly and clearances could be processed promptly. As a result, we have now automated the clearance process, thereby eliminating the possibility of cases' being lost and providing for greater tracking and accountability.

Thanks to further restructuring of the Visa Mantis process, as of the beginning of September, 98 percent of the special technology clearances are being processed within 30 days of receipt. That has enabled us to clear a backlog of some 2,000 cases. We have also extended Visa Mantis clearances to one year for those returning to participate in the same programs. Moreover, we are actively exploring with other agencies the possibility of expanding the validity of certain clearances to better facilitate travel for continuing students who require a new visa.

Another result of our close cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security is the smooth implementation of Sevis, the DHS database used to track foreign students in the United States. Sevis is an important tool in eliminating fraudulent applications. Because it has given consular officers increased confidence when adjudicating student-visa cases, it has, in turn, helped speed up the processing of visa applications.

Our efforts to improve the transparency and predictability of the application process have resulted in visa applicants' having more -- and more accurate -- information as they plan their travel. U.S. embassies and consulates have been asked to post the current waiting times for visa appointments on their Web sites and to update the information regularly. We also recently overhauled our department Web site ( http://www.travel.state.gov ) to make it more user-friendly and to provide additional resource material. Having more information about the process helps visa applicants be better prepared when they come for an interview. I urge you to join the 200 million people who visited the site last year alone!

The loss of even one qualified student to another nation is one too many. When a student goes elsewhere, we haven't lost only the student. We have lost his or her parents, who have clearly decided to spend their money elsewhere. We have very likely lost younger siblings, who will follow in the footsteps of an older brother or sister. Most important to me, though, we have lost the chance for a student to see the wonders of America through his or her own eyes, rather than through the prism of a foreign news-media outlet that may be biased. When a student grows up and becomes a social, civic, political, or perhaps religious leader at home, we want that leader to have had the quintessential experience of life on an American college or university campus. A young person's positive experience in America strengthens and enriches our nation. And we are informed every day in what we do by our desire to welcome those students to our shores.

The State Department shares the goal of the American academic and scientific communities in striving to attract foreign students, professors, and scientists to our colleges and research institutions. The global market for international educational opportunities is becoming increasingly competitive. That is the environment in which we are all working. We have turned the corner in our ability to provide predictable and efficient service to those who want to know more about America. Now we need to regain the competitive advantage that America has always enjoyed. Student-visa issuances for January through June 2004 increased 11 percent over the same six-month period in 2003. Let us continue to work together to build on that positive trend.

Outdated information and misperceptions that may, in some cases, have discouraged students and scholars from traveling to the United States need not become self-fulfilling. We in the State Department are doing our part to support the resurgence of students and scientists applying for -- and receiving -- their visas in a timely manner. We ask academic and research organizations and the news media to join our efforts to attract students and scientists to our country, a nation that welcomes them and is the premier destination in the world for education and scientific research.