The U.S. Government will adopt a new visa application system starting from Aug. 1, the Shenzhen Evening News reported Wednesday.

The new system would make it more difficult for Chinese residents to get visas from the U.S., said the paper.

After the Sept. 11 attack, the U.S. government tightened its control over visas, preventing many Chinese students and academicians from going to the U.S.

The Chinese Students and Academicians Association of the Columbia University has set up a database for Chinese students and academicians who failed to get visas to the U.S. As of early July, 486 people, most of whom in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering, had registered on the database. Most of them have been waiting for their visas for more than two months, while some have been waiting for more than one year.

Some applicants finally got the visa, but only after their scholarships and positions were canceled due to the delay.

Some Chinese students and academicians have written a letter to Li Zhaoxing, China's foreign minister, complaining about the low efficiency of the visa scrutiny system.

According to a new policy issued by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. embassies don't have a deadline to accept or refuse a visa application. Meanwhile, visa officials are required to submit more personal information concerning applicants to various American institutes, which further complicates the application.

(Shenzhen Daily July 24, 2003)