U.S. Consular Officials Increase Scrutiny on U.S. Visa Applications
(State's Boucher praises Saudis for anti-terrorism cooperation) (390) By Phillip Kurata Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. consular officials are applying increased scrutiny to visa applications from Saudi Arabia after learning that 15 of the 19 terrorists who carried out the September 11 attacks received their U.S. visas in Saudi Arabia. "[O]ur consular officers on the ground who talk to people or look at these applications are exercising already more scrutiny to make sure that anything that's unusual or suspect gets looked at before people get visas. So they are being more careful and following up on things that may have seemed incidental in the past," Boucher said, briefing reporters at the State Department in Washington October 31. He said the United States will try to generate as much information as possible from foreign and domestic sources about the identities and travel plans of terrorists with the goal of denying them entry to the United States. "And so the goal is to improve, further improve, the system that we have for getting information on terrorists, what they might be up to, who might be traveling, and to use that to deny people entry into the United States," Boucher said. Boucher said it is possible that the terrorists who got their U.S. visas in Saudi Arabia were not Saudi nationals. "[T]he FBI has not yet resolved the issue of whether these are the actual names of people," Boucher said. The State Department spokesman said very few Saudis who apply for U.S. visas are denied them because most have valid reasons for travel to the United States. "[M]ost Saudis qualify for visas. They're traveling for pleasure, they're traveling for business, they have substantial assets or reasons to return to Saudi Arabia. They have no particular history. They may have good jobs, businesses, family situations, and therefore many, many Saudis qualify easily for visas," Boucher said. The spokesman praised the Saudi government for its willingness to work with the United States in fighting terrorism. "We have very good cooperation with Saudi Arabia against terrorism. We're cooperating with Saudi Arabia in any number of areas -- law enforcement, finance, as well as other areas," Boucher said. "[T]hey have continued to agree to everything we've needed from them." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
