US visa delay raises global concerns

Repeated delays in the issuance of visas by the United States to foreign officials and academics have sparked global concerns.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "remains very concerned" about delays in the issuance of US visas to multiple member states' officials and academia, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

In his early December visit to Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov raised the visa issue to US State Secretary Mike Pompeo. The top Russian diplomat complained to his counterpart that Russian citizens have to wait dozens, or even hundreds of days for US visa issuance, and revealed that Russia has 155 fewer diplomats in the United States than the number of US diplomats in Russia.

Russia, however, is not the only one that grumbled about US visa policies.

The UN Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country, namely the United States, noted that countries such as China, Iran and Syria had all complained about US visa delays.

In addition to the UN, several other cases recently showed that Washington has placed visa restrictions on foreign government representatives traveling to international organizations within the United States.

In October, Iranian Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand cancelled his trip to Washington for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

The decision came as a response to the US denial of visas to Dejpasand's accompanying delegation, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Washington has "violated international organizations' policies" by denying the Iranian delegation's access to the IMF and the WBG meetings, IRNA noted.

In late September, the US government denied visas to a Cuban medical delegation led by Health Minister Jose Angel Portal, who planned to attend a high-level meeting of the Pan-American Health Organization, accusing the Cuban officials of "exploitation and coercive labor practices."

"We reject this arbitrary measure," Cuba's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement, adding "the US government without justification is violating its obligations as the host country of an international organization."

Members of Chinese academics, scientists, and even students have also been troubled by US visa restrictions from time to time.

Several Chinese astronautical engineers were not able to attend the International Astronautical Congress in Washington this fall due to visa problems, even though the IAC organizing committee co-chair Vincent Boles said that they had started working with the US State Department 18 months ago to ensure a timely granting of visas for attendees.

Hua Chunying, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told media that the case involving the IAC was "only a tip of the iceberg."

"The US has for some time been denying visas to, delaying processing visa applications of and revoking long-term visas for Chinese scholars, students, entrepreneurs and scientists as well as searching and harassing them," she said during a press briefing in October, adding that the United States is weaponizing visa in defiance of its international responsibilities and obligations.

Chinese students and parents have also complained about a higher risk of visas being denied or put on a grueling process known as the administrative check, despite having secured an offer from a US university.

Concerned about the visa restrictions, many prestigious American universities including Yale, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and U.C. Berkeley have voiced support for educational openness and international exchanges.

"International collaboration improves the quality of research ... there is no country in the world with whom we collaborate more than China," said Arthur Bienenstock, co-chair of the committee on international scientific partnerships at American Academy of Arts and Sciences, at a lecture at Stanford University.