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Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future
nation’s scientific and engineering productivity and economic strength and will destroy the welcoming atmosphere of our scientific and engineering institutions. Such restrictions would also add to the incentives for US companies to move operations overseas.
Many recent changes in visa processing and in the duration of Visas Mantis clearances have already made immigration easier. Visas Mantis is a program intended to provide additional security checks for visitors who may pose a security risk. The process, established in 1998 and applicable to all nonimmigrant visa categories, is triggered when a student or exchange-visitor applicant intends to study a subject on the technology alert list.
The committee endorses the recommendations made by the National Academies in Policy Implications of International Graduate Students andPostdoctoral Scholars in the United States,12 particularly Recommendation 4-2, which states the following:
If the United States is to maintain leadership in S&E, visa and immigration policies should provide clear procedures that do not unnecessarily hinder the inflow of international graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. New regulations should be carefully considered in light of national-security considerations and potential unintended consequences.
Visa Duration: Implementation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), by which consular officials can verify student and postdoctoral status, and of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT), by which student and scholar status can be monitored at the point of entry to the United States, should make it possible for graduate students’ and postdoctoral scholars’ visas to be more commensurate with their programs, with a duration of 4-5 years.
Travel for Scientific Meetings: Means should be found to allow international graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who are attending or appointed at US institutions to attend scientific meetings that are outside the United States without being seriously delayed in re-entering the United States to complete their studies and training.
Technology Alert List: This list, which is used to manage the Visas Mantis program, should be reviewed regularly by scientists and engineers. Scientifically trained personnel should be involved in the security-review process.
Visa Categories: New nonimmigrant-visa categories should be created for doctoral-level graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The categories should be exempted from the 214b (see Box 7-3) provision whereby applicants must show that they have a residence in a foreign country that they have no intention of abandoning. In addition to providing a better mechanism for em-
12
The National Academies. Policy Implications of International Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2005.
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