Denial of US visas to Russians

[Kevin Hawkins]

The University of Maryland, College Park, had visas denied in the summers of
'99 and '00 for an upper-20s man from Moscow and in the summer of '01 for a
lower-20s woman from St. Petersburg.  From what I remember, she was denied a
student visa twice in the same summer.  Basically, they flat out told her
that because she was in worst category for getting a visa -- a "young,
single, and attracive female" -- and it seems they hadn't even looked at her
documents from Maryland.  The department managed to reach someone at the
consulate for a third review, at which point she was given a visa.

Following the forwarded text below is an article on this very topic from the
Oct. 24, 1999, edition of the New York Times.  I retrieved it through a
search on Lexis-Nexis and considered posting excerpts but decided that it
would be better for everyone to be able to read the whole thing.

I can't speak to the rumor about a recent deal between Bush and his buddy
Pootie-Poot*, but the NY Times article indicates that this trend goes back
to at least August 1998.

* See the May 20, 2002, edition of The Guardian (
http://www.guardian.co.uk/bush/story/0,7369,718575,00.html ).  The NY Times,
however, reported on Feb. 18, 2001, that Bush calls Putin "Ostrich Legs" (
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/weekinreview/18MCCA.html ).

Kevin Hawkins

>     I was particularly interested to know whether the denials were of a
> recent and local nature, i.e., limited to St. Petersburg and/or bound for
> the University of Kansas. The answer seems to be that this is a
> longstanding problem, particularly bad in St. P., but clearly KU is not
the
> only target.
>     Further, I am curious to know whether there is truth to a recent rumor
> that Bush and Putin cut a deal to stem the brain drain from Russian to the
> US. If this is true, the consulates may be receiving fresh directives to
> deny visas at all costs, in particular the study visas that we are
> concerned with here.

Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times


October 24, 1999, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 1; Foreign Desk

LENGTH: 1353 words

HEADLINE: WARY OF ABUSES, U.S. SHARPLY CUTS VISAS FOR RUSSIANS

BYLINE:  By MICHAEL R. GORDON

DATELINE: MOSCOW, Oct. 23

BODY:
The United States Embassy in Moscow has sharply curtailed the number of
visas issued to Russians, particularly students and scholars, despite
Washington's avowed desire to spread Western values in Russia.

About 40 percent of Russian students who sought to study in the United
States using private funds were refused visas this year, about twice the
rejection rate of previous years. Embassy officials suggested that students
from impoverished Russia -- potentially part of the country's opinion-making
elite -- will be tempted to try to settle permanently in the United States.
In some cases, the reason given for refusing a visa -- that the applicant
appeared to have insufficient ties, like children, to Russia -- echoed the
Soviet practice of allowing citizens to travel abroad only if their loved
ones stayed behind to insure the relative's return.

The tightened visa policy followed the August 1998 economic collapse in
Russia and is part of a broader and increasingly rancorous debate over the
procedures for inviting foreign students to the United States. Applicants
from South Korea and Thailand, which have also undergone economic crises,
have reported increasing problems too in obtaining visas.

But the visa policy has special implications for Russia, where America wants
to encourage democracy and influence public opinion. The Clinton
Administration has defended its policy of engaging Russia, and recently
announced a vigorous campaign against what it calls the "new isolationists"
in Congress.

In Moscow, American Embassy officials deny that they have been overly
strict. Laura Clerici, the consul general, asserted that consular officials
needed to be particularly vigilant after the 1998 collapse.

"Many Russians think that bureaucracy is something to be gotten around," she
said in an interview. "They give us all sorts of paper that is false."

But American educators and former diplomats say that the embassy has
overreacted and that many worthy candidates have been cast aside.

They note that the embassy's statistics do not show Russians hurrying to
flee abroad after the ruble collapsed. Overall, visa applications have not
increased since August 1998 -- although the number of rejections has -- and
student applications have actually declined.

"The visa policy is at cross-purposes with U.S. foreign policy," said Greg
Guroff, the former director of an American Government office that encourages
educational and cultural exchanges. "The American policy had been to expand
contacts. Now the consular policy appears to be to turn down young people,
particularly on private education exchanges."

The visa policy has been a shock to many young Russians. Despite a general
surge in anti-American sentiment -- most evident in the street protests
outside the American Embassy during the Kosovo conflict -- young educated
Russians are still drawn to the United States.

For Russian students, there are American Government-financed exchange
programs that can last for a few weeks, or for years. In 1998, 6,000 visas
were granted to Russians under such programs. But Russians also attend
American universities and colleges using "F" type visas, where the education
is paid for by the student or other private sources or is supported by a
scholarship.

In 1998, 83 percent of all "F" type visas were granted during the prime
student application months of June through August. This year, the acceptance
rate slipped to 62 percent.

Ruslan Shevdov, 27, had appeared to catch a lucky break when the small
Moscow-based trading and agricultural company he joined after leaving the
food service division of the Russian Army offered to send him to America at
its expense to earn a degree in business administration and to perfect his
English.

Accepted by Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., Mr. Shevdov had hoped
to begin his studies this fall. But his request for an "F" visa was rejected
three times.

"They said I didn't fit the student profile," Mr. Shevdov said. "Maybe they
think I am too old. I tried to assure them that I plan to return. My parents
live here. This is the country where I grew up. I can call my friend here at
any time and he will come. How would I live there?"

Embassy officials said they would not discuss individual cases. The
six-member team that handles nonimmigrant visas at the Moscow consulate
makes hundreds of similar decisions, often on the basis of a 5- or 10-minute
interview.

They try to divine if a student or scholar has an unbreakable tie to the
homeland that will spur return. Interviews often amount to hurried
discussions of an applicant's marriage status, family life and assets.

The burden of proof that a Russian has no plans to emigrate, even legally,
falls on the applicants. They may find it hard to argue that what appear to
an American to be meager rewards are sufficient for a decent living in
Russia. Mr. Shevdov, for instance, earns about $900 a month, a a respectable
sum for a Muscovite.

Scholars have also had problems. Taras Ivchenko, a 34-year-old assistant
professor at Moscow University, is a specialist in Chinese linguistics who
graduated from Beijing University and wrote his doctorate in Chinese.
Encouraged by several American professors, he was to visit the United States
to help translate a Ming dynasty manuscript.

But in a 10-minute interview in May, Mr. Ivchenko was unable to secure a
tourist visa. He earns $150 a month and has no substantial property. His
wife, father and sister live here -- but Mr. Ivchenko said the consular
officer who interviewed him suggested that his chances for a visa would be
better if he had children to leave behind.

"It reminded me of Soviet times," the soft-spoken Mr. Ivchenko said. "I
would like to work on a project or two in the United States, but I am not
interested in emigrating there. I belong here."

American academics report increasing problems in obtaining visas for Russian
students or faculty members. Some have campaigned successfully to secure
visas; others have lost.

The University of Maryland was recently left without a Russian instructor
when the candidate it picked was denied a visa.

Maria Lekic, director of the university's graduate program in Russian
language, said the faculty had gone through a careful selection process and
had never had a Russian refuse to return home when a visa expired.

But the American Embassy concluded that the university salary for the
Russian was too appealing compared to his modest pay at home.

"For years, the Soviets would not let people leave," she said. "Now when
Russia is opening up, we are behaving like Soviets."

American Embassy officials insist that they need to be wary, and note that
the black market price of forged visas has risen, giving credence to street
talk of many Russians "jumping ship."

But they also concede that there has never been a comprehensive study on
whether Russian students eventually return, or emigrate.

Almost half a million tuition-paying foreign students were enrolled in
American institutions in the 1997-98 academic year. The tough American visa
policies are driving Russian students to other countries, like Britain,
which has loosened visa regulations to admit more foreign students.

Certainly, Britain won in the case of Maria Ushakova, 17, daughter of a
leading Russian businessman who wants to become a psychoanalyst and take
over her mother's practice. Her request for a visa to attend college in
Pennsylvania was repeatedly rejected.

Hr family says she was told there was no point in studying in the United
States since Russia had no tradition of pychoanalysis and a foreign-trained
specialist would never find work at home. Her father then obtained a letter
from a Russian clinic saying it would gladly hire his daughter once she
finished her training.

Ms. Ushakova received a visa on her fourth try. By then, however, she had
missed the start of the school year in the United States. Offended, her
father said, by all the refusals and worried that she might not be able to
renew an American visa to finish her education, she is now studying in
London.

 http://www.nytimes.com

GRAPHIC: Chart: "BY THE NUMBERS: Closing the Door to Russians"
The number of Russian's visa applications that are denied has risen sharply,
including applications for those seeking to study in the United States on
private funds. The graph shows number of applications for visas, requested
and denied, June through August, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. (Source: U.S.
Embassy)(pg. 10)

LOAD-DATE: October 24, 1999

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