Collegiate Times

Iranian graduate students Alireza Salmanzadeh and Ali Tamijani are working to make the process for renewing a visa easier for those studying in the U.S.

Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — Michelle Moghtader's name was originally mispelled in the story. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.

Virginia Tech graduate student Ali Tamijani hasn’t seen his family since August 2007.

“There is no way I can go back home,” he said, “because I cannot tolerate the risk of not being able to return.”

Tamijani, the current president of Tech’s Iranian student society, is just one of many Iranian students who study in America but are not able to visit their families back home in Iran while on breaks from school.

He, along with former Iranian student society president Alireza Salmanzadeh, also a graduate student, have been working with the GSA to try to publicize and address problems facing Iranian students studying in the United States.

Tamijani said the Iranian student society has been trying to meet with congressman Rick Boucher to speak with him about its issue.

“It is difficult,” he said of arranging a meeting, “but possible.”

In September 2009, the GSA issued a statement of support for the Iranian student society’s cause.

“The Graduate Student Assembly recognizes that Tech has a large number of Iranian students who contribute significantly to the mission of the university and their respective departments,” the statement read. “Therefore, the Graduate Student Assembly supports a change in the current Iranian student visa policy which would allow Iranian students more flexibility when they return to Iran for obtaining a new student visa to re-enter the U.S.”

“I was happy that the majority voted,” Tamijani said. “At least we brought up this issue at Tech.”

There are about 100 Iranian students studying at Tech, Tamijani said, making the Iranian community the fourth largest international population on campus.

However, Iranian students frequently have problems with getting student visas.

Currently, all Iranian citizens can only be issued single-entry visas because the country is classified as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department.

Other countries that fall into that category are Cuba, Sudan and Syria.

All international students, including Iranians like Tamijani and Salmanzadeh, who wish to study in the U.S. must apply for a F-1 student visa through the state department. Because there is no American embassy in Iran, Iranian residents wishing to apply for this visa must first travel to a nearby country such as Turkey, Cyprus or Dubai.

“It’s very costly,” Salmanzadeh said. “I paid $15,000 going back and forth.”

Salmanzadeh said he waited four months to get visa clearance. Because of the long wait, he had to defer from fall semester to spring semester.

Tamijani was slightly luckier. His clearance only took two months. However, he said, some students experience a wait of up to a year.

Once students are cleared to enter the country, they effectively cannot leave. The visa clearance lasts for three months and students are allowed to stay in the country with an expired visa for the duration of their schooling. If they choose to leave the country, however, their visa almost certainly will have expired and they will have to go through the application process all over again.

Salmanzadeh said he has not seen his parents for two years.

“There are some specific times you want to be with your family,” he said. “My only sister is going to be married in the summer, and I cannot go home.”

Tamijani said while “it’s very stressful,” he “recognizes issues between two governments.”

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