US student visa approval rates have long been a topic of concern and consternation by everyone involved, the approvers (State Department) and the approves (students). While academic leaders, students, and agents often dwell on the rejected, the US State Department focuses on the approved. Numbers are up overall.
Regular readers here know that the Intead team collects and dissects data to give strong counsel to university and high school enrollment leaders. This week, while we acknowledge there is plenty of data to analyze about visa application volume, wait times, and denial rates, we offer a different actionable perspective and guidance in another visa-related area: what your team can do to improve yield on your international student applicants (with the visa process in mind).
During the EdUSA Forum earlier this month, there was a slightly tense luncheon that caught everyone’s attention as academic institution leaders poked at State Department leaders regarding visa approval rates and processes. Truth is, in any operation, processes can always be improved.
Last week, in this two-part blog series, we talked about the importance of developing STEM curricula that meet the current tech industry demand for talent. As noted, Microsoft is seeking to fill 6,000 to 9,000 open positions around the world on any given day, according to Bruce Thompson, Head of Americas, Microsoft Education who spoke at the recent EdUSA Forum in DC. If you missed that post, well, take a few minutes for some practical advice doled out by tech industry execs who spoke at the Forum.
At the Forum, I had the privilege of presenting on student recruitment budgeting alongside SIO extraordinaire Jill Blondin from Virginia Commonwealth University to a standing room only room. (The slides are available to Intead Plus members.)
This week, it is all about student visas. Consider: the US State Department’s visa operations team is charged with keeping the US safe from harm by ill-intentioned actors (economic schemers and of course, more serious hardened criminals). Hundreds of millions of people in the US and around the world count on State to do a really good job at that.
Our next opportunity to meet!
NAFSA Region XI, Hartford, CT, Oct 27-29. The Intead team will be there presenting on Admission Process Analysis, Marketing Data Analytics, and Marketing Study Abroad Programs with university partners from our New England region friends from Quinnipiac, Johnson and Wales, Clark, and Emerson. Practical strategies and creative tactics to hit your enrollment targets. Hope to see you there!
PIE Live North America, Boston, MA, Nov 19-20. We will be talking about our analysis of career success data and how institutions can use that data to improve recruitment initiatives around the world. Our powerhouse co-presenters: Kerry Salerno, Chief Marketing Officer, Babson College and Andrew Chen, CEO, F1 Hire.
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One of the great things about the three-day EdUSA Forum is the opportunity to chat with EdUSA’s REAC’s (Regional Educational Advising Coordinators) from around the world. These approachable, super smart, and culturally adept folks shared their views on current realities in every region around the world – economic realities, education system realities, visa approval realities.
Today, a closer look at the process of obtaining student visas and the actions those responsible for international student recruitment (university and education agent representatives) can take, given where we all are right now. Our view: it’s all about setting and aligning expectations.
Read on…
US State Department Visa Approval Process Insights
Seeking intel on regions you’re considering for student recruitment? Of course, there is Intead’s Resource Center with more than 800 articles and reports. And there is the US State Department’s advising centers around the world and their very helpful REACs stationed there.
During the Forum there were many conversations about visa wait times and State Department staffing levels that contribute to managing the volume of interview requests. We heard honest assessments of the realities on the ground and tactful responses that consider all that is politically fraught.
What we know about State Department hiring processes is that they hire the brightest for consular positions, and their HR team has a bias toward hiring from top-ranked US institutions (think Ivies and the like). And US graduates from top-ranked institutions typically have a limited knowledge of lesser-ranked institutions. In fact, I'll make a sweeping generalization here, many US graduates of top-ranked institutions have a certain disdain for graduates of lesser-ranked institutions. Add to that the race-based biases we all work so hard to eliminate from our operations.
So, is there bias baked into the system? Of course there is. And it is the State Department’s job to train their staff to overcome bias where it exists -- a long, sustained effort, to be sure.
In addition to addressing issues of fairness, I'm sure State staff training helps each consular officer understand that the US education industry represents a $44B export for the US economy. The Department of Commerce is well aware and supportive of efforts to expand all US export industries. Beyond economics, there are so many advantages to education and research initiatives as global bridge-building initiatives. Hence, State’s 25-year, ongoing commitment to supporting international education initiatives at home and abroad.
And, ever so importantly, US consular officers must balance all of that with the need to assess the veracity of each visa applicant, weeding out those wishing to gain access to the US for the wrong reasons.
What we heard from the State Department during that fascinating luncheon is that there is a lot of ambiguity in the visa applicant assessment process. Not their word, ours.
We heard, multiple times, that the visa applicant’s story during the interview needs to “make sense.” Without clear and documented criteria for what “makes sense” to a consular officer, our interpretation of this vague phrase is that the visa applicant should be able to explain clearly:
- How and why they selected the institution identified on their I-20 form.
- What they plan to study and why that is their chosen direction.
- What they plan to do with the education once they return home.
- How they will finance their education.
Successfully speaking to these four points will go a long way toward providing a personal story that “makes sense” to a consular officer. Why we think these four primary points are challenging for prospective students to speak to effectively:
- It’s intimidating. Who among us can explain things clearly when feeling intimidated by and fearful of a process and the people on the other side of thick, bullet-proof glass? Extroverts seem to have a better chance of being heard and understood. Soft-talking introverts are so very challenged to speak clearly, convincingly, and with eye contact. As human beings, consider our adoration of Hollywood actors. We love the people capable of convincingly telling us a good story. Of course, the student stories need to be true, e.g. not Hollywood tales.
- Not enough prep. Agents and institutions often do a poor job of prepping prospective students for the visa interview and some students do not take the time to prep, appearing at the window not at all familiar with the institution identified on their I-20 form. A recipe for rejection.
- A US education is financially out of reach. With the fabulous growth in marketing of education abroad, far more young people are applying for the dream opportunity they see on social media. Unfortunately, so many of these applicants simply do not have the financial capacity to achieve those very highly sought after dreams. The consular officers assessing the applicants are looking for that financial reality check.
It just may be that a successful student visa interview has everything to do with stronger presentation skills. And yet, when so many students with little or no financial capacity show up with unrealistic plans to afford their dreams, it forces the consular officer to be the “bad guy” saying “no.”
What we heard from State is that their officers are looking for the “why” more than “which institution.” The key question that needs a truly believable, well-presented response: “How will you finance this?”
What you can do now: Set expectations for consular staff and students
So, what to make of all this? We have two concrete recommendations that will help you align your team’s and prospective students’ expectations. So few institutions invest in the time and training required.
- Prepare EdUSA and consular staff. Let EdUSA and consular officers know you are ramping up marketing in their region. If you are serious about your recruitment plans in a country, invest in travel and connect with the right people in person. Let them know they will see more of your applicants at their window and what it is you are looking for in a student. Let them know about the strengths of your most popular academic programs. Give them context so they are more in tune with those who show up with your I-20 in hand.
- Prepare your applicants. Students arriving at a visa interview unprepared to speak clearly, enthusiastically, and honestly about their study plans, career plans, and education financing will have a tough time. The questions coming at them can be intimidating. They have only a few minutes to be convincing. Your job: provide clear guidance to your applicants about what will give them a higher potential for approval, and what not to do at the interview. More 1:1 or webinar hand holding will go a long way toward improving your yield, assuming you are admitting academically and financially viable prospective international students.
The visa process is often frustrating, slow, and opaque. The process of making operational improvements at the State Department is understandably slow. So, while we all advocate for change and the reduction (elimination?) of bias, there are other actions we can take to work with the system we have.
Set expectations, offer realistic and helpful guidance to everyone involved. These simple steps will improve your results.
