State Department clarifies visa policy for foreign scientists
December 2006, page 35
A US State Department official has clarified a visa processing
policy, saying that people applying for visas to enter the US do not have to leave their passports
with consular offices while awaiting approval. Applicants have typically been leaving their
passports with consular officers for the duration of the application process, making it impossible
for them to travel internationally while waiting for the US visa.
In an e-mail to Amy Flatten, director
of international affairs for the American Physical Society, Stephen "Tony" Edson, the State Department's
deputy assistant secretary of visa services, said it is not necessary for consular officials to
keep passports during visa processing, "and travelers should feel free to ask for their passports
back."
"The only relatively minor
inconvenience will be for applicants to return their passports to the consular section once they
are cleared so that the visa can be issued," he wrote. "No traveler should ever have to defer or miss
travel because we are holding their passport for visa issuance."
The clarification is important
for non-US physicists and other scientists who, because of the nature of their work, are often subject
to a more rigorous investigation before a visa is granted. That investigation, known as a Mantis
review, caused visa delays in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and can take several
weeks to complete. It is triggered when the visa applicant is involved in work related to any of a
long list of items on the State Department's technology alert list.
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