U.S. Eases Certain Visa Requirements on Students and Scientists
The Chronicle of Higher Education
By DAVID GLENNMonday, February 14, 2005
http://chronicle.com/free/2005/02/2005021401n.htmThe U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday relaxed certain visarequirements for foreign students and scientists working in sensitivetechnical fields. People who work or study in the United States under theso-called Visas Mantis program will now be able to maintain their securityclearances for up to four years, rather than needing to renew the clearancesannually.
The Visas Mantis program was established in 1998 by officials who wereconcerned about the international transfer of nuclear, biomedical, andcomputer technology. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,the U.S. State Department began to enforce the program much morestringently, and the number of applicants who underwent background checksincreased nearly twentyfold.
The delays associated with the Mantis program have frequently been cited asa cause of the recent decline in foreign students in the United States.Students have sometimes found themselves stuck in their home countries forweeks or months, awaiting the completion of new background checks identicalto the checks they had undergone the previous year.
In a statement on Friday, Nils Hasselmo, president of the Association ofAmerican Universities, praised the newly liberalized policy as "acommon-sense reform that removes an unnecessary burden that caused enormousinconvenience for thousands of international students and discouraged manymore from coming here to study."
The new policy, which had been rumored for several months, resulted from "arecognition that we needed to make the process as transparent and smooth aone as we could, while keeping in mind our security requirements," Angela P.Aggeler, a spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of ConsularAffairs, said in an interview on Friday. The bureau consulted closely withthe Homeland Security Department in crafting the new regulations.
Under the new policy, international students who hold F visas and who workin sensitive fields that are subject to the Mantis program will be permittedto maintain their security clearances for the full length of their academicprogram, up to a maximum of four years. Students who transfer betweeninstitutions or otherwise change academic programs, however, must undergo anew Mantis clearance when renewing their visas.
