Worldandnation: Few visa checks done on Saudis

Few visa checks done on Saudis

©Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government believes as many as eight of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks came from Saudi Arabia, but it still routinely issues tens of thousands of visas to Saudis each year without interviews or extensive background checks.

Far tougher conditions are imposed on other visitors from the Middle East.

On busy days, overwhelmed U.S. Embassy officials issue hundreds of Saudi visas in Riyadh and Jeddah. No special requirements are imposed because, in the past, Saudis had a good record of complying with visa requirements.

In contrast, Iranians must wait 30 days for background checks. Iraqis must await approval from Washington. Syrian applicants are given special scrutiny, an effort to identify any interested in sensitive technical information.

All U.S. consulates must run names through a State Department database of people with past immigration problems.

For Saudis this is mostly routine, although U.S. officials who recently served there estimated they made a half-dozen requests a day for further checks.

Saudis were issued 60,508 visas in the past fiscal year. The figure includes Saudis who applied from other countries. This compares with 21,811 for Jordanians, 48,883 for Egyptians, 143,297 for Israelis, 14,344 for Syrians, 24,932 for Iranians and 2,992 for Iraqis.

Since the attacks, the State Department has told U.S. posts across the globe to see where visa procedures can be strengthened, a department official told the Associated Press.

The FBI has said as many as eight of the hijackers might have been Saudis, although the use of false names in some cases has made a precise accounting impossible. In addition, Saudi Arabia appeared 56 times on a U.S. list of 370 people and organizations with suspected links to the attacks. The list was made public by financial authorities in Finland.

"Our major concern was whether an applicant was going to come back. In most cases Saudis came back because they're very tied to their country," said Joseph Nowell, deputy consul-general at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh from 1998 through September 2000.

"The Saudis are good risks," he said. "Has the risk changed? Yes, but I'm not sure what I'd do about it."