House Science Committee Addresses
Student Visa Backlog, Problems with SEVIS
March 28, 2003 - The House Science Committee March
26 held a
hearing to learn more about the current backlog of student
visas and the problems associated with the database used to
track those students. Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.)
opened the hearing by noting the need to balance security
with the need for openness to enable scientific inquiry. He
said, "We all need to work together to ensure that foreign
students and scholars do not threaten our security - either
by their presence or their absence." Additionally, Chairman
Boehlert and Ranking Member Ralph Hall (D-Texas) announced
their request that the General Accounting Office (GAO) gather
more complete and accurate data on the visa backlog problem.
Representing the Department of State, Janice Jacobs, deputy
assistant secretary for visa services, addressed primarily
the issue of the student visa backlog. According to Ms. Jacobs,
the additional volume of visa applications requiring extra
security review has been the main cause of the delays. Additional
reviews are being driven in part by concerns over the Technology
Alert List (TAL), a list of technologies and areas of study
that could merit security-related concerns. Ms. Jacobs stated
that, unfortunately, the increased security has come at a
cost of increased processing times.
In a statement endorsed by the AAMC, David Ward, Ph.D., president
of the American Council on Education (ACE), noted that the
Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) has
been implemented before it was thoroughly tested and ready,
that it has technological flaws, that batch processing has
been at best intermittent, and that training has been inadequate.
With the number of records being entered into SEVIS expected
to increase dramatically as the Aug. 1 deadline to enter all
students approaches, Dr. Ward expressed concerns that the
system may not be able to accommodate the huge surge of information.
On the issue of the student visa backlog, Dr. Ward noted that
extensive delays are expected and appropriate to ensure security;
however, he expressed concern that the unpredictability and
inconsistency of decisions is creating havoc on both students
and institutions.
Shirley Tilghman, Ph.D., president of Princeton University,
addressed the potential negative effect the visa backlog could
have on the nation's ability to sustain its international
leadership in science and technology by making it more difficult
to attract the best and brightest students regardless of their
nationality. Dr. Tilghman noted the lack of specificity in
the TAL, and the lack of expertise of consulate officers in
differentiating between security-related and non security-related
areas of study, as major bottlenecks in the visa process.
Her statement also discussed the problems being encountered
by students that are already studying in this country when
they return home temporarily or go to an international conference
and are subsequently unable to re-enter the country. Dr. Tilghman
endorsed a pre-approval or pre-certification process that
would ease the re-entry problems certain international students
and scholars.
There was a general consensus among committee members and
witnesses about the need for national security to take precedence,
but also about the value of foreign students to the academic
strength of the country. However, some concerns were voiced,
particularly by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) about the
numbers of foreign students in the classroom, and the high
percentages of physical sciences Ph.D.'s being awarded to
foreign students. In response, both Chairman Boehlert and
Dr. Tilghman argued that additional funding is needed for
K-12 science education to increase the numbers of American
students in the physical sciences. Chairman Boehlert indicated
his intention to ask both Dr. Ward and Dr. Tilghman to submit
to the committee ideas for a more workable visa program, and
promised to share those ideas with the Department of State.
Information:
Jonathan Fishburn, Director, Research, Education and Veterans' Legislative Affairs
AAMC Office of Governmental Relations
jfishburn@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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