美国国务院宣布大幅缩短理科学生及自然科学家的赴美签证审查时间至两周，此前审查有时长达数月。此变动对中国影响显著，因多数受审查申请者来自中国。审查旨在确保国家安全。
美国国务院说，它正在大幅缩短成千上万外国理科学生和自然科学家等待批准其赴美签证申请的时间，此举有可能在中国产生重大影响。国务院发言人雷恩(Andy Laine)说，此举旨在将受理赴美签证申请时完成一项审查程序的时间缩短至两周，而此前在某些情况下这一审查过程会拖上好几个月。历史纪录显示，申请赴美签证者中需接受这一审查的人有一多半来自中国。去年全世界共有56,000名申请赴美签证的理科学生和自然科学家受到这一审查。这一引起争议的审查程序旨在确定其他国家申请赴美签证的理科学生和自然科学家中，哪些会对美国的国家安全构成威胁。设置这一程序是要过滤掉一些签证申请人，这些人有可能寻求将涉及大规模杀伤性武器导弹系统能被恐怖分子利用的军民两用产品的技术以及其他敏感军事技术转移到海外。国会多年来一直敦促政府官员们压缩这一审查程序的时间，原因是担心由此造成的延误会损害美国从外国学者的知识专长中获益的能力。2003年10月，独立的政府调查人员发现，这项特别审查平均耗时75天，而其他有资格进入美国的非移民签证申请人大多只需等待24小时就能获知自己能否拿到签证。政府纪录显示，在国会方面施加压力后，到2004年底时，这项特别审查的平均完成时间从75天降到了15天左右。但国务院发言人雷恩说，过去一年中这项特别审查的时间又大幅延长。他虽然没有明确说等待审查结果的时间又增加了多少，但他说，美国官员担心，这一审查项目已经变成了妨碍合法人才交流的障碍。出于安全考虑，雷恩也没有详谈这审查程序最近所获改进的性质，只是说改进措施已于上周生效。他说美国增加了审查签证申请的人手。美国政府的数据显示，除中国外，前苏联成员国也受到了这一审查程序的严重影响。Cam Simpson
The State Department says it is significantly reducing the waiting period for thousands of foreign science students and scholars applying for visas to come to the U.S., a move likely to have a major impact in China.The aim is to reduce to two weeks a process that in some cases has dragged on for months, said State Department spokesman Andy Laine. Historically, visa applicants from China have accounted for more than half of those screened, records show. A total of 56,000 science students or scholars world-wide were screened last year.At issue is a program sometimes known as Visa Mantis that is designed to determine whether specific science students or scholars from other countries pose a threat to U.S. national security.It is meant to weed out applicants who might seek to transfer technologies overseas involving weapons of mass destruction, missile systems, dual-use items that can be exploited by terrorists, or other sensitive military technologies.Congress for years pressed officials to compress the process, fearing that delays hamper America's ability to benefit from the knowledge of foreign scholars.In October 2003, independent government investigators found that it took, on average, 75 days to complete the special checks, compared with the 24-hour period faced by most nonimmigrant visa applicants who are eligible to enter the U.S. By the end of 2004, the 75-day wait for Visa Mantis was reduced to about 15 days after pressure from Congress, records show.But significant delays crept back into the system in the past year, said Mr. Laine. He didn't have specific data on how much the wait had grown, but he said officials feared the program had become 'an obstacle to legitimate exchanges.'Because of security concerns, Mr. Laine also didn't detail the nature of the recent improvements, which he said went into effect last week. He said workers were added to hasten the screening.In addition to China, countries from the former Soviet Union are also significantly affected, government data show.Cam Simpson
The State Department says it is significantly reducing the waiting period for thousands of foreign science students and scholars applying for visas to come to the U.S., a move likely to have a major impact in China.The aim is to reduce to two weeks a process that in some cases has dragged on for months, said State Department spokesman Andy Laine. Historically, visa applicants from China have accounted for more than half of those screened, records show. A total of 56,000 science students or scholars world-wide were screened last year.At issue is a program sometimes known as Visa Mantis that is designed to determine whether specific science students or scholars from other countries pose a threat to U.S. national security.It is meant to weed out applicants who might seek to transfer technologies overseas involving weapons of mass destruction, missile systems, dual-use items that can be exploited by terrorists, or other sensitive military technologies.Congress for years pressed officials to compress the process, fearing that delays hamper America's ability to benefit from the knowledge of foreign scholars.In October 2003, independent government investigators found that it took, on average, 75 days to complete the special checks, compared with the 24-hour period faced by most nonimmigrant visa applicants who are eligible to enter the U.S. By the end of 2004, the 75-day wait for Visa Mantis was reduced to about 15 days after pressure from Congress, records show.But significant delays crept back into the system in the past year, said Mr. Laine. He didn't have specific data on how much the wait had grown, but he said officials feared the program had become 'an obstacle to legitimate exchanges.'Because of security concerns, Mr. Laine also didn't detail the nature of the recent improvements, which he said went into effect last week. He said workers were added to hasten the screening.In addition to China, countries from the former Soviet Union are also significantly affected, government data show.Cam Simpson
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