VZCZCXRO2446
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0652 3340650
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300650Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1130
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0906
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0295
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0305
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0296
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0362
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0269
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE 0364
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0024
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC 0101

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000652 
 
STATE FOR CA/VO, CA/FPP, EAP/CM, EAP/PD and ECA 
BEIJING FOR DCM, CONS AND PAS 
STATE PASS DEPT OF EDUCATION 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS KFRD PGOV PREL ECON SOCI CH
SUBJECT: CONSULATE GUANGZHOU STEPS UP STUDENT OUTREACH 
 
REF: A) Guangzhou 631 B) Guangzhou 578 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: ConGen Guangzhou continues to bolster its student 
outreach efforts as its F-1 student visa refusal rate -- 
historically the highest among China posts -- drops incrementally 
year over year. In 2009, Guangzhou refused 28% of student visa 
applicants, a large drop compared to 38% in 2008 and 43% in 2007. 
Meanwhile, the number of F-1 visa applications has nearly doubled to 
14,000 over the past two years. Demand for student visas seems 
insatiable. This was reflected at a recent student outreach event 
held by Guangzhou NIV and Public Affairs sections to commemorate 
International Education Week. It drew a standing-room only crowd of 
students eager to learn about studying in the U.S. and the visa 
application process. Post hopes its continued outreach efforts will 
yield better informed and prepared student applicants while also 
making inroads on the Chinese public's yawning perception gap 
between actual issuance and mistakenly surmised refusal rates. END 
OF SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) ConGen Guangzhou has stepped up its student visa outreach 
activities in response to a recent influx of new F-1 visa 
applications. At least once or twice a month, officers from NIV and 
PAS sections meet hundreds of prospective student visa applicants 
through education expos held by consultancies that help U.S. 
universities recruit in China. There is consistently a long line of 
aspiring students whose parents make middle-class income but have 
saved tens of thousands of dollars to send their child to study in 
the U.S. A recent FPU site visit to the historically fraud-prone 
province of Fujian revealed that even families who live in modest to 
poor conditions have saved large sums of money to send their child 
to the U.S. to study. As noted in ref A, post is indeed finding a 
growing pool of qualified student applicants in the consular 
district. 
 
¶3. (U) During International Education Week, the NIV Unit hosted an 
outreach activity, drawing nearly 100 English-speaking college and 
high school students. They packed into the PAS multipurpose room to 
listen to presentations about what American admissions officers look 
for in college applications and what consular officers look for in a 
student visa interview. This new generation of Chinese students is 
likely to help push the number of annual student visa issuances in 
Mission China past 100,000 in FY 2010. In FY 2009, Mission China 
issued 81,686 student visas. Open Doors 2009 reported recently that 
Chinese student enrollment in the U.S. increased 21% to 98,510. 
 
¶4. (U) In Guangzhou's four province south China consular district, 
one of the wealthiest in China, the growing Chinese middle class 
includes the rising ranks of qualified student visa applicants. 
However, fraud remains problematic in a district that has 
historically experienced intense overseas migration. Post continues 
to see some qualified student applicants who still feel the need to 
make fraudulent claims, for example, about their parent's income. 
However, in 2007, post conducted a validation study, which found 
that only 4% of student visas issued were out-of-status, thus 
confirming the accuracy of student visa adjudications by consular 
officers. Since then, the number of student visa issuances has 
doubled. With a higher volume of visa issuances, post plans to 
conduct a validation study again to review student status and visa 
adjudication criteria. 
 
¶5. (U) COMMENT: In response to the growing interest in student visas 
in Guangzhou, post will begin to host a monthly outreach event 
similar to the one hosted during International Education Week. NIV 
and PAS expect to draw more than 100 different students every time. 
This initiative will be in addition to post's regular participation 
in local education conferences as well as its broader consular 
public outreach efforts covering business travel, tourism, etc. End 
comment. 
 
GOLDBECK