While the visa process seems to be improving, foreign students and researchers can take certain steps to better cope with the most frequently reported visa problems. All visa applicants should try to submit their application at least three months before they need to travel. If an applicant has not received a response or decision within 30 days after submitting a visa application, the applicant should visit the National Academy of Sciences’ visa website. Once there, the applicant should fill out the visa questionnaire.
At first glance, the NAS questionnaire appears to be a form to gather information for statistical purposes, but it is actually much more. NAS staff members review the questionnaires each week to identify applications that are still pending 30 days past the initial application date. Each week, every such case is reported to the State Department. This process continues every week until each case has been resolved. The State Department notifies NAS staff each week of the cases that have been resolved. This system helps make sure that the State Department is aware of stalled cases and ensures that they don’t fall through the cracks.
Students who wish to make a temporary visit to their home country should make their return preparations before leaving the US. The State Department recently began posting wait times for visa appointments and processing for consular offices around the world at this website. While the average wait time for Visas Mantis cases is reportedly shorter than it was last summer, bear in mind that these reported wait times are only averages, not guarantees.
The following suggestions may lessen the hardship of waiting for visa processing:
- Before leaving the US, visit the State Department’s visa website to estimate the average wait time for scheduling the interview necessary to return to the US, and determine the average wait time for obtaining a visa at the appropriate consulate. Likewise, a link from the department’s website to embassies’ consular section websites enables students to review local procedures and find instructions on how to make an interview appointment.
- Before departing the US, try to schedule your return interview at the appropriate consulate. Request that the interview occur as soon as possible upon your arrival in your home county.
- Make backup arrangements for food and housing in the event of a delayed visa. Students may also wish to arrange a way to continue communicating with US academic advisers when outside the US.
Since the joint statement was issued, it appears that the Department of State and DHS are working with the scientific and higher-educational societies toward some improvement in the transparency, efficiency, and predictability of the visa process. In response to the joint statement, Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, wrote of the visa-processing improvements in a letter to Quinn, stating, “I am pleased to note that we have turned a corner.”
Nonetheless, many scientists remain skeptical about the reported improvements. As Quinn responded to Harty, “A considerable number of our colleagues have had, or know others who have had, bad experiences with visa applications, and it will take some time period of better results before many have faith that the system is working well.” The joint statement signatories will continue to push for reforms.
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