‘No US visa application is rejected on the basis of religion’

“The US has never been anti-Muslim. If a Muslim’s visa application to the US is rejected,his religion is never the reason,” he said. He admitted that the US has become extra cautious in giving visas to foreign students post 9/11. “We have become stringent with the rules and in-depth scrutiny is done of prospective students. We want students,not terrorists to come to our country. But this does not imply that US is discouraging international students,” he said.

“We do not deny an opportunity to any student because of his caste,creed or religion. It is only when they fail to fulfill the norms of the embassy that they are rejected,” he further said. “Of the current 6.8 lakh international students in New York,more than 90,000 are of Indian origin,” he said,adding that the perception that getting a US visa is difficult “is nothing but a myth”.

He added that the most common reason for refusal of visas is the bleak possibility of them returning to their country. “They do not confirm to the norm that they will come back after completion of their academic course. Most of them plan to settle in the US. We deny visa to such students. Money is another factor,” he said.

Students get tools to measure weather phenomena

As part of a nation wide ‘America Days’ programme started by the US embassy,officials of the embassy interacted with the eco-club members of Government Model Senior Secondary School,Sector 46 and DAV Higher Secondary School (Lahore),Sector 8,here on Thursday.

Paul Herman,chief of the immigrant visa services at the embassy,also presented them with a ‘globe kit’ each. Giving information about the kits,Herman explained that through these instruments,students all over the world are performing simple tasks such as observing clouds,measuring rainfall and recording air temperature.

“The data collected by them is being used by NASA researchers as a reference in analysing satellite images to develop a better understanding of changing climate patterns,” he said.

An event — Campaign for Peace-City Chandigarh’ — was held also at KB DAV School,Sector 7.