Two Students Denied Visas
By Greg Walters

Two international students from Pakistan and China admitted to Oberlin’s freshman class for this academic year have been unable to obtain student visas to the United States and have been given no notification of how long they will have to wait in their own countries. Three others, from India, Venezuela and China, were also waylaid by the visa process but are set to arrive soon, according to Assistant Dean of Studies Ellen Sayles.
Although Oberlin has had trouble getting visas to students in the past, administrators said this year is exceptional both in the number of students waylaid and the difficulty in fixing the problem. The source of the trouble, President Nancy Dye said, may lie somewhere in the American government’s reaction to Sept. 11.
“It’s disturbing, frankly,” Dye said. “It does indicate that there are real shifts. We certainly from time to time have had students who’ve had difficulties with their consulate or something, but mostly those issues have been with continuing students. They’d have a problem, we’d write a letter to the American consulate there, and that was that.”
This year, such efforts have proved less effective.
“We’ve already faxed and sent letters to the American Embassies in their countries,” Sayles said. “I’ve faxed many, many letters to various places, and sent e-mails. Finally we changed the date when they’re allowed to come to campus. Now they’re allowed to enroll until the end of the add/drop period, in case things loosen up and they’re permitted to come to America. One of these students has already decided to defer until next semester.”
The Immigration and Natural-ization Service, and especially its student visa policy, came under intense criticism when two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were issued student visas a full six months after their deaths.
According to a Sept. 10 New York Times article, the Bush administration has discretely introduced a new immigration policy for males between the ages of 16 and 45 from a list of 26 countries, mostly in the Mideast but including such Muslim majority states as Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Before Sept. 11, most consular offices and embassies could issue visas after a routine check. Now, officials in Washington must approve visas both for men from these countries and men with relatives from these countries. Originally the policy was meant to extend the visa application process by 30 days. But with a backlog of over 100,000 visa applications — mostly from students and businessmen — the paperwork has piled up and the wait has become indefinite, according to the Times.
Neither the INS nor the Department of Justice could be reached for comment.

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