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FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 57: April 25, 2003

Marburger Discusses Visa Problems for Foreign Students, Scientists

As reported in FYI #56, John Marburger, Director of the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy, discussed the visa problems
facing foreign scientists and students at the recent Colloquium on
Science and Technology Policy held by the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. While he could have addressed many issues
of science policy, he said, "I decided to narrow my remarks this
morning to a single important issue affecting the science and higher
education communities. The issue is the ability of foreign technical
personnel, including students and scientists, to visit the United
States for meetings, research collaborations, or educational
pursuits."   Marburger said little about the Student and Exchange
Visitor Information System (SEVIS) process or about the
not-yet-finalized Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security
(IPASS) process to "identify sensitive courses of study" and
"identify problematic applicants for student visas." Selected
excerpts from his April 10 speech follow.  Interested readers can
find the full text in pdf format at

http://www.ostp.gov/html/jhmAAASvisas.pdf :

VALUE OF FOREIGN SCIENTISTS, STUDENTS:
"Let me begin by stating clearly that this Administration values the
contribution foreign scientists and students make to the nation's
scientific enterprise, to our economy, and to the appreciation of
American values throughout the world. We want to make it possible for
any visitor who does not mean us harm to come and go across United
States borders without significant inconvenience or delay.... My aim
is to characterize the visa system as it applies to students and
scientists, and describe what is being done to make it work better."

VISA APPLICATION STATISTICS:
"First let me give you some numbers. For the past four years, the
annual number of nonimmigrant visa applications has varied between 8
and 10 million, of which about 75% are granted.... Of those admitted,
approximately 20% are in the F, M, and J categories in which students
and exchange visitors fall.... By this August all international
students must be registered through SEVIS. National Laboratories and
other institutions also use SEVIS to enter and track foreign visitor
information.... The system has experienced well-publicized glitches.
DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] has hired experts to
identify and resolve issues, and is monitoring and correcting
problems..." 

"The visa process begins at the consular office in the country of
origin.... Consular officers judge each application on its merits in
accordance with existing immigration laws and procedures.... The
first opportunity for rejection comes at this stage, and the most
common cause by far is 'failure to establish intent to return to the
home country'.... The next largest cause of rejection at the consular
stage seems to be 'application does not comply with INA
requirements'.... I have personally reviewed detailed statistics for
rates of acceptance and rejection over the past five years in various
visa categories from various countries, and find a small but
significant decrease in acceptance rates over all categories. Changes
in student and scientist rates do not appear to differ from those of
other categories." 

DELAYS IN PROCESSING:
"So where is the problem? Unfortunately, while rejection rates for
science- or study-related activities remain small, the number of
cases submitted for additional review has increased dramatically
since 9/11. This increase, plus more careful scrutiny of the
submitted cases, has led to processing backlogs that have created
excessive delays in notification. Solutions focus on removing these
backlogs and changing the way cases are processed, without
sacrificing the rigor of the review." 

REVIEW PROCEDURES:
"Three different review procedures dominate the process for the
classes of visas we are considering. First, all applications are
checked with the Consular Lookout Automated Support System (CLASS).
This system compares names with lists from the FBI's National
Criminal Information Center, and the intelligence community's TIPOFF
data base on terrorists, etc." 

"The other two reviews are conducted only when the consular official
judges that the application meets special criteria. One of these,
code-named MANTIS, was established...to exclude applicants whom a
consular official or, since March 1, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, has reasonable grounds to believe intends to violate or
evade laws governing the export of goods, technology, or sensitive
information. The decision to submit an application for MANTIS review
is based on guidance accompanying a Technology Alert List compiled by
State Department Officials with input from other federal agencies.
The other federal agencies also assist in evaluating the cases. ...
The statistics tell a story: In calendar year 2000, about 1,000 cases
were reviewed under MANTIS, and 2,500 the following year. In 2002 the
figure jumped to 14,000, overloading the system last summer and fall.
Today the State Department estimates that at any given time there are
about 1,000 visa applications in the MANTIS review process. FBI and
State are dedicating fulltime individuals to clean up the backlog.

"The second special review, code-named CONDOR, is entirely new since
9/11 and is devoted to identifying potential terrorists. In both
systems, the flood of new case submittals following 9/11 required
changes in methodology to maintain the quality of the reviews. In the
past, if the State Department received no derogatory information from
the supporting agencies in 30 days, it was assumed there was no
objection to the visa issuance. But in the summer of 2002, the
backlog was such that no agency could give assurance that 30 days was
enough, and the 30 day rule was suspended. State must now wait for
affirmative replies from participating agencies before it informs
consular officers that there is no objection to issuance."

CONCLUSION:
"We think we understand what is happening, where the problems are,
and how they can be addressed," Marburger concluded.  He encouraged
"a better knowledge among all parties regarding how the visa system
works, and what are its objectives. Very few applicants are
terrorists, and therefore a properly working system will not reject
large numbers on grounds related to terrorism.... Most of the current
delays and backlogs are related to our efforts to screen applicants
more rigorously, and not as the result of policies to exclude....
Students and visiting scientists need to get accurate information
from their institutions and collaborators about how and when to apply
for visas. We can all help make the system work better."  He called
for "a frame of mind within the technical and higher education
communities that perhaps falls short of patience, but rises above
hysteria.... If the devil is in the details, then so is the
opportunity for good will to produce a favorable outcome."

###############
Audrey T. Leath
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi{at}aip.org
(301) 209-3094
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