US Open to Pakistani Students

Islamabad: US Ambassador Ryan C Crocker on Wednesday described the Pakistani students as being the best and highly motivated and assured them that the US was always open for them in their efforts to acquire higher education.
“US encourages Pakistani students, who are among best in the world, to study in different American colleges, universities and come back to serve their country, as they would be the leaders of tomorrow,” the ambassador said while briefing newsmen at the US Embassy in an attempt to remove general mispereptions among US visa seekers.
The message we are trying to send is that for Pakistani students we would like to be a “destination of choice” for higher education, the ambassador observed.
Ambassador Crocker emphasized that one of the areas where both Pakistan and US should focus was the student exchange program and said the embassy worked very hard to introduce the world’s largest $150 million “Fulbright Scholarship Program” for young Pakistanis.
Jointly funded by the governments of US and Pakistan, United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) is involved in administering the Fulbright Scholarship Program as well as student counseling and outreach.
“Our efforts are taking off as student visa issuance to young Pakistanis is 20 per cent higher this year than the last,” the ambassador said.
“We also worked very hard to remove some of the myths about visa processes by facilitating Pakistani students, like students could come for visa interview without prior appointments.”
Though he conceded that the events of September 11 had changed visa procedures, the ambassador emphasized that the tragedy had not affected in any way the basic eligibility criteria for students or any kind of other visa.

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