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AKARTA: The US government, through the US Embassy in Indonesia, says it has made its student visa application process easier, in an effort to attract more Indonesian students to the US.

“The student visa services process has been upgraded and made faster to draw more Indonesian students to the US, and vice versa. Twenty-five percent more student visas have been issued this year [compared to last year],” US Ambassador to Indonesia, Scot Marciel, said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Meanwhile, the embassy has also organized the 2011 US Higher Education Job Fair in Jakarta.

USA country education coordinator Parlindungan Siahaan added that there were no discriminatory or double-checking procedures in issuing visas to students from certain countries.

He added that the application process had been eased in order to improve the Indonesia-US bilateral relationship. Based on a survey, the US is still the favorite destination for Indonesian students to further their education.

The US Embassy in Indonesia has granted 90 percent of the student visa requests logded between June and August this year.