Another win for GESO's international student organizing:

The new policy will affect foreigners working in what the government characterized as "sensitive" scientific and technical fields. Current visa granting procedures, established in 1998 with the Visa Mantis program, require both extra and annual security clearance for these individuals. But under the revised program, for which the University and members of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization have lobbied, the clearance will last for as many as four years for students and two years for working scientists and postdoctoral fellows. Government agencies have been altering the visa granting process for foreign students since last May, when Yale President Richard Levin and top administrators from other universities began pressuring the Bush administration to reform the policy. The new policy is a significant step in reducing the burden international students face in renewing their visas, Levin said. The Yale president said the situation for international students is more favorable and welcoming, much like it was before the USA PATRIOT Act was passed in 2001.