Press Releases 2004

Remarks by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty At a press conference to announce the visa fingerprinting system, New Delhi

May 17, 2004

As prepared for delivery

It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be in India for the first time. Earlier today I was pleased to meet with Secretary Sharma and other Ministry of External Affairs officers in the Consular, Passport and Visa Department to discuss issues of mutual interest, including our shared interest in making the traveling public more secure. We also talked about ways we might work together to address a serious problem that is a special concern of mine, the abduction of children, often by a non-custodial parent.

U.S. consular operations in India are among the busiest in the world, reflecting the increasingly important role that people to people exchanges play in transforming the U.S.- India relationship.

More than 70,000 Indian students are studying in the United States. India is now our second leading source of legal immigration and by far our leading source of temporary workers. As many as two million persons of Indian origin are estimated to be living in the United States. They make important contributions to both our nations.

We especially value the students from India who attend our colleges and universities. They make invaluable contributions to the institutions they attend. All our consular sections around world have been instructed to give priority attention to students, and I understand the sections in New Delhi and Mumbai have just made additional appointments available solely for students on May 28; and all India sections will make other special student appointments available throughout the summer.

The tragedy of 9/11 changed forever the way we process visas. We still welcome and appreciate our foreign visitors. Cultural and business exchange is still very important to us, and we still want your sons and daughters to be able to enjoy the benefits of the world's best education system. In fact, since 9/11 consular posts in India have issued almost three quarter of a million visas. More than 40,000 of which have been issued to students.

What has changed is the seriousness with which we take our security obligations. Secretary Powell best described our policy as one of Secure Borders and Open Doors.

Many of the steps to improve the security of our visa processing have been transparent to the traveling public, but help ensure their safety. Better training for consular officers and giving visa adjudicators more information helps them make better informed, more secure visa decisions.

Other new procedures, such as the student tracking system known as SEVIS, which after some initial teething pains, are starting to help make the application process quicker and more certain. Consul General Bartlett tells me that they no longer have to delay some applications to confirm acceptance by a U.S. school, or to verify a student's continued good standing - the information is available immediately to the officer on his computer screen at the window. He also told me that a higher percentage of all applications in India are issued now than in the year preceding 9/11.

In mid-July U.S. consular sections in India will introduce the newest and probably one of the most important new security measures - the collection of fingerprints in both our nonimmigrant, or visitor, visas and in our immigrant visas.

This is not an India specific measure. We are already collecting fingerprints at the vast majority of our consular sections, and all sections will be doing so by October 26. We have also been collecting fingerprints at U.S. ports of entry since the beginning of the year, and travelers have found it to be a quick and noninvasive process.

The collection of fingerprints will require some changes in the way we do business. All applicants between the age of 14 and 79, except those going on official government business, will have to apply in person for their next visa. If you currently have a valid visa it will still work and you do not need to apply for a new visa until it expires.

This will put even more pressure on our already very busy visa sections, but we are working hard to address this concern. We will soon start a project to add new interview windows to the Delhi consular section. We will open five more interview windows in Chennai within a month, and we will soon be adding consular officers to all our sections to help speed the process.

As you will see in a minute, the finger scan process will be quick and most importantly, inkless. Bill Bartlett tells me it is almost identical to the process that he went through when he applied for his New Delhi driver's license.

We are convinced that the introduction of biometric data such as fingerprints into travel documents will not only benefit the U.S. by making our borders more secure, but also the international traveling public by making it safer to travel.