Ahmed T. el-Gaili ’98 returned to Cambridge this January to finish his studies at the Law School. When he was unable to get his visa in time to start classes in September, he took classes at a London law school.

Clutching a plastic carton of unfinished Greenhouse salad in one hand, a well-dressed student pulls a gray scarf around his collar and emerges from the Science Center into a stream of his peers.

His breath becomes mist in the chilling breeze as he heads toward the Law School quad for class on a recent afternoon.

After spending more than six years at Harvard, Ahmed T. el-Gaili ’98 knows Cambridge weather well.

But he expected his final year at Harvard Law School (HLS) to begin in the lush late summer—not under the bare branches of winter. And when he graduates this spring, el-Gaili will not take a job with a prestigious New York law firm as he had once planned. He’s moving to London instead.

Visa restrictions established in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prevented el-Gaili, a native of Sudan who has lived in the United States for almost 10 years, from returning to Harvard in the fall.

Like hundreds of others planning to begin class at universities nationwide, including more than a dozen Harvard students, el-Gaili watched the days of September pass as he waited for the U.S. government’s stamp in his passport.

“Visa became a four-letter word for me,” he says, recounting his experience and echoing the sentiments of students who endured similar trials.

El-Gaili has had better fortune than several other Harvard students, who weren’t able to come to Cambridge at all this year.

Administrators fear that such long visa delays could keep international students from freely attending college in the U.S.—potentially changing the character of American research universities.

In el-Gaili’s case, the visa saga has ended. But he has permanently changed his life plans—and fears that other potential leaders from developing countries might veer away from the U.S. in the future.

As university administrators from across the country confront the issue, they, like el-Gaili, are concerned and perplexed—and fear that, at least in the short term, there is no easy solution for their international students.

‘No Silver Bullet’

Among the issues that Sept. 11 legislation has raised for the nation’s colleges and universities, dealing with the dilemmas of students like el-Gaili has become a top priority.

Representatives of the Association of American Universities (AAU)—a consortium of 62 research universities—wrestled with the visa issue at a meeting this month, according to Kevin Casey, Harvard’s director of federal and state relations.

AAU members discussed ways to obtain and share information more effectively with current and prospective international students, Casey says.