Every time Pakistani students Asfandyar Ali Mir ‘12 and Shahryar Kamal Malik ‘12 enter the United States, they are detoured to a separate room for questioning.
“They ask you questions about where you are from, where you are going to and what college you attend,” Mir said.
As winter break approaches, finals are not the only worries for international students like Mir and Malik. In addition to pricey plane tickets and multi-hour trips, a few have to deal with visa issue delays and extensive airport security procedures.
Despite estimates by John Pearson, director of the Bechtel International Center, that the number of students who experience delays is decreasing, a few of Stanford’s 462 international undergraduates are still anticipating a long trip home next week — and perhaps a longer trip back to Stanford.
According to Pearson, there is usually no problem with students returning to their home country. The main concern is students reentering the United States after winter break.
The first possible delay, he explained, usually occurs due to visa problems. When students have current visas and the necessary documents, there is little concern with re-entry. But visa delays are problematic.
“Some countries can take some time to issue a new visa,” Pearson wrote in an e-mail to The Daily. “We have seen issues with students from China, Iran and Pakistan in the past few years.”
“Delays in obtaining new visas caused students to miss the beginning of winter quarter,” he continued, something that has happened “in the past few years” to an unspecified number of students.
Pearson suggested that there might be proposed changes at the federal level to the regulations for J-1 visas, the type required for many students, and the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which is administered by the Department of Homeland Security.
“Once we know more, we will be moving ahead with considerable outreach to students,” Pearson said.
In addition to possible visa delays, students also have to deal with immigration. While Mir, a sophomore from Pakistan, said he has only been asked “basic questions,” Malik said he has encountered more persistent interviewers.
According to Malik, questioners became suspicious when he returned to the U.S. this fall from a Stanford overseas seminar in Turkey.
“They seemed to want to imply something bad because they wanted to know more that time,” Malik said. “They don’t understand that I’m in America to just study at a very prestigious university and not anything else like meeting up with terrorists.
“I’m positive that if I say that I study anything to do with explosives and chemicals, they would question me even more,” Malik, who studies history and economics, added. “I think it’s unfair I have to go through this. It’s not right that carrying a Pakistani passport signals a red flag at any American airport.”
Airport troubles sometimes weigh into a student’s decision to go home.
“I’m usually hesitant about going to airports now,” Mir said. “The extra procedure takes me an extra hour or so . . . sometimes, it can take even more than an hour when there are too many people.
“But I don’t have any other option to go home even though the questioning is irritating,” he said.
After undergoing it every time, Malik and Mir have both accepted the procedure as routine for air travel.
“I respect and appreciate the Department of Homeland Security despite the meticulous investigations I have to encounter whilst entering and exiting the country,” Malik said. “I understand that increased security measures are used to assist rather than antagonize us.”
Other Factors
Besides visa and airport problems, time and money also factor into students’ decisions whether or not to go home for break.
“A ticket back home [to Malaysia] costs nearly $2,000,” said Stephanie Siow ‘11. “And the plane trip generally takes about 24 hours, including layovers.”
Stoica Cristinel Popa ‘11, a student from Romania, commented that his trips to and from his home could take up to three days.
“There are usually only flights to Bucharest, but I live four hours away from Bucharest,” Popa said. “Even though it takes several days, I still try to go home every winter and summer.”
According to Pearson, most international graduate students stay for the break because their dorms are open, while international undergraduate students often leave either for home or elsewhere in the U.S. because the dorms are closed.
For students who decide to stay, Stanford accommodates these students and allows alternate options, Pearson said.
“The Stanford Guest House is available for undergraduate students who decide to stay,” he wrote. “Bechtel also offers programs during the break for the students who do stay.”
Still, both Malik and Mir are Pakistan-bound this winter break.
“It’s a hassle,” Mir said. “But it’s become normal now.”
