Indian students saga - Why students are deported from USA and common misconceptions about VISA

Recently there is a huge issue in Indian state of Andhra pradesh (& a bit in Telengana) about the ill-treatment by USA. As usual the media tried to blow it out of proportion and put emotional headings such as treating students like terrorists, keeping them with some unwanted people (??).  News articles here, here, here, here & here

But if one notices and do a simple search about what is a US VISA, one can clearly see,

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/frequently-asked-questions/about-visas-the-basics.html

A visa does not guarantee entry into the United States. A visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. port-of-entry, and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immigration inspector authorizes or denies admission to the United States

Similarly, many nations have a 'disclaimer' stating that the VISA doesnt guarantee an entry. Singapore recently became popular with certain nationalities and specific profiles. ICA even explained in an article here

So in a nutshell if someone need to take the blame and be responsible it is none other than the students themselves & their families. First of all, they are just trying to exploit the system of United States and trying to enter under the context of education but with a different motive. It is very clear to any layman that why people are going for studies but with less than $5 in their pockets and with dubious financial arrangements (e.g. my friend will pay first, then i will repay. This was an actual statement from a student).

Probably the Gov need to educate the people and perhaps put a exit visa for students as a sanity check. Be it the people going to middle east on "tourism" visa and end up as workers under horrible conditions (??) or students been deported from USA (may be UK, AU next). But knowing the way India works, it is going to be a dream. Wish, this new year some of my dreams will come true. :)

US VISA requirements in Singapore

If you happen to apply for US VISA, then you know how painful it is. Except few nations most of the people need VISA to enter and the requirements can be daunting.

The process is outlined clearly here: http://singapore.usembassy.gov/niv-apply-step1.html . However I've some tips,

1. DS 160. Note lots of information required like your parents date of birth, passport no, spouse, children details, your education institute details (address etc). Make sure you save or try to finish it fast. I've to do it almost three times before I can complete it.

2. You can only pay the VISA Fee through Standard Chartered Cashier Order. So you've to make a trip to Stan Chart. Make sure you check the amount before your trip to the bank and bring sufficient cash :)

3. Appt will be atleast two weeks away. So if there is urgency, call the embassy. The guys give priority for specific tasks. For business travel, you should share a document clearly mentioning what is the loss if you don't make a trip :)

4. Interview & the rest just as mentioned in the website..

4.

For the rest,the requirements are pretty simple but I found the photo requirements are a bit tough. It seems some sort of advanced, sophisticated stuff to me. Anyway here goes the link for the list of  so called 'endorsed' list

http://singapore.usembassy.gov/acs_photo_studios.html

The list contains only few of them and note, that these are not the typical "instant" shops. You need to give them 3-4 working days for the 'touch-up's. ;)

Also, most of the Kodak stores offer the 5x5 size which is relatively cheap (6 for $12) and you can avoid the travel. 

Federal Government Strategy for Cloud Computing

The report can be downloaded here & the presentation from here

This would give a very big boost to Cloud providers and infra supporting them. If the Gov can migrate then lot of enterprises and quasi gov agencies (in US & Worldwide) will definitely consider moving to the cloud. In my opinion there is only ONE BIG CONSIDERATION. It's Security. If the agencies can develop a strategy to handle the security portion then it'll bring an enormous advantage to the public.

From Singapore context, IMO it'll take quite a lot of time before the government jumps to Cloud Infra. I don't think technically its challenging but mainly due to our innate culture of not taking the risks and fear of loosing face. So it may take few years before the private enterprises moves to Cloud.

The first major move was from singtel. If you noticed, singnet moved their e-mail services to Cloud (Google Mail). I think this saved millions of $ for singnet as basically they don't need to maintain the e-mail servers and the support systems any more. Google will be happy with the service charges + close to one million subscribers on their e-mail system and they can sell more advertisements.

I hope IDA takes the lead in reducing their cost and shows the path for large organizations and small players. End of the day the savings can be passed down to the consumer thus applying the "cheaper, better, faster" to organizations as well. :)