Thursday, May 05, 2005
Strict US visa policy scares away students, investors
Strict US visa policy scares away students, investors - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A teenage Asian girl with a valid student visa was handcuffed and deported for entering the United States five days earlier than stipulated, highlighting strict American immigration policy.
A 79-year-old British historian, who came to work at the US Library of Congress on the life of US former chief diplomat Henry Kissinger, was herded on arrival in a wheelchair at Washington's Dulles airport to a small room facing a superintendent with a revolver in his hip for no apparent mistake.
Although all his travel papers were in order, "I was stopped and treated rather disgracefully," lamented Sir Alistair Horne at a conference in Washington Tuesday.
Stringent enforcement of US visa policy and seemingly overzealous immigration officers following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks are not only scaring away foreign students and tourists but dampening the investment climate of the world's richest nation and taking a toll on its economy, experts told the conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Among the other cases cited to highlight the economic, security, scientific and diplomatic implications of changes in US visa policy were:
-- An international business conference in Hawaii had to be shifted to Hong Kong at the last minute because the organizers could not obtain travel papers for most of its participants, who were from China.
-- Some of US aviation giant Lockheed Martin Corporation's testing of its civil space activities have been delayed because visas could not be obtained on time for Russian scientists.
-- A company in northern Illinois waited in vain for seven months for its prospective buyers from China to get a visa to inspect its products and close a multi million dollar sale. Eventually the company became bankrupt and was auctioned off.
According to one private sector study, US businesses lost nearly 31 billion dollars in sales between 2002 and 2004 because foreign executives could not get into the United States to purchase American goods and services or attend trade shows.
From 2003 to 2004, there was a roughly 30 percent decline in the number of applicants for US graduate programs and correspondingly 20 percent decline in admissions, university figures showed.
The situation is critical and requires the personal intervention of President George W. Bush, former defense secretary Frank Carlucci told the conference.
....
Jordan's ambassador to Washington Karim Tawfiq Kawar said there had been a drop of more than 30 percent of students from the Arab world coming to the United States to study.
A survey showed 65 percent of students from six Middle East countries still wanted to study in the United States but "only one quarter of those who came here had a positive experience." ¶ 12:34 AM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A teenage Asian girl with a valid student visa was handcuffed and deported for entering the United States five days earlier than stipulated, highlighting strict American immigration policy.
A 79-year-old British historian, who came to work at the US Library of Congress on the life of US former chief diplomat Henry Kissinger, was herded on arrival in a wheelchair at Washington's Dulles airport to a small room facing a superintendent with a revolver in his hip for no apparent mistake.
Although all his travel papers were in order, "I was stopped and treated rather disgracefully," lamented Sir Alistair Horne at a conference in Washington Tuesday.
Stringent enforcement of US visa policy and seemingly overzealous immigration officers following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks are not only scaring away foreign students and tourists but dampening the investment climate of the world's richest nation and taking a toll on its economy, experts told the conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Among the other cases cited to highlight the economic, security, scientific and diplomatic implications of changes in US visa policy were:
-- An international business conference in Hawaii had to be shifted to Hong Kong at the last minute because the organizers could not obtain travel papers for most of its participants, who were from China.
-- Some of US aviation giant Lockheed Martin Corporation's testing of its civil space activities have been delayed because visas could not be obtained on time for Russian scientists.
-- A company in northern Illinois waited in vain for seven months for its prospective buyers from China to get a visa to inspect its products and close a multi million dollar sale. Eventually the company became bankrupt and was auctioned off.
According to one private sector study, US businesses lost nearly 31 billion dollars in sales between 2002 and 2004 because foreign executives could not get into the United States to purchase American goods and services or attend trade shows.
From 2003 to 2004, there was a roughly 30 percent decline in the number of applicants for US graduate programs and correspondingly 20 percent decline in admissions, university figures showed.
The situation is critical and requires the personal intervention of President George W. Bush, former defense secretary Frank Carlucci told the conference.
....
Jordan's ambassador to Washington Karim Tawfiq Kawar said there had been a drop of more than 30 percent of students from the Arab world coming to the United States to study.
A survey showed 65 percent of students from six Middle East countries still wanted to study in the United States but "only one quarter of those who came here had a positive experience." ¶ 12:34 AM
