MUSCAT, 11 April 2005 — A senior US immigration official left here yesterday reassuring Omani students that they are welcome to study in the United States and that the restrictions imposed in the wake of 9/11 are no longer there.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty, who explained that the visa procedures have been streamlined and 9/11 is a thing of the past, told a press conference that the period for students waiting for a US visa has been reduced to 24 hours. “It’s more like walk-in and walk-out with your visa as we do not want any student to miss out any semester.”
Harty said it became imperative to explain the new visa procedures after Dr. Rawaya bint Said Al-Bausidy, minister of higher education, told her about the sharp decline in the number of Omani students going to the US after 9/11. “America has turned the corner as far as visa procedures are concerned in the past two years and half,” she said.
