Unregistered students may have visa problems

Technical glitches with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Service mean students might miss a crucial 1 August registration deadline that was imposed in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

After learning that two of the hijackers had entered America on student visas, the US administration ordered the computerisation of all overseas applications for college places.

Campus officers dealing with foreign students say they still are being hampered by problems with loading information into the system called Sevis.

"The database is flawed. It couldn't have been done worse," Gail Szenes - director of New York University's Office for International Students and Scholars - told Associated Press news agency.

Foreigners omitted from the database will face strict scrutiny before their visas are renewed, and administrators fear some students will be denied visas unfairly simply because their names are not properly registered.

'Damage done'

Critics of Sevis say it was introduced too quickly and, as a result, many foreign students are abandoning America for other countries.

Michael Brzezinski, director of the international students office at Purdue University, told AP: "There has been some damage done. I am aware of at least two government programs, in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, that are now sending their students to other countries."

However Chris Bentley, spokesman for the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he expected Sevis to improve the registration process.

"In the past we had an antiquated paper system. I think it is going to speed up the process through which students come to the US and allow that to be done more easily."

Mr Bentley said 950,000 names had been registered and predicted the number would reach 1.2 million by the deadline.