The Daily Pennsylvanian
Over 7 percent more students applied to Penn from abroad this past year -- and getting them to the campus may be easier due to a new federal proposal.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a series of visa policy reforms that are intended simplify the visa application process.
For international students at Penn -- all of whom must obtain documentation to enter the country -- this may mean that the process of coming to Philadelphia will be less stressful, according to administrators in Penn's Office of International Programs.
In a press conference, Rice and Chertoff announced that international students will soon have more time to apply for visas. Currently, students are only allowed 90 days to get a visa before they begin studying in the United States. Now, they will have 120.
Students will also be allowed to enter the country 45 days before their study begins, as opposed to the 30-day limit set by current policy.
And for the thousands of international students on campus, this may be a step toward making studying at Penn easier.
"Well, it's going to help us in that they're liberalizing some of the policies and giving us more time, so it's moving in the right direction," University President Amy Gutmann said.
The new policies are a response to restrictive visa regulations imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks -- regulations which Gutmann said prevented many international students from making it to Penn.
"I think we've finally got through that the increased restrictions post-9/11 have gone too far and have really hurt us, and now this is helping," Gutmann said.
The changes come on the heels of January's U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education in Washington, when President Bush expressed a desire to attract more international students to the United States.
"It's definitely going to be easier for me, since I have to go all the way home" to get a visa, second-year Design graduate student and Philippines native Monica Locsin said.
International Student and Scholar Adviser in the International Programs Office Lisa Felix believes that although the policies will definitely help draw foreign students, they won't cure all of Penn's application woes.
"I think this will be more of a procedural improvement, but most people make a decision to study at Penn despite the visa hurdles they have to go through," Felix said.
She added that these policies will be much more beneficial to graduate students than to undergraduates.
"Undergrads live on campus, but graduate students like to get here early to find an apartment and get settled in," Felix said. The extended policy is intended to make it easier to get to the United States before classes begin.
She added that the change will help reduce delays caused by the background checks and travel itineraries sometimes necessary to obtain a visa.
"If people can plan further in advance to get their visas, it will make everyone more relaxed and feel confident in their situation," Felix added.
These measures are not the first attempt to modify the post-Sept. 11 restrictions.
Last February, the Government Accountability Office -- the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress -- announced that the average wait time to obtain an international visa had been reduced from 67 days to 15 days.
However, Gutmann feels that more can still be done.
"They could make it easier for students to renew visas without going home in cases where they are continuing their education," Gutmann said. "It's all little things that add up to make life easier for international students."
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