ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CONSULAR AFFAIRS MAURA HARTY REMARKS TO BEIJING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

BEIJING UNIVERSITY
BEIJING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
MARCH 2, 2005
3:00 P.M.

Posted on Mar 3, 2005

Introduction

It is a great pleasure for me to be here today and have the opportunity to discuss with you the efforts of the Department of State in continuing to maintain the openness of the United States to international visitors.

In the course of my career at the Department of State, I have had the opportunity to visit the People’s Republic of China on several occasions and the privilege of traveling to a number of different parts of China across more years than I care to admit.

On one of the most memorable trips, in March 1987, I accompanied Secretary of State George Shultz on several stops of his groundbreaking visit to five cities. Arriving in advance to prepare for the Secretary’s visit allowed me to spend several days in Beijing and see for the first time the Forbidden City, the Great Hall of the People and so many other compelling and historic sights. It was my good luck to also go to Jinan, the sacred mountain of Tai Shan, and Qufu, birthplace of one of the preeminent thinkers in the history of mankind.

Although it took me a while, I returned to China ten years later with Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Although I had heard about China’s vibrant and growing economy, I was frankly unprepared for the level of change I noted: new construction, tremendous energy, cars! On this visit I have had the great honor and pleasure of being able to return to some of the same places I visited previously and again have been impressed by the remarkable changes taking place in China today.

The Context For U.S. Visa Policy

As students, you will be familiar with the importance of context. You can illustrate this point in virtually every field of academic study. Take history, for example. With over four thousand years of recorded history, you more than perhaps any other nation appreciate the value of historical context.

The context for today’s U.S. visa policy is, quite simply, September 11, 2001. Our nation changed irrevocably on that day when citizens from my country and more than 90 foreign countries lost their lives. From my office in the State Department, I could see the Pentagon smoldering for days after the attacks. In the immediate aftermath, the U.S. Government moved quickly to shore up our nation’s border security and reassure American citizens and international visitors alike that our nation was safe and secure. After conducting a top-to-bottom review of visa procedures, we still work ceaselessly to make sure that we have in place as strong a shield as possible against those who would do us harm.

U.S. immigration policy must also be considered in a broader context, as a product of our history and our common ideals. America is a nation of immigrants, and has always welcomed visitors from all over the globe. We are a "nation of nations". Our new Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has confirmed she will continue the abiding tradition of welcoming visitors to the United States. Even before she took the oath of office, she stated in her confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate,

"Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue, and America must remain open to visitors and workers and students from around the world. We do not and will not compromise our security standards, yet if our public diplomacy efforts are to succeed, we cannot close ourselves off from the rest of the world."

It is our fundamental commitment to protecting the openness of the United States that underpins our approach to border security and immigration. Although security must always be our first priority, we work every day to see that access to our country is not impeded for those whose presence we encourage and value.

Secure Borders/Open Doors

I have spent 23 years in the U.S. Foreign Service dedicated to precisely this conviction. But it is not only the public servant in me that speaks in support for international student education and exchange. It’s also the kid who grew up in the melting pot of New York City. It’s the student who learned at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service the value of diverse views offered by students and faculty drawn from all over the world. It is most definitely the American diplomat who has seen with her own eyes the light of understanding and recognition spread by personal interactions between Americans and citizens of other nations.

I firmly believe that security and openness are mutually reinforcing. It is in our own national interest to continue to encourage people to visit the United States. The economic benefits to the United States generated by international tourism are impressive. Travel and tourism contributed $93.5 billion to the U.S. economy in 2004. One out of every eight civilian employees in the United States is engaged directly or indirectly in the travel and tourism industry. The U.S. is preeminent in the field of higher education and gained that standing with the contributions of countless students and academics from all over the world. International students attending U.S. colleges and universities account for an additional $13 billion in revenues each year. Beyond the economic benefits, we as a nation gain so much from the people around the world who visit our beautiful country, study at our premiere colleges and universities, work in our dynamic business sector, and conduct research at the leading medical and scientific facilities in the world.

State Department-sponsored international exchange programs, including Fulbright scholarships and International Visitor Grants, offer a particularly compelling illustration of the impact of academic exchanges. The Fulbright program in China was the first in the world, established in 1947. Although terminated two years later, it was re-established in 1979 and the 2004-05 academic year represents the 25th anniversary of the Fulbright program in China.

Approximately 100 grantees, roughly 60 Americans and 40 Chinese, participate annually. U.S. professors lecture in various social science and humanities fields and Chinese researchers and graduate students visit the U.S. to conduct research on various aspects of American studies. Notable Fulbright alumni from China include:

• Min Wei Fang: Vice President of Beijing University;
• Lin Gui Jun: Vice President of the University of International Business and Economics;
• Ren Xiao Ping: China’s Ambassador to Antigua; and
• Su Ge: the Minister Counselor for Governmental Affairs and Congressional Liaison at China’s Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Since the Fulbright program’s inception, over 255,000 people, some 96,400 from the United States and 153,600 from other countries, have participated in Fulbright exchanges.

The Department of State’s International Visitor Program promotes mutual understanding and closer ties among countries and people by bringing current and future leaders of other nations to the United States for targeted education opportunities. More than 110,000 international visitors have participated in this program. The international visitor leadership program in the People’s Republic of China is the largest in East Asia and one of the largest in the world. During this year and last, 166 Chinese will have participated in these programs. Worldwide, more than 200 alumni of U.S. exchange programs have become heads of state or government, including many names that will be familiar to you:

Anwar Sadat, Egypt
Indira Gandhi, India
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan
Tony Blair, UK
Kim Dae-Jung, South Korea
Oscar Arias Sanchez, Costa Rica
Ricardo Lagos, Chile
Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia – and most of his cabinet

Americans pride themselves in being hospitable, in being friendly neighbors, even if the "neighbors" are halfway across the world. And we like to keep in touch. We know from experience that the personal and professional relationships that are developed during educational and cultural exchanges form a foundation of understanding and lasting partnerships, not just between young people, but between nations, between societies, and between cultures.

We also believe that the United States is strong in business, academia and scientific research because we attract talented people from the far reaches of the globe. That enriches my nation in many ways. I traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan, last year. During my visit, the U.S. Ambassador relayed to me that her British colleagues had experienced an incredible increase in student visa applications in one year – from 2,000 to 6,000. To me, that means that the United States lost the opportunity to host and educate 4,000 Pakistani students. This is an unconscionable loss.

The loss of even one qualified student is one too many. When a student goes elsewhere, we haven't only lost the student. We have lost his or her parents, who have clearly decided to spend their money elsewhere. We have likely lost younger siblings, who surely will follow in the footsteps of an older brother or sister. Most important to me, though, we have lost the chance for a student to see the wonders of America through his or her own eyes, rather than through the prism of a foreign news-media outlet. And when that student grows up and becomes a social, civic, political, or perhaps religious leader at home, we want that leader to have had the quintessential experience of life on an American college or university campus. A young person's positive experience in America strengthens and enriches our nation today and in the future.

Turning the Corner

During the last three years of unprecedented change in visa practices, we have kept these students in mind. At the State Department, I lead a team of people – some 7,800 strong at over 200 locations around the world, who are committed to turning the strength of our beliefs into the proof of our actions. I am certainly aware of the criticism aimed at the changes in visa processing that we and other agencies have implemented since September 11 as discouraging foreign students, exchange visitors, and business travelers from choosing to visit the United States. We have made a concerted effort to undertake the most sweeping changes in a way that mitigates their impact on the legitimate traveler.

For the last two years, we have instructed all of our overseas posts to give priority to students and exchange visitors. Our embassies and consulates have implemented this requirement in a number of ways and have been very successful in getting student applicants appointments in a timely way. Visa applicants now have more information to plan their travel since we began posting current visa appointment wait times and processing times on our internet website at: www.travel.state.gov. In fact, we overhauled the website to make it more user-friendly and to provide additional resource material. Having more information about the process helps visa applicants be better prepared when they attend an interview.

Initially, some of the changes we made resulted in processing delays, and the delays were particularly troublesome in the spring and summer of 2002. However, it has never been an option for us to simply shrug our shoulders, cite border security and accept the status quo.

We have added to the resources dedicated to processing visas, even in spite of a significant drop over the last two years in the number of visa applications we have received. We have created more than 350 new consular positions since September 2001 and have already requested funding for an additional 121 consular officer positions during this budget cycle.

Increased staffing is only one way in which we have increased the predictability and efficiency of the visa process. We also invested heavily in automating outdated systems. Almost all of the visa applications we receive – some 97 percent – are processed in one or two days. For the two-and-a-half percent of visa applicants who, for national security reasons, are subject to extra screening, we have streamlined the screening process so even this small percentage of the overall number of applicants can expect an answer promptly. Some of these are the special clearances due to the applicant’s involvement in a sensitive scientific field – which I know have been a cause for concern among Chinese student visa applicants. We refer to these as the Mantis cases.

The results of our efforts are very positive. A year ago, the average processing time was about 75 days for a Mantis case, and I’m sure you heard stories about cases that took even longer than that. Today, the average processing time for a Mantis is less than 14 days, and we will continue to refine that process.

And I am very pleased to announce that the validity of these clearances for students has been extended from one year, in most cases, to the entire length of the academic program. This means that, if a student receives a clearance, it remains valid as long as he or she remains in the same program, up to a maximum of four years.

It is important to understand that, although there have been changes to the way in which visas are processed, the eligibility requirements have not changed. The stories you might have heard that "America no longer welcomes foreign students" are simply not true. In fact, our own statistics comparing visa applications in October 2003 through January 2004 with October 2004 through January 2005 show that the percentage of student visa applicants who received visas is increasing.

Many of you will be entering business fields after you graduate, so I would like to spend a moment discussing the importance of Chinese business travel to the U.S. economy. China is the third largest trading partner of the United States and our sixth largest export market. China also has the fastest rate of growth of any nation over the past quarter century, which means expanded opportunities for American and Chinese companies. Such a dynamic relationship can only be strengthened and deepened through increased personal contacts – both here and in the United States. As our economic relationship evolves, we are committed to supporting it through the facilitation of legitimate business travel.

I am happy to say that our focus on students has not worked to the detriment of other visitors, such as business travelers. On the contrary, many of the changes we have implemented have universal benefits. And we were recently able to negotiate an agreement with the Chinese government that lengthens the validity of visas for tourists and business travelers from six months to one year. We have instructed our embassies and consulates to establish mechanisms to expedite appointments for legitimate business travelers with urgent needs, students and exchange visitors, and applicants seeking emergency medical care. Consular sections worldwide are working diligently and imaginatively to facilitate business and tourist travel.

Encouraging Signs

The U.S. Institute for International Education compiles annual statistics that show that once again, Chinese students are among the leaders in international enrollment in U.S. institutions of higher education. During the 2003-2004 academic year, there were 61,765 Chinese students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States. Among all of the nations in the world, only India sends more students to the United States. That tells me that anything you might hear about the United States not welcoming Chinese students, or foreign students in general, is simply not true. The fact is that if you want to study in the United States, our door is open and we will review your application with the courtesy and consideration that you deserve.

In the business and tourism realm, the Department of Commerce released its most recent statistics on February 7, announcing that 2.8 million international visitors traveled to the United States in November 2004, an increase of almost 3 percent over November 2003. Arrivals from January to November 2004 totaled 35 million, an increase of 11 percent over the same period the previous year. This means that the United States has experienced growth in visitation for 14 successive months.

I’m here to assure you that visa procedures should not be perceived as a barrier to travel to or study in the United States. Outdated public perceptions regarding changes to visa processing couldn’t be more different from the reality. The Department of State is working hard to support the resurgence of international students, exchange visitors, scientists and business people applying for – and receiving – visas in a timely and efficient manner. I want you to know that, as we would say in the United States, our welcome mat is out and I sincerely hope you will consider study in the United States.

QUESTION: Welcome to our school. My name is Wu Jin and I'm a sophomore in health science in Peking University. I'm interested in your speech today and just now you said there are -- there was -- there were 60,000 Chinese students in the United States. And that's quite a lot of people. I'd like to know what's the employment facts of the graduates of college students in the United States today, both the native students and the overseas students. Thank you very much.

MAURA HARTY: I'm sorry. But I'm not sure I understood. What are the employment --

QUESTION: Uh-huh.

MAURA HARTY: Could you repeat the question?

QUESTION: I'd like to know the employment facts of the college graduate.

MAURA HARTY: Employment facts?

QUESTION: Yeah. Uh-huh.

MAURA HARTY: Okay. When a student comes to the United States on a foreign student visa, that student is genuinely allowed to work for a certain number of hours on American college campuses. Not every student does that but that is sort of the way that works. Now, post-graduate, post-graduation, that's actually a different kind of visa. And so individual companies -- companies in America, if they are interested in a foreign student need to petition for those students to give them a chance to work in the United States. You know, there are just plenty of foreigners on a variety of different kind of work visas in the United States, slightly different categories. And I'm sorry to say that I don't have the numbers off the top of my head. But we have an awful lot of foreign employees in the United States. The opportunities are there. It's a different category and I can't give you the number. But it is an awful lot of people.

QUESTION: Hi, Miss Harty.

MAURA HARTY: Hi.

QUESTION: My name is Eugene and I'm studying in the School of International Relations here in Beijing. And actually, this morning I read from the news that the number of students who would like to study in England has exceeded the number of those who would like to study in the United States. Do you think that is because of the policy of the visa policy of your country? Thank you.

MAURA HARTY: Well, you know, you've got to believe that some of it is that. I'd like -- in all candor, Eugene, when the United States suffered the attacks of September 11th, and lot of people decided not to travel to the United States, as I mentioned earlier, we saw about a 40 percent decrease in every category of visa application to the United States. During that time -- and of course that meant students as well -- during that time, a number of other countries, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Canada, began very aggressive campaigns to attract students who once previously had thought about the United States.

One of the reasons that I'm here now, one of the reasons that we work so hard now is, in fact, to represent a very different reality than was the case in 2001 and 2 and even perhaps 3. Now, we are open for business, and the processes that were inefficient during that time are processes that are much more efficient now. And you know what hasn't changed? Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Nebraska, Michigan, Georgetown. I want you guys to think about those schools because, meaning no disrespect to any other nations' schoolyards, pre-eminent educational opportunities in the world continue to be found in the largest numbers in my country and we want you back. So please, Eugene, use that excellent English on an American campus next year.

QUESTION: Good afternoon, Miss Harty. I'm a senior student from College of Lab Science. And I intend to go to the U.S. to study biology in the next semester.

MAURA HARTY: Great.

QUESTION: I have a more practical question.

MAURA HARTY: Uh-huh.

QUESTION: It's very encouraging to learn that the reason that the F-1 visa would last for four years instead of one. But actually, a PhD program might last for five years or even longer in my major. So would you consider extending the validation of the F-1 visa a little bit longer?

MAURA HARTY: Okay. Thank you for the question and thank you for coming to America. First question, where are you going?

QUESTION: Well --

MAURA HARTY: You don't know yet?

QUESTION: I haven't decided yet. I've got Dartmouth --

MAURA HARTY: Okay. Well, Dartmouth sounds good to me. They all sound good to me. Congratulations on that. But if I misspoke a little bit earlier I need to clarify that. We've extended the validity of tourist and business visas and we have extended the validity of the Visas Mantis name check. But the actual validity of a student visa has yet to be extended. And I'll tell you why, because we are rolling up our sleeves and working on it with our counterparts here in your government. I spent -- a meeting that was supposed to be about an hour long this morning went on for about three hours as we discussed our different legal systems. And it is not yet the case where we can -- where we have found a way to extend the validity of the student visa itself. But we're working on it and we are committed to doing that. It is good for your country and it is good for our country. And frankly -- don't take this the wrong way -- I'd rather see you once during your academic program rather than five times, because I'd rather see four other new Chinese students going to America. So I'm with you on this, from a workload standpoint, from the standpoint that I want you to see an efficient and useful process.

Now, something else that may not be all that well understood is that a visa to the United States is simply permission to seek permission to enter the United States. It's a two-step process. You get a visa at a Consulate or an Embassy, and then when you go to the U.S. port of entry at an airport or a seaport or land border, the officer from the Department of Homeland Security will, at that moment, decide to admit you or not. And then will also decide how long you may stay. So in fact, if you decided you were going to go to an undergraduate school program or a program that lasted, say, two years, even though your visa was only good for a year, if you didn't leave the United States during that time, you would not need a new visa. It gets very complicated. Every one of you, I hope you all are going to America next year. But every one of you, before you ever leave the United States again, should talk to your foreign student advisor on an American campus to make sure that you understand well the rules and what you might have to do. The reason is I don't want anybody to, because they are confused about visa rules and regulations, to get caught up in a situation that isn't helpful to them.

Nobody was born knowing American visa law. Okay? And even after 23 years I have a big old book on my desk that helps me remember some of the more intricate details of that law. So sort of the real short answer is, we're going to try very hard to get exactly what you want, because I want the same thing as you do. We're not there yet but I do want you at Dartmouth next year. Bundle up, though. It's pretty cold there.

QUESTION: Thank you. Good afternoon, Miss Harty. It's so nice to have you here.

MAURA HARTY: Thank you.

QUESTION: I'm Harry from (unintelligible) physics. As many Chinese students want to go to United States for further study, they have to get a visa. And this has created a market in China. For example, there are books like The Philosophy of Visas and there are even special courses helping students to get a visa. So I want to know your comments on this.

MAURA HARTY: My comment on that is you came here today and I didn't charge you a thing to come and get information on how to get a visa. Yeah. Don't pay anybody. Don't pay anybody to get informed about how to get an American visa. Okay? Don't believe them. travel.state.gov, our website, gives you everything you need to know about how to apply for a U.S. visa. Don't be paying anybody. I want you to spend that money in the United States.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you for your exciting lecture of the visa policies this afternoon. And I'm a student from the Department Information Management. My question is, we are quite pleased to know that the visa policy is open to our students now. And how about the schools' funding? I mean, do they have enough fundings to hold the international students? Is there any special policies for this?

MAURA HARTY: Thank you. Thank you very much for that question. If I understand it is basically funding levels and whether or not there might be scholarships available. Is that sort of the question?

QUESTION: Yes.

MAURA HARTY: Okay. Private American institutions make that decision on an individual basis. When I was an undergraduate student I know that there were several students there who had, in fact, received scholarships to be there. And I was very jealous. No, I'm kidding. I know that individual schools look at that differently, one from another. I know that in the past three years post September 11th, I have also had an ongoing dialogue with presidents, vice presidents and chancellors of American universities all over the United States. And frankly, what I say to them is, you want foreign students here? You put your money where your mouth is. Come here and travel and make sure students know that you want them to be here. Think about individual programs. We have put -- we as a U.S. government have put more money into our exchange visitor programs so that we have invited more and more people to the United States. But individual institutions, in fact, control their own funds and their own scholarship funds.

I would strongly recommend that as you consider applying to American schools that that be one of the questions you ask so that you can get some idea of that as you're picking and choosing schools. But it's a very individual thing. School by school.

QUESTION: And I'm a freshman here. I'm majoring in law in Peking University. I have two questions. The first one, somebody told me that we law students are more difficult to get a scholarship to study in your country. Is that true? And the second question is, was your attitudes towards us to go to -- to study in your country by the way we -- at least I have really a great passion in law and your legal system. That's my question.

MAURA HARTY: Well, let¡¯s sign you up. As soon as you said you were a first-year student, you got plenty of time to study in America. We want to see you do that, number one. Number two, I don't at all differentiate due to -- and none of my officers do, between applicants because of what they're studying. There are a couple of unkind jokes about lawyers in the United States, to be completely honest with you. But it has nothing to do with students who are studying law. We are a nation of laws. We are a country that reveres the rule of law. We are proud of our legal system. We would like nothing better than to have foreign students come and study our legal system. So it doesn't matter. As several of your colleagues here have questioned me already, we see people studying law and information management and biology and physics and other things. We welcome all of you for every course of study. So if you have a passion for learning about law, we have a passion for describing our law, our Constitution, our way of doing things. Please, by all means, come to America.

QUESTION: Since the tragedy of the World Trade Center, America has shut its door to many applicants in China and as well as in other countries. And your visit to China for Consular Affairs marked the reopening of the American door. Is that a sign sent by Bush administration that America's door is reopening or is opening wider for the students in China and other countries? And if so, compare with the case before 9/11 attack. Is America going to reopen the door as wide as it was before the attack?

MAURA HARTY: Okay. You are right that fewer foreigners visited the United States after September 11th. But you know what? Fewer foreigners have flied to visit the United States after September 11th, as well. So we have a little bit of a two-way street there. But are we opening the door wider? You bet we are. Matter of fact, if you look at statistics around the world, we are really, really encouraging travel for every reason, business, tourism, scientific research, medical care, every category. Here in China specifically the percentage of applicants across all categories who receive their visas is increasing.

Is my visit a sign from the Bush administration? Well, I am an official of the U.S. Government. I'm very proud to be here. I've spent the last 27 months working very hard to make this system better. I'm proud of what I have done and what all of my colleagues have done to make it more efficient. So now I'm taking my show on the road. Now I'm coming to answer your questions and say, we have done a better job. We have put better systems in place. We are open for business. And so now it's come -- now it's time to come and talk about it and let you know that. I believe that some folks who paid very careful attention would have seen, over the course of the last 27 months, positive changes. But those changes now are dramatic.

And so I finally get to come out and talk about that myself. And China is one of the first places I'm coming and having the opportunity to talk to students. In truth, I was also in India not too long ago. These are the markets of young vibrant interested people we feel we need to attract to the United States. And you know what? When you get there, we're going to make you work real hard in school. And we're going to make you work real hard on those college campuses explaining to other American kids what China is like. So that if they don't have the opportunity to come and study in China or study overseas for whatever reason, that they benefit and learn from you what your country is like. We all benefit when we exchange individual anecdotes, when we visit each other's countries, when we get to know each other. So please do, test me on that and come to America for school.

QUESTION: Yeah, hello, Miss Harty. I have a very simple question. You see, I see that many of my classmates or students around me are going to make the visa application this summer. Yeah?

MAURA HARTY: Uh-huh.

QUESTION: I'd like to know that do you have any information concerning this trend of maybe quota or limit that -- I mean, how many students can get the visa this year or how many students from China can get the F-1 Visa this year? Thank you.

MAURA HARTY: I'm so glad you asked that question because I am very proud to say there is no quota. No quota. Now, if you wait till August 31st to apply and your class starts September 1, you're going to pay a stupid tax. It's just too late in some cases. Don't factor yourself out by waiting till the very last minute, because even despite our best intentions, at the end of the day, the rules of physics apply in our office, as well. So the minute you know you have been accepted to an American university, please get that visa appointment and please come in and have that interview. Sometimes we are all guilty of not planning as much ahead as we should. Please plan ahead. I explained a little bit earlier while I was giving my formal remarks that we have instructed every embassy and consulate around the world to do their very best to get students in before their first day of class. But I'd really prefer if you just try and give us a little bit of time to do that and get those applications in as early as you can. But there is no quota. As a matter of fact, there never has been a quota. It's one of those urban myths that develops. We want as many of you as can come.

QUESTION: I got accepted to an American university and this university actually invited me to visit its campus in April. And I want to know what is the possibility of getting a visa in this context? Because the university said they will -- actually, this university will pay me for the trip.

MAURA HARTY: Congratulations. I think that's fantastic in every way. You've got -- I should sort of point out again, although it's been already introduced, you've got the Consul General of the United States at our Embassy in Beijing here with us today. Now, he has seen your face. No, just kidding. Really rest assured that in your coming in to apply for that visa, we very, very much want to be able to facilitate that travel. I congratulate you and we're all happy for you. Please look at the website first, travel.state.gov, so you know what we're going to ask you at that interview, so you have the paperwork that you need for that interview and so that it can be as efficient, as smooth a process as it can be. And gosh, enjoy yourself. What city is it in?

QUESTION: It's the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

MAURA HARTY: Oh, that's good. The University of Wisconsin in Madison. That's a great school. It might still be a little chilly in April but it's going to be beautiful. Congratulations. I think we probably have time for maybe one or two more questions.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, Miss Harty. I have two questions, actually.

MAURA HARTY: Okay.

QUESTION: The first one is, what criteria do you take when you judge a person, whether a person can go to the U.S. or not? Are there any objective criteria? And the second one is, I am very glad that the process of visa application is getting more efficient. But actually, the application fee is getting higher and higher at the same time. So would you please consider a cut in the application fee in your process? Thank you very much.

MAURA HARTY: I should have stopped one question ago. Thank you for those questions. They're excellent and well-informed questions. With respect to the criteria, you know, we have a law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, written and revised many times, but written in 1952. And part of it that is of grave concern often to students and other young people is a part of it that requires every applicant -- requires a consular officer doing an interview to assume that every applicant for a non-immigrant visa is intending to stay in the United States until that applicant can overcome that intention by demonstrating that they have a residence abroad they have no intention of abandoning.

That's a pretty -- it's a big mouthful. It almost sounds like I might be a lawyer. That's hard. The criteria -- there's no checklist. And the reason there's no checklist is that every single person in this room has a different life story. Every single one of you has different reasons that you want to go to the United States or different things you want to study. And different reasons, or at least in a different priority order in your head and in your heart, for what would make you come home again. Maybe some of you want to go for just one semester. Maybe some of you want to go for undergraduate school and graduate school and then get a job for a few years. Maybe some of you want something in between those things. How do you prove that to us that you're intending on coming home again?

Many of these applicants are a little bit more established in their home countries. Established because why? Because they're married. They have kids. They have houses. They own property. They have different things. We were so concerned that that metric was not as easily applied to young people who want to study that we've put out several sets of guidance to all of those 7,800 people who work for me to describe how we need to look at students. What you need to do during that visa interview is articulate your vision. I'm going to need to know that you can pay for your education. Okay? But you need to know that, too. So I'm sure that you'll be able to prove that part as a well-prepared visa applicant.

What you need to explain to the consular officer, articulate your vision. What am I going to do with this degree? Where am I going? What am I studying? Have I been accepted yet? Often people are not as well prepared for that interview and to answer those questions as they need to be. So please, again, I repeat probably for the fifth time, travel.state.gov. Look at it so you can see what are the kinds of things we're going to ask you. So I'm a little bit more hopeful in the first part of the answer than in the second.

The visa fee is a complicated issue for us. Many people are unaware that when the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11th, that was the second time the World Trade Center had been attacked. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed and a tremendous amount of damage was done and there was a loss of life. But it wasn't as severe as this second time. One of the things that that attack did was make the United States realize that we needed to improve our systems then. And so we began charging a fee for visas so that we could build a better system.

That is the fee, in fact, that you're paying now. I, in fact, run a bureau of 7800 people that is almost like a business. And that fee is what it costs us to provide the physical plant, the buildings, the people who do the work, the salaries of the people who do the work, the training they receive, my travel here today, and every bit -- even my meals, and that's a considerable amount of money -- and every bit of the consular operation around the world. I hope that fee isn't a deterrent. I know that other countries charge fees. I know that some schools are a little bit more or a little bit less expensive. I hope that you understand that our commitment to building a safer and a more secure America starts with doing the very best job that we can with respect to who we actually admit into the United States. And that fee frankly helps us do that. We have state-of-the-art equipment, state-of-the-art information, and that all -- in order to continue to be state of the art, give us the best tools to do our job so that you have a safe visit or trip or student experience in America, is as good as it can be. That's why we charge that.

So listen, I hope that more than anything else, what you walk out of this hall with today is a sense of the personality of the people doing this work. They're not all exactly like me. Some of them actually have personalities. But I do want to say in all sincerity, the welcome mat is open. We want you in America because we want you to learn about America and we want you to teach America about China. So please, think very carefully and not too long before you apply to an American college and come on in. And help build even stronger ties between China and the United States. I thank you very, very much for the opportunity to be here today.