The perceived difficulty of acquiring a visa to study in the United States remains a discouraging factor for international students and is partially responsible for a drop in applications from international students, said Laura Tischler, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs.
The problems facing international students seeking visas were discussed briefly Tuesday during a Congressional hearing on the weaknesses of the visa system.
"The bottom line was that perception counts a lot," said Thomas Costa, a professional staff member of the House subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. "The student visa delays that occurred after 9/11 did not continue to occur, although there was a perception that they still existed."
The number of international students applying to study in the United States has decreased dramatically over the years since the Sept. 11 attacks, with many of the early problems revolving around security checks and background checks, said Rebecca Brown, director of the University's International Studies Office.
The effects of the tightened security procedures resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks are ongoing but have diminished over the past few years, Brown said.
"It's nowhere near what it was before," she said.
The U.S. government also has recently adopted a policy of extending the duration of student visas to four years in an effort to streamline the process of coming and going from the country during their time of study, Brown said.
Other factors contributing to the decrease in applications from international students include competitive promoting and pricing by universities in other countries, Tischner said.
The factors in recent years that have led to international students' perception that acquiring a visa for the United States is difficult include the relatively new policy of the federal government of eliminating the option of a personal appearance waiver, or exemptions from personal interviews extended to many types of visa applicants.
"The federal government now requires every person who wants to come here to go to an interview with the U.S. consulate," Brown said.
This is a problem for some students due to the inconvenience of having to travel to the nearest U.S. consulate, motivating international students to seek attendance with schools in countries with more relaxed immigration processes, Brown said.
"Processing of student visas has become more complex, and that has made the process longer," Tischler said.
More stringent security measures may still provide difficulties for certain international students, such as those who wish to study "sensitive technologies" -- which requires additional security checks and the approval from multiple national security agencies.
Despite these real and perceived difficulties, the federal government is working to encourage more students to study in the United States, Tischler said.
"The wait time for student visas is significantly less than visas for other non-immigrant applicants," she said.
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