With respect to the APS advisory on visa applications, the US Liaison Committee to IUPAP held a meeting on June 16 and convened a panel of representatives from the State Department and various science mission agencies of the US government. The meeting was also attended by the Foreign Secretary of the US National Academy of Sciences, Sherwood Rowland.

We are working on a mechanism to facilitate visa applications by scientists. Unfortunately, the process is hampered by the rapid turnover in the State Department among key personnel (being posted to foreign assignments, etc). Nonetheless, I ask all meeting organizers and all colleagues who know of an impending visa application to please notify me with all the critical information (particulars of applicant, where applying, dates and location of meeting, etc).

On some occasions, the US counsular official may not accept an early application unless advised to do so by the Bureau of Counsular Affairs. When occasion demands, we can ask the President of the US National Academy to send a letter to the Assistant Secretary for Counsular Affairs requesting that counsular officials abroad be apprised of the necessity for processing visa applications early.

With best wishes,

Irving A. Lerch
The American Physical Society
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740-3844
phone: (301) 209-3236
fax: (301) 209-0865
email: LERCH@APS.ORG

You may also contact Michele Irwin (MIRWIN@APS.ORG) and Jackie Beamon-Kiene (BEAMON@APS.ORG).


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Advice from the APS on Applying for Visas to the U.S.

ORGANIZERS:

Betty Tsang, NSCL, Michigan State University, USA   tsang@nscl.msu.edu
John M. D'Auria, Simon Fraser University, Canada   dauria@sfu.ca
Kudo, Hisaaki, Niigata University, Japan   hkudo@sc.niigata-u.ac.jp

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