Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

“1.1 lakh Indian students took up programmes in U.S. last year ''

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

Mathew Petitt, Vice Consul, US Consulate General, addresses a meeting on student visas in Chennai on Thursday.

CHENNAI: About 1.1 lakh students from India took up various programmes in the U.S. last year, which is more than the number of students from China, Europe and Canada, said Mathew Petitt, Vice-Consul, US Consulate General in Chennai.

He said this while responding to queries from students and professionals planning to study in the U.S., at an interactive session on ‘Higher Education in the United States and Student Visas', organised by the United States India Educational Foundation (USIEF), here on Thursday.

He clarified that visa procedures for the U.S. continued to be as stringent as they were and that there was no drastic increase or decline in the number of visa applications received by the embassy after the recent attacks on Indians in Australia. “Around 2.5 lakh visas were issued last year, and Chennai is one of the biggest centres for us,” said Mr. Petitt.

He asked the gathering not to plan a prepared text or anything of that sort while attending the visa interview. The applicants should rather be relaxed, confident and honest while meeting the officials. “I-20 is the most important document we are looking for, and never lie before the officials or you would be banned.”

Christopher Johnson, Assistant Dean, Fairfield University, Connecticut, U.S.A. in his presentation on choosing the right university, asked students not to get carried away by the ranking that independent organisations bring out.

“There is no official nationally recognised government scheme and neither an official ranking of the U.S. colleges. Be careful about making your decision based on a college's ranking as it is done by private institutions who want to sell their college,” said Mr. Johnson. “Choose well as not all colleges are the same, including checking if the college has the basic regional accreditation.”

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