Post-9/11 Visa System Fairer, More Efficient, More Predictable
System reviewed, improved in wake of terrorist attacks, U.S. official says
By Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The U.S. visa system has undergone significant change since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The process caused some delay and difficulty for the international traveling public, but now the U.S. government has created a system that is faster, more efficient and more secure than ever before, according to an official in the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs.
"We want to have the most efficient, transparent and predictable system that we can," said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs in an interview with the Washington File.
Jacobs remembers the difficult days after the 9/11 attacks, when the visa function carried out by the State Department underwent review and revision to deal with the new security realities. Over time, U.S. agencies involved in border security developed improved measures for a new era, Jacobs said. New clearances for visa approval were introduced, new information technologies were built into the system, more personnel were applied to the tasks, and new efforts were made to improve the cooperation and communication between the various government agencies involved in a policy that Secretary of State Colin Powell has summed up with the words, "secure borders, open doors."
The new procedures require that more applicants undergo personal interviews before receiving a visa to enter the United States than pre-9/11 procedures. The driving force behind this change was a congressional requirement that visas issued by the State Department include biometric identifiers no later than October 26. By October 7, all 207 posts handling visa matters were collecting two fingerscans and a digital photo from each applicant, Jacobs said, a process that adds seconds to the visa interview. Once the interview takes place, 97 percent of applicants will learn within a day or two whether the visa is approved, Jacobs said.
There might be some differences in how rapidly an applicant can receive an appointment for a visa interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate compared to before 9/11, Jacobs said, but the Bureau of Consular Affairs is attempting to make that part of the process transparent by posting predicted waiting times for each embassy. The Consular Affairs Web site, http://travel.state.gov/, has become more user-friendly, she said, and provides applicants with information they need to know about applying for a visa.
This includes "what to expect in the interview, what documents you need to bring in, what you need to qualify," she said.
Fewer than 3 percent of visa applicants encounter a lengthier process with additional security reviews that must be conducted in Washington, Jacobs said. Such applicants might include those engaged in certain scientific fields who use technologies with dual uses or of national-security concern.
Revamping the Washington-based security review clearance system after the terrorist attacks was a difficult process, Jacobs said, resulting in months-long delays for some applicants. That problem led to significant complaints from the U.S. research and academic communities in 2002 and 2003, Jacobs said, but government agencies responded by making significant improvements to the process.
"Last year at this time, it was taking 75 days on average to process the cases; we're down to 20 days today," Jacobs said. "So we've made considerable progress."
During that period of long delays, Jacobs heard the call for predictability in the visa system, and that has been restored, she said. "That's what we've been able to do in the last few months is to get that predictability back," she said. "People know that within 30 days or less they are going to get an answer one way or the other."
All U.S. embassies and consulates have been directed to give priority processing to students or other travelers involved in academic and professional exchanges in order to ensure that they will be able to arrive in the United States in adequate time to begin their programs.
The State Department has increased the number of personnel working on visa-processing functions, and Jacobs said recruits are being trained to recognize the importance of the task and to treat every applicant with dignity and fairness. She also reminds employees in this work that they are the "public face" of their government and their country.
"The impression that you give," Jacobs tells recruits, "will be the impression that someone has of the country, the government, the State Department and [other] Americans."
