Today, Adrian Ow Yung Hwei is slated to register as a first-year with the rest of the Class of 2006.

But Hwei can’t step foot within U.S. borders, since he has yet to receive his visa.

Because Hwei is from Malaysia—one of 26 countries for which the State Department has created newly-strict, post-Sept. 11 visa policies—no one can guarantee when his visa will arrive.

Hwei is one of handful students slated to enroll at Harvard this fall who are currently in a state of limbo, wondering if their paperwork will arrive in time for them to make it to class.

These students, now waiting in countries including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, face a convoluted new security system still in its forming stages, and tight-lipped officials who can’t tell them what is going on—or when they will get their visas.

No Guarantees

As of July 25, Mohamed Al-Ississ ’00 was set for this year—he had a slot as a first-year at the Business School and, as a resident tutor in business, a suite in Mather House with his name on it. He would be spending the term with his fiance, also a Harvard graduate student slated to graduate in 2004. He expected to pick up his visa at the American Embassy in Jordan, another of the 26 countries subject to new restrictions, on July 28.

But on July 26, Al-Ississ received a phone call from the embassy, informing him that “new instructions” would mean a considerable delay for his visa.

Al-Ississ is still in Jordan, waiting.

“No one could give you a guarantee by what date it will be done,” said State Department spokesperson Stuart Patt.

Patt said a significant backlog prevents new visa applications from getting immediate attention.

Patt declined to describe the new security procedures for visa applications, saying only that all U.S. security organizations are involved.

“We’re as anxious as anyone to see to it visas don’t take too long,” Patt said. “We are [also] more concerned that security checks be done.”

For Al-Ississ, who has devoted many hours to lobbying for his cause, the paperwork is already too late. Business School students of the Class of 2004 registered on Aug. 23, and a 10-day extension he received from HBS has come and gone.

“HBS has a very strict policy on zero tolerance for absence,” Al-Ississ wrote in an e-mail. “While being sympathetic to my situation, they did not allow me to join later than that because classes have been well underway.”