More Chinese students heading to U.S.

Zhu Heng lived the ordeal that Chinese students dreaded because of U.S. visa restrictions imposed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Zhu was on a fellowship at Yale University when he returned to Beijing for a visit in 2002. He waited in China for a year ¡ª away from his fiancee, his fellowship and his lab ¡ª while the U.S. government did a background check ordered for visiting researchers in sensitive science fields. Zhu lost the fellowship, the fiancee, his credit rating, car and apartment. But that was three years ago. Now, Zhu's life has turned around, and so has the U.S. visa system for Chinese students. Procedures have been simplified and waiting times slashed. Visa approvals are up and American campuses are again growing in popularity among Chinese. The number of Chinese students granted U.S. visas rose 25 percent last year to 20,244, returning to pre-2001 levels for the first time, according to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. China had more than 61,000 students in American universities last year, more than any country except India. The United States was once the top choice for Chinese who studied abroad. But anti-American sentiment following the U.S. bombing in 1999 of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and the tightening of visa restrictions after the 2001 attacks made some applicants think about other destinations ¡ª or consider staying home. By 2003, the number of U.S. visas granted to Chinese students had fallen to 12,455 ¡ª 35 percent below the 2001 level.