A senior US official in charge of visa affairs says the US
Embassy in Beijing has improved its visa processing system and that
more Chinese applicants will be able to have their applications
approved more efficiently.
In the face of growing criticism over the difficulties faced by
Chinese people getting visas for the US since the September 11
attacks, US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affair Maura
Harty visited Beijing on Wednesday to assure Chinese people that
the US was still "an open and welcoming society."
"America is open for travel. Americans welcome travelers to the
United States. We want to make sure that everyone, both American
citizens and travelers in any kind of visa category, have a safe
and secure visit to the United States and that the visa process is
as efficient as it possibly can be."
The US Embassy in Beijing started to fingerprint visa applicants
a year ago, a measure?that it says is aimed at boosting
security.
In her visit to Beijing, Harty defended the fingerprinting
requirement for applicants, saying it was necessary and was a quick
and efficient process that took less than a minute.
However, many Chinese applicants consider the measure
discriminatory, as applicants in some other countries don't have to
have their fingerprints taken.
The US issues about 180,000 non-immigrant visas to Chinese
citizens each year, and currently there are more than 60,000
Chinese students studying in the US.
Harty said the US government was doing everything it could to
improve the visa application process so that more Chinese students
were able to study in the US instead of going elsewhere.
The British Embassy in China opened a visa center in southwest
China's Chongqing?Municipality
on Wednesday, the United Kingdom's second visa center in the
Chinese mainland.
Tim Summers, consul-general of UK's Chongqing Consulate, said
the Chongqing center will receive applications from Chongqing and
the neighboring provinces of Sichuan,
Yunnan
and Guizhou,
and relevant interviews can also be held at UK's Chongqing
Consulate.
According to Summers, UK plans to establish a nationwide visa
application network in the Chinese mainland by setting up 12 visa
centers in major Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Shanghai,
Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Nanjing.
The first UK visa center opened in Beijing last month.
Summers said that when the centers open, Chinese applicants can
choose the nearest one and will not necessarily need to go to
Beijing for a visa and interview.
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2005)