STUDENT VISAS: AMB ASKS FOR LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000558 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINR PINS KCSY SA SUBJECT: STUDENT VISAS: AMB ASKS FOR LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS; SAG TRYING TO PRE-SCREEN NAMES Classified By: Ambassador James Oberwetter for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Ambassador Oberwetter informed Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on August 22 that the Ministry of Higher Education (MHE) had not yet provided the Embassy with lists of all Saudi students who receive scholarships to study in the U.S. The Ambassador raised our concerns with counterfeit scholarship letters, and said that the Embassy has repeatedly discussed the matter with the MHE. The FM asked when the MHE was supposed to provide the lists, to which the Ambassador replied, "a long time ago." The Ambassador asked the FM's assistance and emphasized that the SAG should provide the lists as soon as possible, in order to avoid delaying students planning to travel to the U.S. for the upcoming school year. ¶2. (C) The FM said that the SAG is trying to help by performing name checks to pre-screen potential scholarship recipients. He also said that the SAG is trying to stop students from using their tribal names, which he admitted can be confusing and misleading. He said that removing tribal names from passports is "a delicate issue." The FM did not specify a timeframe, but he was hopeful that tribal names would be removed when the SAG introduces a new version of its passport. ¶3. (C) The Ambassador told the FM that the Embassy has opened new visa windows to replace those closed in Jeddah, which is helping to reduce the long waiting period for appointments. He also informed the FM that the Consulate in Dhahran will soon begin processing a limited number of visas, primarily for individuals from Aramco and others from the energy-related field. The Ambassador said that if all goes well, the volume of visas processed in Dhahran would gradually increase over time. The FM was pleased with the news, saying, "we appreciate the effort." He also agreed that starting with the oil sector made sense as "that is the group most adversely affected because of their close working relationship with the U.S." Gfoeller