Post-9/11 Visa Processing Often Confusing, Intensive by Sean OíDriscoll On March 11, 2002, six months to the day after Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) notified a Florida flight school that the two men had been approved for student visas. Four months later, Yugoslav pianist and EMI recording artist Aleksandar Serdar was refused a work visa for the Carmel Bach Festival in California, despite having excellent references from some of the worldís top conductors. The differences in visa processing since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks show the sometimes-chaotic evolution of the homeland security system over the past year, with tens of thousands of students and workers caught up in the confused new system. The new Homeland Security bill is an effort to streamline a system that even the State Department admits has spun into ìoverloadî in the wake of Sept. 11. However, the new Department of Homeland Security will also add another level of bureaucracy onto a process that has already undergone multilayered changes in the last year. For example, f oreign nationals must now submit to more intensive screening procedures and are processed through a national law enforcement database to check the applicantís criminal record. The USA Patriot Act, passed in October 2001, also increased the number of intelligence and other federal agency databases available for security screening. In addition, male foreign nationals ages 16 to 45 applying for nonimmigrant visas must complete a supplementary form requesting additional biographical information. A 20-day waiting period was also introduced for nationals of certain countries, the names of which the State Department has not publicized. According to immigration expert Michael K. Ligorano of the Norris, McLaughlin and Marcus legal firm, regulations introduced on Sept. 11 of this year have also ushered in a very strict registration system. These new measures include fingerprinting, periodic interviews at INS offices, and notifying an INS official of any changes to address, school or employment. Any person designated for special registration must also notify an INS official in person before departure from the United States. The system applies to Iranian, Iraqi, Libyan, Sudanese and Syrian citizens, as has been publicized. However, what most people donít realize, said Ligorano, is that any foreign person may have to undergo the same registration system on the recommendation of an overseas consular office or at the discretion of the inspecting INS officer at their entry point into the United States. Additionally, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, enacted on May 14, bars nonimmigrant visas to nationals of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, unless it is determined that the person does not pose a security threat. Now add to these many regulations the new truncated tourist visas, which have decreased in duration from one year to six months. This particular measure has brought a large number of complaints, both from foreign nationals hoping to visit relatives on an extended visit and also from the U.S. tourism industry. INS spokesman Chris Bentley told The Washington Diplomat that it has received about 3,000 e-mails and 300 letters on this subject alone. Delays have also been a major sticking point for applicants. According to State Department consular affairs spokeswoman Kelly Shannon, the long delays in processing this year were caused by ìa system overloadî as the visa system tried to cope with whole new criteria in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. ìWe did face problems while we adjusted to huge new changes, but we are seeing a much more complete system now, and the delays are being smoothed out,î she said. According to new State Department figures, the number of nonimmigrant visas granted has also significantly decreased, as have the number of applications, signifying that fewer workers are willing to go through the tightened security measures, especially as the U.S. economy remains sluggish. In the year up to Sept. 11, 2001, 10.6 million people applied for nonimmigrant visas, and 7.6 million were accepted. By contrast, in the year from Sept. 11, 2001, to Sept., 11, 2002, only 8.4 million applied and 5.8 million were accepted, a drop of about 2 million in each case. The drop in visa numbers has been especially significant in Muslim nations and even in countries such as Turkey, which has few links to al Qaeda terrorists. Ipek Aydin, an intern at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, said she knows many friends in her native Ankara who have been denied a U.S. student visa. ìThese are friends who are from secular families, who have absolutely no connection to extremists, but they are not allowed to enter the United States. Some get here on the second or third attempt, but for many, they feel that they are better off looking elsewhere,î she said. Aydin has also seen a marked difference in work opportunities for foreign workers since Sept. 11. ìMy brother graduated from Indiana University two years ago with an MBA and walked straight into a job. I graduated in May and I am still waiting,î she said. According to Walter Cutler, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the drop in visa numbers for friendly Islamic countries has led to a ìdecrease in dialogueî between the United States and its Muslim allies, at a time when that friendship is needed most. ìThe distrust concerns me, and I think a lot of it is based on a lack of communication at a time when we should be having more,î he said. ìThe lack of visas is one of the barriers we are throwing up. Thousands of Saudis and other students canít come back for junior or senior year because they canít get a visa. They are now going to Australia, and theyíre going to England.î According to Cutler, who served as Saudi ambassador during the Reagan and first Bush administrations, the United States must realize that the terrorist problem is one it shares with its Middle Eastern allies. ìIím worried about a diminishing dialogue just at a point when we need it. We have common problems, and this is the time we should be talking,î he said. Vince Webb, senior vice president of marketing at Management Recruiters International, one of the worldís largest recruitment companies, has seen employers become much more anxious about authorizing visas for foreign workers. ìSince Sept. 11, you have to make sure you are crossing the tís and dotting the iís. Employers are reading the small print of visa documents before signing, whereas before, they would probably just have signed,î he said. However, many in the Washington diplomatic community are reluctant to criticize the visa system, but say they have been working behind the scenes to improve the situation for their citizens. A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy said he was unaware of problems faced by Turkish people seeking visas and that he didnít believe there were many complaints about the visa system made to the embassy. A spokesman for the Jordanian Embassy said that its citizens had faced long delays in some cases, but no more than other countries. ìWe are recognized as being very strong allies of the United States, so the situation is really not all that bad. Some people have had to wait four to six months for a nonimmigrant visa, but that is everywhere,î he said. Raj Kumar Chhibber of the consular section at the Indian Embassy said he has heard of delays lasting more than a year, but that the Indian government would not interfere with Americaís new visa system. ìWe may make approaches, such as when there is a death in the family and someone needs to come to the United States, but we always respect the United Statesís right to introduce changes at this time,î he said. Student visas have also been a particular source of frustration. The current student tracking system is ìuntimely and significantly flawed,î the Justice Departmentís Office of the Inspector General reported earlier this year, adding that serious improvements will have to be made this year. On Jan. 1, a new tracking system will be introduced with information supplied by universities and colleges. Some educators have complained that this new system will be too restrictive and will lead to sharp decreases in the number of foreign students enrolling in U.S. colleges. However, according to the INSís Bentley, the new project will help to smooth out a lot of the problems and make it much easier for colleges to cut down on red tape. ìIíve certainly heard allegations agains t the new methods, but weíre still confident everything will be in place by Jan. 1,î he said. ìWe actually have one part of the system running since Oct. 15. It allows the college to send large blocks of information on a large number of students without having to process each one individually.î Bentley added that the new system has already been working very well, particularly in larger universities, such as UCLA, which has around 5,000 foreign students. Another group of foreign nationalsóartists seeking temporary work visas to perform in the United Statesóhave also been turned away, including 10 of the 28 members of an Iranian music troupe expected to perform at the Lincoln Center in New York during the summer. Other artists have experienced such long delays that they missed their performances. One such group, An Craobh Rua from Belfast, missed seven shows this summer because of a delay in processing applications at the Vermont INS office. Another Irish artistís visa took so long to process that she missed her own exhibitóa tribute to the victims of Sept. 11. ìThe problems at Vermont are being resolved,î said Bentley. ìWe understand peopleís concerns, but we are also there to protect them,î he added. ìI think most people realize that weíre not just doing this for U.S. citizens, weíre doing this for every law-abiding person who enters the United States. We are all vulnerable to terrorism.î Sean OíDriscoll is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.