Visas
According to the New York Times, the European Commission recently introduced a new directive in order to lower bureaucratic hurdles for the approximately 200,000 students and researchers visiting from outside the European Union every year.
The commission said that the new rules would mandate maximum visa-processing periods of 60 days, easier transfers between member countries, and access to jobs during the stay.
A Canadian government panel recommended in August that the country double its number of international students by 2022, the New York Times reports.
Currently, 100,000 international students are studying in Canada, triple the number who studied there in 2000.
A recent study from the U.S. Travel Association shows that a high percentage of international travelers who have previously visited the U.S. would discourage others from visiting because of the barriers to entry, CQ reported. The Travel Association study notes that forty three per cent of the 1,200 survey respondents said they would tell an average of eight people to avoid visiting the U.S.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) recently re-introduced (for a third time) the Student Visa Security Improvement Act (H.R. 640), which seeks to increase the tracking of international students in the United States. Bilirakis previously introduced this bill in 2011 (as H.R. 1211), as well as in 2010 (as H.R. 5208). Both times, the bills were referred to the House Judiciary Committee but were not considered any further.
Comparing the recent immigration reform proposals from both President Obama and the bipartisan Senate “Gang of Eight,” Vic Johnson writes on the NAFSA: Association of International Educators blog that “the president’s plan is clearly stronger” because:
Senate Democrats are blocking a debate on Rep. Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) STEM visa bill, passed by the House last week [the Alliance reported], which would abolish the diversity visa program and instead allocate 55,000 visas to international graduates with degrees in the STEM fields from U.S.
With a 245-139 vote, the House passed today a bill sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) that would abolish the diversity visa lottery and instead allocate 55,000 green cards to international doctoral or master’s degree students in the STEM fields, CQ.com reports. Based on a Smith amendment adopted with the rule, the measure (H.R.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prominently featured the role of exchanges in her remarks to staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing during her travels to China earlier this month.
Acknowledging that the relationship between China and the U.S. is “a complicated relationship,” Clinton affirmed the administration’s strong belief in U.S.-China relations and the crucial role people-to-people exchanges play in fostering and maintaining strong ties between the two countries:
The House of Representative on Thursday rejected House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) STEM Jobs Act of 2012 (H.R. 6429), a measure that would have created a visa program for international graduates earning advanced degrees in the STEM fields from U.S. institutions, CQ.com reports.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) last week introduced the “Student Visa Integrity Act” (S. 3527), a bill that would install harsher penalties for individuals misusing the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), would deny certain institutions access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), and would mandate certification of institutions enrolling international students [the Alliance reported].
