Science industry concern over US visa application delays

August 14 2009 by Matt Jones

US visa application delays scientists

The science industry in the US is increasingly concerned about delays experienced by scientists, working in the US or studying in the US, who need to renew their US visa.

In order to renew a visa, the professional must make the application from abroad, so many return to their countries of origin in the hope that their visa appliction will be processed while they take their two-to-three week vacation. However, this is not how it works for many science professionals, with some having to wait months while security checks are carried out.

The US government says it is dealing with the problem and has assigned additional staff to US Immigration to help process applications – with an aim to bring down the processing time to two weeks.

David Donahue, from the Bureau of Consular Affairs says the problem was occurring last year. He says that the visa renewals will now be processed within ten working days and that the hold ups “will not happen again.”

However, the problem seems to be continuing as a result of over-cautious security checks, leaving foreign scientists living in the US afraid to leave the country for fear of not being able to return. One group of angry scientists have set up a Facebook page to convey their experiences.

Amy Scott, from the Associations of American Universities, has fears for US competitiveness. She says, “We have great universities in this country, but the perception that the US is a difficult place to come to is hurting us.”

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