A crucial final exam can mean the difference between passing and failing for many students, but for international students, one unsatisfactory answer in a standard-procedure interview could mean the loss of an opportunity to study abroad in the United States.
International students must go through a rigorous interview process with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service in order to obtain a visa to study in this country. The process has gotten substantially more difficult since the United States stepped up security measures after Sept. 11, International Programs
Director Magid Shirzadegan said.
Colleges around the nation are currently concerned that the new measures have resulted in fewer international students coming to the country.
Junior Deny Unardi, an international student from Indonesia, said he’s heard of students traveling from his country being turned away after an interview with the USCIS.
“They think, ‘Oh, I hope I pass, I hope I can go to America,’” he said. “They get scared every time they go there.”
At the University, the number of international students has been on a steady decline since Sept. 11. This year, the international student population stands at 1,175 students, down from 1,440 in fall 2001.
International Student Adviser Abe Schafermeyer said there have been more instances in which students are denied visas.
“Technically, there’s no change in the law,” he said. “I think (the laws) might be interpreted with more scrutiny.” Schafermeyer said world events have also contributed to the drop, making some students wary of coming to the United States.
“The global situation affects their decision,” he said. “They want to make sure that they’re comfortable (here).”But decreases haven’t been equal across the board; Shirzadegan said there are substantially fewer students from Muslim countries.
“Some students have not been able to get a visa … because of security measures,” he said.
Unardi can testify to this trend. As a student from the predominantly Muslim country of Indonesia, Unardi applied for a visa before Sept. 11, but said if he were to apply now, the process would be far more arduous.
“If you’re applying for a new visa, it takes four to five months just to wait for a result,” he said. “After Sept. 11, everything got so strict.”
Now Unardi, who hasn’t returned home since he arrived here three years ago, said he is afraid to go back to Indonesia because he doesn’t want to have to reapply for a visa, and he’s heard that he may be denied entrance into the United States.
“I don’t want to go through all the trouble again,” he said. “I can’t meet my parents. I can’t meet my family, but I guess it’s better to stay, … better than having to risk not coming back here.”
Graduate student Heni Attiah from Egypt faces a similar predicament. Like Unardi, he applied for his visa before Sept. 11, but won’t return home because he too is afraid he won’t be able to reenter the United States. As a young, single male of Middle Eastern descent, he said he feels he’s scrutinized far more than other visa candidates, and added the U.S. government regarded him as “suspicious” even before Sept. 11.
“My age and my looks and my ethnicity … all of them combine together to make a bad concoction,” he said.
Attiah has also said that he won’t return home until he has finished his education because he’s afraid he’d be denied a visa.
“I feel like I’m a prisoner,” he said. “I don’t have the freedom to come and go.”
While students from other parts of the world may face less scrutiny when applying for visas, the process for them is also becoming increasingly difficult.
Senior Santiago Garcia of Spain said it only took him fifteen days to obtain his student visa, although he applied right after Sept. 11, when the increased security measures had not yet been put into place.
“I’m European, so it wasn’t that difficult,” he said.
Now, the process is “more complicated,” and requires fingerprinting, biometric measurements and an interview, he said. When he left the United States, Garcia said he had to go through some of these steps on his return trip.
“When I was entering the country, it was just incredible,” he said. “(USCIS) took me to an office and made me wait for two hours. They checked everything.”
Shirzadegan said the process can leave some students, particularly those from Muslim countries, humiliated and has discouraged
students from coming to the United States at all.
Unardi said he felt the process was “ridiculous” and added that it frustrates many people.
Attiah, who had to go to Portland to get fingerprinted after Sept. 11, said he is similarly frustrated with the increased scrutiny on international students. But he added that he understood why the process had to be so difficult and lengthy.
“The government has to work to make sure that the people are safe,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t humiliated.”

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