BY: Claire Hadley, World Staff Writer
Published: Sept. 14, 2012
Ashish Kumar was hoping to come to Taylor this year as a freshman from India. He applied for a visa from two different embassies in India and then again from an embassy in the Netherlands.
He was turned down each time, either with no explanation or with one that did not make sense.
The U.S. government is rejecting international student visas as it grows increasingly wary of international students using their visas to get to the States on false pretences.
"Ashish is not the only student that has had visas denied," said Dereck Kamwesa, Taylor's coordinator of ethnic and international recruitment.
At least three international Taylor hopefuls were denied their visas this semester.
According to Kamwesa, each student has to jump through three hoops to be approved for a student visa and achieve F-1 student status.
The F-1 visa is a non-immigrant, full-time, student visa that allows foreigners to pursue education in the United States. Anyone who is not a citizen of the U.S. while studying at Taylor is an F-1.
Before an international student begins the visa application process, he or she must apply and be accepted to the school of his or her choice. That is the easiest part, especially for students who wish to come to Taylor, a college that accepts most international applicants due to its desire to create a diverse campus community.
After the student secures a spot at an American college, he or she must prove financial ability to be able to attend. This is one of the biggest issues that trips up students in the visa-acquiring process, Kamwesa said.
Taylor, like any other American university, cannot offer financial aid to international students, and the students cannot apply for U.S. bank loans.
If the student does manage to prove financial capability, he or she must then prove an intent to return to the home country.
According to a U.S. State Department website, this means the student intends to use a visa for educational purposes only and, once finished at school, will return home.
This is a very important part of the application process, as the U.S. is concerned with the increasing number of illegal immigrants who use a F-1 visa to get to the U.S. and then stay without permission.
Once an international student has been accepted to Taylor, Kamwesa sends letters and an I-20 form, a document that shows the customs officer that the student meets all visa qualifications, to the embassy requesting approval for the students.
But even with this positive confirmation from the university, many students are still denied.
Freshman Gabriela Beneula of Ecuador studied at Kings Academy in Jonesboro, Ind., last year for her senior year of high school.
She had no problem proving financial capability for her visa during that time because Kings Academy is a moderately-priced school.
This year, when she applied for the visa that would allow her to attend Taylor, the embassy did not accept her application as easily. They wanted her to prove she could financially afford to attend Taylor because is it considerably more expensive.
Beneula was waiting to apply for the student loan she would need until she was accepted for her visa, but the embassy told her that she would not be accepted until she had the money.
She then went to the bank and applied for the loan, but found that the money wasn't available to her until she could obtain a visa. She finally got a paper from the bank to take to the embassy saying that the money was hers as soon as she was given a visa. Once the embassy employee saw the form, he approved her visa.
"The final decision is really on the embassy workers," Beneula said.
