Have Singaporeans been affected by stringent student visa demands by the US?

Producer: Yvonne Gomez
First broadcast: 30 April 04, Radio Singapore International

Universities in the United States are worried that strict student visa requirements by the government there may affect their competitive edge.

One of the concerns is that top students from various parts of the world will be put off by the bureaucratic immigration process and go elsewhere for their education.

For a look at how Singaporeans have been affected by America s stringent student visa requirements, Yvonne Gomez spoke Karen Kaylor, Director of the United States Education Information Center here in Singapore.

KK: The survey only dealt with graduate students. These are students who are going to the United States looking to do advanced degrees, like Masters degrees and Ph.Ds. This is not indicative of undergraduate applications, and undergraduates, far and wide, make up the majority of foreign students in the United States. For instance, for Singapore, only about 35% of the students studying in the US are doing advanced university degrees. A large number of university degrees are saying that their applications from overseas are declining, but a number of schools are also saying that they ve not noticed any change, and yet others are seeing significant increases. 11% of those universities polled said that they ve seen increases in the number of foreign student applications. So, it s not affecting everyone exactly the same way. It s difficult to brush everyone with the same paintbrush.

YG: So how has this affected graduate applications from Singapore?

KK: Basically, it hasn t, because the numbers of graduate students from Singapore who are studying in the United States has not slipped, according to the IIE statistics that we ve received for Singapore.

YG: And why is that?

KK: Because Singaporeans, mostly, do not have any difficulty in obtaining visas, so they re not intimidated by any new rules or regulations that the US has implemented.

YG: Although graduate applications from Singapore may not be affected, as you say, reports also show that these US schools are losing their global competitive advantage. Now this may influence the choices of Singaporeans seeking an overseas post-graduate education. So how do you see this situation panning out?

KK: Well, hopefully the rules and regulations will be relaxed over time, or they will have a more systematic way of approving student visas for scholars who want to study at these advanced levels in the US. But until the US Congress gets full laws implemented, and until the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration authorities get on the same page with each other, I m afraid that, yes, there will still be difficulties for students from a large number of countries, in trying to obtain visas to enter the US.

YG: Since 9-11, how has the experience of actually applying to study in the US been for Singaporeans, both undergraduates and graduates?

KK: It hasn t been any different for Singapore citizens, because in some countries there s a list of I think 72 countries there are additional waiting periods for male applicants from certain countries. Singapore was not on that list of countries that needed to wait for the additional 30 days of visa scrutiny. And so to this day, visa applications for students who are trying to obtain a standard student visa to study in the US, takes 7-10 working days for processing, in Singapore.

YG: Can you tell me what exactly are the visa requirements a Singaporean would have to fulfil to study in the United States.

KK: Obviously, they have to have a legal and valid passport. They also need an acceptance letter from a US university. That s when the immigration process actually starts. So they have to be accepted at a university, and they also need to show that they have adequate funding to provide for their studies in the United States. Males have to show that they ve completed their national service, or have been exempted from national service. Those are some of the requirements of the US government.

Can you tell me what the top US universities are that most Singaporeans apply for, and why?

KK: The largest number of Singaporeans right now, and our most current statistics are a year old, apply for Cornell University and the University of Michigan. As far as states, go, the more attractive states are New York, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania.