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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty said on February 12, 2007 during a talk in Hong Kong Polytechnic University that,

We have no numerical cap on the number of students we can give visas to from any country in any given year. The more the merrier. As a matter of fact, last year we hit an all-time high for foreign students in the United States, which delights us. There are over half a million foreign students in the United States right now.

There are 62,000 students from China in the United States. But we’d like there to be more. In fact, we’d also like more American students to consider studying in China. I think China is for us, in the top 10 destination countries for American students studying abroad. We’d like to see that number grow as well. We’d like to see it go both ways.

Regarding visa issues, she also said,

About 97% of all people who apply for visas in any category just need to go through the process that you see happen at the consulate. For that other 3% we will need to do an extra round of checks in Washington D.C. You’re a young man, you’re not a guy that’s been doing physics for 42 years in a laboratory here. So, it shouldn’t take that much longer to do yours. What I would urge you to do when you get acceptance to an American university, that you not wait until the last minute to apply.

In relation to working in the U.S., she stated,

…But normally, at the end of a course of study, if you don’t have that practical training element or you are not continuing to study, then you would be expected to go home again. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t ever come back to the United States. You may find that there’s a company that wants your skills and sponsors you for a certain kind of work visa. But that all gets a little bit complicated. So you’re not forbidden to work in the United States, but there are processes you need to go through. And one of the things that’s true, especially in the post-September 11th world, is that the enforcement of U.S. immigration law is a very serious business. So, you need to always make sure that you work with your foreign student adviser’s office so that you are certain that you are doing things exactly the right way. Your foreign student adviser, as you look at a school in the United States, can inform you about practical training and about what you might or might not have available to you. As far as working when you’re in the United States, that’s a little bit difficult. Usually if there is work available it’s going to be on campus, not off campus. But that’s another thing to talk to your foreign student adviser about.

During the talk, you can also find these figures:

We provide passports for U.S. citizens who want to travel around the world. We issued about 12 million of those last year. We provide visas for foreign visitors who’d like to come to the United States or for foreigners who’d like to immigrate to the United States. We talked to 7.6 million people last year who wanted to visit the United States for a temporary stay and we talked to several hundred thousand other people who wanted to immigrate to the United States.

(Source: you can find the original transcript of a talk by clicking the link on the top.)

标签: 国际教育, 教育, 留学, 留学政策, 留学美国, 美国教育

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