RIYADH, 27 September — The US Embassy here has reminded students, exchange visitors and their dependents that they should check with their sponsoring institutions in the United States to ensure that they have placed the required information on their enrollment in the Interim Student and Exchange Authorization System (ISEAS).
Under the new rules, consular officers cannot issue student visas without validating application information through one or both of the systems — ISEAS and SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System). Hundreds of
Saudi students in the Kingdom as well as Saudi Arabian Airlines pilots have been wait-listed for the issuance of re-entry and entry visas for education and training in the US.
The embassy said in a statement issued yesterday that many individuals who have applied for non-immigrant visas at the US Embassy in Riyadh or the consulate general in Jeddah have encountered delays in the processing of their applications. These delays have resulted from clearance procedures that need to be completed before visas could be issued.
Quoting a US State Department announcement yesterday, it said the procedures for vetting visa applications in the US were being streamlined to cut down on processing delays and making the visa issuance regime more predictable.
"The embassy in Riyadh and the consulate general in Jeddah have received an increasing number of visa approvals in recent days and subsequently have been contacting applicants to send in their passports for visa issuance."
Referring to the National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program that went into effect on Sept. 11, it said the system allows the US government to register the arrival and departure of non-immigrants who travel to the United States. The US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has been assigned the responsibility of implementing NSEERS, which includes the fingerprinting and photographing of selected visitors to the US as well as the re-registration of these visitors who remain in the US for more than 30 days. .
About the visa hassle faced by Saudis, a travel agent familiar with the problem told Arab News that usually they do not comply with all the requirements.
He pointed out that all the student applicants have to bring with them a valid Form 1-20 issued by their proposed place of study in the US together with evidence of financial support for their studies. Other formalities to be completed require submission of transcripts of secondary study completed to date and evidence of completion of secondary schooling. Each student is assessed at SR 247 or $65 application fee.
