US to expedite student visa process

United States, 16th November: The US is going to expedite processing of US student visas in a bid to give a fillip to foreign student enrollment.

This has been revealed by US State Department in a latest statement.

US recognizes importance of foreign students—International students are of great significance to the economy in social, economic as well as intellectual terms, said an official spokesperson of the US Department of State(DOS).

International students enrich various US educational institutes since they bring with them new potential and ideas, states principal deputy assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, Adam Ereli. Moreover, they provide billions of revenue to the US economy.

Hence, the department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is going to give special priority to student visa appointments.

US student visa process to be expedited—No wonder, all US consulates and US embassies will work towards expediting processing of US student visas for overseas students to ensure that they are able to start their academic program well on time, the official added.

For long, a large number of foreign students wanting to come to the US for pursuing studies here have complained of difficulties and complexities in the process of US student visa applications.

And the DOS has taken these recent steps to minimize the waiting period for US student visa appointment to just around 15 days, the department official maintained.

All aspiring overseas students will have the opportunity to make application for their US student visas up to 120 days prior to the beginning of their study programs in the US, the department affirmed.

Foreign student enrolments increasing in the US--The latest step is in response to a significant growth in the number of international students coming to the US by around 30 percent in the last ten years, reveals a yearly report.

As per the data available for the year 2010-11, the total number of foreign student enrolments in the US colleges as well as US universities went up by around 5 percent taking the figures to 723,277.

And majority of such students were from China, maintains the report by IIE(Institute of International Education). Consistent increase in the number of foreign student enrolments in the US proves the fact that the higher education system of the US is recognized worldwide, the DOS states.