US visa rules anger stranded students ( 2004-02-03 16:22) (eastday.com)
A large, but unknown, number of local students who returned home from
schools in the United States for the Spring Festival are stuck in Shanghai
waiting for US officials to conduct background checks.
Due to a new policy issued recently by the US Department of Defense,
non-American students studying in some high-tech majors such as computers or
telecommunications must undergo the checks before they can renew their visas and
return to the United States.
The policy was set up to prevent students from leaking information that could
be used to build weapons to terrorists.
"It makes me crazy and I can't re-enter the United States to
continue my study after winter vocation," said a 26-year-old man, who came back to
Shanghai at the beginning of last month.
The source, who declined to reveal his name or the university he is studying
at, is a Phd candidate majoring in electronic engineering. He said he was doing
a research on telecommunication signals before he left the university.
"Our family was shocked when the local US consulate informed me that I have
to wait for the 'visa check'," he said.
The state department said that more than 80 percent of background checks are
resolved in two or three weeks, but others may take several months or longer.
"The semester began at the end of last month and I am stranded in the city,"
he said. He is not alone. Five of the eight students he knows of who returned to
the city from the same university are stuck in Shanghai waiting for visas.
For students from countries like China, for whom only six-month visas are
available, visa renewals and background checks are required every time they
leave the United States.
Hundreds of those waiting for new visas in China shared their experiences on
a Tsinghua University's online forum.
The members of the forum faxed a letter to the US Department of Defense, but
received no response.
Fearing visa problems due to the regulation, many Chinese students chose to
stay in America during the Spring Festival, a Chinese traditional festival for
family reunion.
Wang chun, an official working in a public section of the local US consulate,
said he knew nothing about the background checks.
Officials in the visa section were unavailable for comment Monday.