CaptainM,
I suggest you forget about training in the US of A, If I believe the following article the country of freedom has become a "1984 society" .... anyway we have quite an harmonised system called JAR, we build our own airliners and can manage to set our own policies..... I'm probably not talking for myself as most of the Wanabees in this forums want to fly in Europe , enjoy the article and please feel free to answer ..... SF
WASHINGTON, May 10 (AFP) - US Justice authorities Friday
announced a major overhaul in the "antiquated, paper driven" system
which tracks foreign students, in the latest of a string of reforms
in the immigration system, highlighted by the September 11 attacks.
A million foreign students will be tracked on a new web-based
system linking the Immigration and Naturalization Service with
74,000 schools and colleges.Amazement greeted revelations that two of the hijackers who sent civilian airliners on suicide missions against the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon last year were approved for student visas.
"The United States of America will not allow our welcome to be
abused by those who disguise themselves and their intentions," said
Attorney General John Ashcroft. "We will ensure that visitors observe time limits, that students study peaceably, and that our immigration laws are accorded the same
respect that we strive to extend to our guests who come to visit
this country." "For too long our student visa system has been a slow, antiquated, paper-driven reporting system incapable of ensuring that those who enter the United States as students are in fact attending our educational institutions." The new system will come into force on July 1. On March 11, there was a public outcry after approvals for
student visas were sent to a flight school in Florida, where two of
the hijackers, Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi had learned to
fly. President George W. Bush said at the time that he was stunned by
the incident, and called for wide-ranging overhauls of the
immigration system. Ashcroft emphasized that the Immigration and Naturalization
Service would be "accountable for enforcing violations" by foreign
visitors of their student status. "And the American people will gain a measure of assurance that students visiting our country are who they purport to be," he
added. "Rapid access to current, complete information on foreign
students will improve dramatically the INS' capability to enforce
immigration laws and keep track of this group of non-citizens,"
Ashcroft said. "Today we begin the process of bringing our studentvisa system into the 21st Century." The new Student Exchange and Visitor Information System has been
at study stage for a number of years, he added. In the last 10 years, the United States has accorded student visas to some 16,000 nationals of countries that the US State
Department has on its list of "terrorist" states such as Iran, Iraq,Sudan, Libya and Syria, according to data provided by Congress. One of the terrorists who took control of a hijacked plane used in four suicide attacks on the United States September 11 had
entered the country on a student visa but never showed up for his
course, according to media reports.