US student visa issuance in India increases by 44 per cent

Washington, June 30 (UNI) US student visa issuance in India, the largest source country for foreign students in American colleges and universities, grew by 44 per cent in Mumbai, 40 per cent in Chennai and 17 per cent in New Delhi during the past year.

In Seoul, Korea, another historically high student visa post, the number of student visas increased by 24 per cent.

India sends the highest number of students to US colleges and universities, numbering over 60,000 per year.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programmes Thomas A Farrell, who gave this information in a statement before a Congressional panel yesterday said, ''It is an important strategic priority to provide educational opportunities to a broad and diverse segment of young people overseas, including women, minorities and those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.'' ''The key message to international students is that we want you to come here and that building a financial package for talented students is something we are expert at,'' he said.

Panel Chairman Bill Delahunt (Democrat) said, ''The United States needs to get the word out that the visa process for students has improved.'' The number of student and exchange visitor visas issued in fiscal year 2006 rose by 15 per cent to an all-time high of 591,050, according to the State Department.

It was in the national interest to make the US higher education available to more young people overseas who could become leaders and partners in addressing the world's problems, Mr Delahunt said.

''Rather than visas, the biggest challenge for international students is the cost of higher education. Currently, 78 per cent of international students rely on their families and personal resources,'' Mr Farrell said.

''Another problem is lack of English language ability, particularly among disadvantaged populations,'' he added Mr Farrell stressed that the academic, business and non-profit sectors also have an important stake in promoting the United States as ''the destination of choice'' for international students and researchers.

Mr Farrell cited other challenges to attracting foreign students, such as competition from other countries.

''Although the number of international students in the United States dropped after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, it stabilised over the past two years (at 570,000 annually) and the current trend lines are all up,'' Mr Farrell said. The number of international researchers and scholars is 97,000, an all-time high.

UNI