U.S. State Department Bars Foreign Students From Renewing Their Visas in Canada or Mexico
Nov 30, 2001 The
Chronicle of Higher Education
By SARA HEBEL
Washington
Foreign students studying in the United States are being
temporarily prohibited from renewing their visas in Canada and Mexico if they
are not citizens of those countries. The practice of doing so has been popular
with some foreigners who want to change their visa status quickly or who need
to renew their visas, which can be done only outside the United States.
Some campus officials who work with international students
say the policy change -- which the U.S. State Department announced on November
19 -- has led them to advise some students whose visas have expired to cancel
holiday trips home this year or to forgo other travels, such as those to
academic conferences overseas.
These students, who otherwise might have filed new visa
applications in Canada or Mexico, may not be able to renew their visas in their
home countries quickly enough to allow them to re-enter the United States in
time for their classes, the campus officials say. Foreign students had been
allowed to set an appointment time with officials in Canada and Mexico to renew
their visas, making the process more efficient in those countries. Students from
some countries -- such as China, South Korea, and
India, where there is a perception that U.S. visas are
growing harder to get -- are worried that they would be denied a new visa if
they have to go home to reapply.
"Midyear travel, if you need a new visa, is very
insecure," said Jerry D. Wilcox, director of the international office at
the University of Texas at Austin. "Everything is up in the air as to how
fast you can get processed."
Since September 11, State Department officials have
announced that some applicants for U.S. visas will face additional processing
requirements and security-clearance checks. Because those procedures may delay
the issuance of some nonimmigrant visas for students and workers, State
Department officials were worried that applicants could become "marooned for
a lengthy period of time" in Canada or Mexico if they did not issue the
new policy preventing individuals from seeking new visas there.
A State Department official emphasized on Thursday that the
new prohibition was "very temporary." The official said the department
expected to lift it once additional measures are in place to prevent terrorists
from entering the United States.
Campus officials who work with international students said
they felt that, even though the new rules are inconvenient for students, the
department was acting responsibly. Federal officials were smart, they said, to
prevent students from being trapped in other countries and to temporarily plug
a potential hole in national security.
"The State Department is trying to walk a very fine
line of doing their part to address security measures while at the same time wanting
to keep open positive relations with other countries, and to help the United
States remain open as a country," said
Susan J. D'Amico, associate director of the
international-services office at George Washington University.
The campus officials, though, said some of the new
immigration guidelines are vague, causing broader concerns about obstacles any
foreign student traveling to Canada or Mexico for any reason might face.
Under a process known as "automatic revalidation,"
foreign students and other nonimmigrants who are living in the United
States with expired visas have been able to re-enter the
United States from Canada and Mexico -- and in some cases, certain
Caribbean countries -- without renewing their visas, as long
as they were in good standing with United States officials when they left and
had been gone for no more than 30 days.
But the officials said federal guidelines have not been
clear about whether the extra security clearances now required of some individuals
might prevent some students who travel to Canada or Mexico from re-entering the
United States without reapplying for a visa. Those students, too, then could
get stuck in those countries, the campus officials worried.
Mr. Wilcox said he also has concerns about the general
direction of recent immigration rules for students. He fears that they could
end up providing a disincentive for foreigners studying on American campuses to
ever return home or take a job there.
"You are scaring people to say good-bye forever to
their families," he said.