• How on earth is it possible that an impressive achievement turns into a nightmare? If you are surprised reading this question, here’s the story of Iranian students:

After years of studying, hardworking, and dedication, we -the students-  were admitted to US universities to pursue our higher education. However, that was the only happy moment we experienced on this journey due to the nightmare of visa delays.
Most of the applicants who attended visa interviews in the United States embassies such as Turkey (Istanbul and Ankara), United Arab Emirates, Armenia, and Pakistan were subjected to Administrative Processing (AP). What is concerning is that until now, a large number of applicants are still waiting for the result of their visas (F & J Visas).

• Having gone through administrative processing, we have been waiting for 6 to 18 months for our visas to be approved.

The pressure, stress, disappointment, and uncertainty we have been experiencing are by no means tolerable. After 6 months of pure distress, we were left with no choice except to hire an immigration attorney to help us with our visa process. Although it cost us more than we could afford, it was the only promising and helpful way.  Unfortunately, the government filed a motion to dismiss in response. The reasons for the dismissal of our lawsuits show nothing but pure discrimination against Iranian students.

We are just students full of hopes and enthusiasm to pursue our education and we deserve to be treated equally and respectfully. The past 6 to 18 months of our lives have been a nightmare and hardly do we remember what it is like to be happy and to enjoy life. With the beginning of the Fall semester soon, we feel even more devastated and heartbroken not having our visas yet. Although our advisors and the universities have been really supportive during this excruciating long delay, they cannot wait for us anymore and we may lose our admissions and scholarships.

We wholeheartedly ask you to support us in this process to have our visas approved before it is too late. For these reasons, we respectfully urge all relevant departments and services, specifically the United States Department of State, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to kindly take our concern into consideration and assist us with this matter and alleviate this burden for all Iranian students and researchers. We understand and respect the importance of taking into consideration the national interests of the United States in issuing visas and by no means do we ask for any intervention in this process. 

Respectfully submitted.

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DISCLAIMER
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PETITION IS TO SOLELY REPRESENT THE DIFFICULT SITUATION OF IRANIAN STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS WHO ARE WAITING FOR THEIR U.S. VISAS TO ATTEND THEIR UNIVERSITIES INSIDE THE UNITED STATES (CAUSED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC).

NO POLITICAL OR OTHER PURPOSES ARE BEING FOLLOWED. ANY MISUNDERSTANDING OR MISCONCEPTION OF THIS PETITION BY NEWS MEDIA OR OTHER ENTITIES AND INDIVIDUALS IS ON THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY.

THE ADDRESSEES OF THIS PETITION ARE U.S. OFFICIALS AND RELEVANT DEPARTMENTS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF VISAS.