This is the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT.
We continue our series of reports about how foreign students
can attend a college or university in the United States. This
report is on the Special English Internet Web site, w-w-w dot
voaspecialenglish dot com.
The State Department has rules for giving permission to foreign
students to study in the United States. The rules can be found
on the State Department¡¯s travel Web site. The address
is t-r-a-v-e-l dot s-t-a-t-e dot g-o-v. Under Services, go to
Visas for Foreign Citizens to Come to the United States, Nonimmigrant
Visas, Student and Exchange Visitor Visas and Applying for a
Foreign Student Visa.
Every foreign student who has been accepted by a college or
university to study in this country must have a legal document
called a visa from the United States government. The rules for
getting a visa have changed since the terrorist attacks against
the United States last year.
National security is the most important issue in deciding if
a person should be permitted to enter the United States. It
now takes a longer time for a person to receive permission to
enter the country. This past summer, a new policy took effect.
It requires additional security investigations of men between
the ages of sixteen and forty-five from twenty-six countries.
Officials say these men are waiting the longest for their legal
papers.
A State Department spokesman said visa applications that used
to be approved in days are now taking much longer. This is because
officials must see if the name of each student appears on lists
of foreigners with possible links to terrorists. Officials say
that future security investigations are expected to take less
than one month from the time of visa application.
The State Department says international students are not being
studied any more closely than people who want to enter the United
States for other reasons. But students must enter the country
before their college classes begin. So they must apply for the
visa as soon as they can to permit enough time for approval.
Other new rules have also taken effect. For example, universities
must place a confirmation document on a State Department Web
site for every international student they admit. We will have
more information about this next week.
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This V-O-A Special English Education Report
was written by Nancy Steinbach, courtesy of VOAnews.com
