Can Iranian students already in US get the new multiple entry visa?

After the Department of State's recent announcement that Iranian students seeking a US visa would be permitted to obtain a 2 year multiple entry visa instead of a 3 months visa, I have been flooded with questions from Iranian students ALREADY in the US if they can benefit from this change in policy.

The short answer to the question is yes. Officially, any Iranian students already in the US and in valid F, J, or M status, could leave the US and apply to a consulate abroad for this visa.

The long answer is more complex. The key is they can "apply". However there is no guarantee that they will obtain it. To add complications, since the US Embassy hostage crisis, there is no US embassy or consulate inside Iran. As such, Iranian students, in fact any Iranian national seeking any type of visa has to travel to a US consulate abroad to apply. For those residing in Iran, they have mostly gone to Ankara, Turkey, or Abu Dhabi, UAE. The benefit of going to those locations is not only that they are geographically near, but they traditionally grant temporary visitor visas to Iranian nationals without any undue burden or restrictions or time delay, which enables the Iranian nationals to stay in Ankara or Abu Dhabi for the several days that it usually takes to go through the application and visa interview process.

Some, if they can afford it and if they are able to obtain visas to those countries, can apply for the visas in Europe. One of the advantages there could be that there is less delay beause there are less applicants who can make it there.

For those Iranian students already in the US, a logical question is whether they could travel to nearby US consulates in Mexico or Canada, instead of going through the expense of returning to the Middle East or going to Europe. Of course, the answer is yes. The US Consulates have limited number of appointments available for third country nationals who are currently in valid visa status in the US. But there are several technical problems the Iranian student will face.

First of all, to obtain a tourist visa to Canada, as an Iranian national, is no easier feat than obtaining one to the US. That is, they come under special scrutiny and will experience more delay than other nationals, because of the presumption that a national from Iran has an immigrant intent. Of course, you have to get voluminous documents together, including the visa application form, the proof that you are in the US legally, which includes not only the proof that your educational institution has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security, and that you are enrolled there, but that you are pursuing your full time program of study, you have proof that you are supporting yourself financialy without the authorization to work in the US, and that you intend to return to that program of study and eventually to your home country, before Canada will consider granting you a visitor visa. And then of course there is the matter of the visa application fees. I am guessing the time to process all of that will be at a minimum several weeks.

Then, you have to request the appointment at the US consulate in Toronto for your visa appointment. You can do that via telephone or email and it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks according to their website to secure an appointment. Then, the visa application process can take up to 2 weeks. So you have to get ready to spend a minimum of 2 weeks there. If you don't have family or friends who can help you out, that can be a costly proposition. To add to the burden, missing up to two weeks from your course of study better not render you out of status. So you definitely have to check with your school that it is okay to take that time off because you don't want to experience the irony of being denied a visa because you are considered to have abandoned your studies precisely because it took 2 weeks to process a request for a student visa!!! Kafkaesque conundrum indeed.

Here is the kicker. No guarantees can ever be given ahead of time that an applicant will be found qualified for a U.S. visa as this determination can only be made during the visa interview process. Furthermore, within the course of the visa interview it may be determined that an application could be subjected to a legally mandated administrative review, which may take several weeks or months to be concluded. During this time visa applicants may not be allowed re-entry into the United States."

In other words, you are gambling with higher stakes than a Las Vegas casino if you want to take your chance to leave the US an apply for the new multiple entry visa abroad. It doesn't matter that all your paperwork is in order and that you are a valid, solid, student.

You have to understand that the "interview" is really you standing there, with no right to an attorney, in front of a small window, just like at the DMV or social security office except less friendly and efficient, and the person who is quickly shooting questions at you while simulatenously browsing your mound of documents, makes up his or her mind about denial or approval in a matter of minutes if not seconds. And if you want to appeal the decision, it is going to take months during which you are not allowed reentry in the US, so definitely that is going to make you get kicked out of school and then, your appeal is really worthless, even if you do get a reversal at the end of several months of wait.

And of course, Canada is not necessarily going to allow you to remain there past the expiry date of your tourist visa even if you have the excuse that you are waiting for the results of your apeal. So the only alternative you may have to face is to return to Iran, and have some kind soul pack up your things, and take care of your now breached lease/rental agreement, utility bills, close your bank account, sell your car, etc. in the hopes that one day in the future, you will be accepted back into your school after your defection.

I don't know but if you ask me, that is too high a gamble. It is difficult to understand for people who have had passports that grant them instantaneous access t practically any country they want to visit, study in or work, what it is to go through life holding a passport that renders you a suspect before you even open your mouth and present your documents. Another sad consequence of the policies of a government that bears harshly upon its most well-intentioned and in many cases most brilliant and positive citizens.