The US Consulate here has resumed partial non-immigrant visa services after having closed its non-immigrant visa unit in 2005 in the aftermath of the Dec. 2004 terrorist attack on the Consulate. The resumption of visa services on Jan. 31 does away with the need for applicants from the Western Province to travel to Riyadh to get a B1 or B2 visa for business, medical and tourism purposes from the Embassy there. “This move will eventually culminate in the return of full visa services at the Consulate in late spring – most probably May – of 2010,” said Martin Quinn, the US Consul General, at a press conference here Monday. He said the consulate will be able to process up to 300 visa applications per month, and will conduct interviews four days every month for King Abdullah Scholarship Program students, diplomats and government officials and employees of international organizations. However, students who are not on the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, will still need to travel to Riyadh to obtain their student visa. “Unfortunately, at the moment we don't have enough staff at the Consulate to cover all students,” said Quinn. Chief Consul Cecilia El Khatib, however, added that the US embassy in Riyadh has started issuing five-year multiple visas to students – as long as they are full-time students making educational progress – since May 2008, and this has contributed to easing the various problems students face in obtaining student visas. The reopening of the visa unit in Jeddah comes at a time when the new US administration of President Barack Obama is striving to improve relations with nations in the Middle East. Quinn said that full visa services are planned to coincide with the Consulate's move to a new location in the north of Jeddah. Saudi Arabia is now the ninth-leading place of origin for students coming to the United States, with 18,000 Saudis currently studying in the country, according to the Consulate. “Over 8,100 Saudi students were issued visas to study in the US in 2008 alone,” Quinn said. Donald Jacobson, US Consul General in Riyadh, said rejected applicants are encouraged to apply again, although they might be asked to provide more information and updated details. As for those applying for business visas, there are currently no definite guidelines on how soon they will be processed, so if they have a business appointment, it is best to apply as early as possible and notify the consulate if they require an urgent appointment. “In Riyadh, during the month of January, we issued about 5,000 visas alone, and about 70 percent of them were business and tourism visas,” said Jacobson. He said the embassy in Riyadh approves approximately 50 percent of business visa applications within a week.
