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 which 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 finger prints taken.

The United States 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 United States.

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.

(CRI.com March 3, 2005)