Changes in visa regulations affect 40% of
graduate student population
Little did anybody realize, how September 11 2001 would
change life here at MIT. Most changes have just begun. Chances
are, that you’re part of the 60% of US citizens in the
graduate student population. But of course there is a 40%
chance that you aren’t. Or that somebody you know
isn’t. As Chancellor Phil Clay put it: “if 40% of
the MIT community is hurting, all of us are hurting”.
This is why all of us need to be informed about changes in visa
regulations and how they are going to affect us here at MIT.
This is easier said than done, since according to Danielle
Guichard-Ashbrook, the Director of the International
Student’s Office (ISO), “every week or two
something changes”. She advises students to regularly
check the ISO’s webpage, and not just before you’re
traveling abroad.
The first change for international students was instated in
January 2002. If you have to apply for a visa, which you need
to be valid for reentry into the US, and you are male and
between the ages of 16 - 45, you have to fill out 2 additional
application forms. You need the addresses of 10 friends, who
are not relatives of yours, who can verify your personal
information. You need to report the addresses of all your
immediate family. You also have to remember the dates and
countries you traveled in within the last 10 years. Of course
any military experience has to be documented. Even if
you’re female, you may be requested to fill out these
forms.
Starting July 1st 2002, if you meet certain (but not
publicly known) criteria, your visa application and your visa
documents (including your passport) may be sent to Washington,
DC, for administrative review. So far it takes 4 – 5
months for Washington to give clearance, in which case the
embassy can issue you your visa. If you are male and from the
Middle East, chances are higher that you require special
clearance. But also some Chinese, Russian, French, German and
Swedish students from MIT who applied or reapplied for a visa
this summer required special clearance. According to
Guichard-Ashbrook, “your ethnicity may matter, but also
your department matters”. 6 out of the 20 students who
are still waiting for their special clearance to occur, are
from the Nuclear Engineering Department. Right now, it takes a
minimum of 3 weeks to obtain a visa, and on average it takes 6
– 8 weeks. But you have no way of knowing when you will
receive your visa. Therefore for international students it is a
harsh decision whether they should risk it to leave the US, be
it to visit a dying relative, and then to wait for an undefined
amount of time whether they will receive a visa or not. Just
think of how your advisor would react if you tell her/him that
you’ll be abroad and you don’t know when and if you
will come back.
In September 2002, the Interim Student Exchange Application
System (ISEAS) took effect. In case you need a new visa, the
ISO has to electronically notify and supply the embassy with
information that currently is on your I-20 or IAP-66. These are
visa documents that show that an international student is
legally in the US and which are required for visa applications.
Visas will not be issued if the ISO does not enter the required
data into ISEAS. As the name of this system indicates, this is
just an interim system, to be replaced or complemented (it is
unclear as to what will happen) by the Student Exchange Visitor
Information System (SEVIS) which according to current plans
will be in effect by January 30th, 2003. This system is also
known as student tracking system. It is as of yet unclear as to
exactly what data will be entered in this data base and who
besides the INS has access to it. Likely candidates are the FBI
and CIA. It is clear though that you will not be notified if
any of these agencies accesses your files. In case you need a
new I-20 or IAP-66, the ISO has to submit all your required
information to the INS electronically and the INS will make a
decision within 24h whether the ISO may issue you I-20 or
IAP-66 or not. Right now, the ISO doesn’t have to ask the
INS for permission to issue an I-20 or IAP-66. Once SEVIS is in
effect, the ISO has to report 21 days in advance if you plan to
take a leave of absence including the reason for your leave (no
matter how personal it is). The same is required if you need a
medical leave of absence. Even the reason for a medical leave
has to be reported, which due to confidentiality has never
before been the case. In case you switch departments or your
source of funding changes (from self supported or supported
from abroad to an RA/TA or vice versa), it needs to be
reported. SEVIS is being tested by a few universities at the
moment, and according to Martha Turner, a member of NAFSA
(Association of International Educators) and associate ISO
director of Washington University in St Louis, MO, SEVIS is
fraught with glitches. A glitch in the system or human error
(when entering data) easily causes the system to declare a
student out of legal status. The ISO has no access to the
database other than to enter data, therefore the ISO has no
power to rectify the situation. This unfortunate student then
has to leave the country and may or may not be reinstated.
The anniversary of September 11 was marked by the attorney
general’s office's declaration that Iran, Iraq, Sudan,
Syria, and Libya are state sponsors of terrorism. 13 more
countries (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon,
Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United
Arab Emirates, and Yemen) were added on November 22nd, and more
countries will be added to this list in the near future.
Nationals of these countries and anyone designated by INS
officers at a port of entry (meaning, this can happen to anyone
who is an international student) in the US has to go through a
process called “Special Registration”. This is a
secondary inspection that includes being photographed, finger
printed and interviewed at the port of entry. Within 30 to 40
days of entering the US, you have to appear at the INS in
Boston to be fingerprinted again. “Registered
nonimmigrants are required to notify an INS officer when they
leave or travel from the U.S. When a nonimmigrant is initially
registered, they will be given a list of airports, seaports, or
land ports to use to leave the U.S. Please note: All special
registrants MUST depart ONLY through one of these designated
ports of departure.” For more information, visit
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/lawenfor/specialreg/index.htm.
How the INS makes a decision for declaring you a special
registrant is unclear, Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook said.
The most important thing for an international student right
now is to stay in legal standing. You have to maintain your
full-time student status at all times. In case you move, the
INS has to be notified with your new address within 10 days.
See http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/howdoi/address.htm
for more information. Keep your I-20 or IAP-66 valid at all
times and have it signed by the ISO every 6 months even if you
don’t plan to travel. Notify the ISO 1 month in advance
if you need a new I-20 or IAP-66. If your I-20 or IAP-66 is
already expired, you have to leave the US, since you’re
no longer in legal standing. It will be very hard if not
impossible to get reinstated. So tonight, when you leave your
lab and you go home, check your documents.
