Fall 2006 Middle East Fair

Participants    Pictures

Amman, Jordan

 

Country and educational briefing done by AMIDEAST Jordan Educational Advisor

Visa briefing done by Consul, U.S. Embassy

Group visited Petra for the day.

Fair opened by Mr. Christopher Henzel, Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy

Fair was held in the Sheraton Ballroom

Attendance at Amman fair

    1035 students attended the fair
    40% Undergraduate
    60% Graduate

    85% of the students were Jordanian
    15% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Iraqi, and Palestinian, several Iraqi students drove from Iraq to come to the fair)

The group went to Tafila Technical University for a local university fair.

The fair was opened by Dr. Sultan T. Abu-Orabi, President of the University

The fair had about 200 students attend mostly looking for graduate information.

After fair the university invited us to dinner at an outdoor hot spring recreational park.

Group visited 2 Jordanian Private High Schools

Salmiya, Kuwait

 

Country and Educational briefing done by Educational Advisor, AMIDEAST

Visa briefing done by Vice Consul, US Embassy

U.S. Ambassador Richard LeBaron cut ribbon to open fair in Kuwait.

Announcement of fair on US Embassy website, http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/pr_11062006a.html

The fair was held in the Six Palms room at the Marina Hotel

Group had a nice lunch at an Arabic restaurant in Kuwait

Attendance at Kuwait fair

    1140 students attended the fair
    60% Undergraduate
    40% Graduate

    60% of the students were Kuwaiti
    40% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian and Pakistani)

Visited 2 Private Kuwaiti High Schools

Muscat, Oman

 

Country and educational briefing done Public Affairs Officer:

Vice Consul at US Embassy gave the visa briefing.

In the US Embassy presentation they showed a graphic that explained 98% of all Omani applicants that applied for an F1 visa received the visa, he mentioned that the 2% denial rate was because the applicants did not have the appropriate financial guarantee.

Fair was canceled due to the unexpected decree by the Omani Ministry stating that no public exhibitions will take place during the month of November due to the observation of the Oman's National day.

Visited 4 private High schools visited in Muscat.

Manama, Bahrain

 

Country and educational briefing done by Educational Advisor, US Embassy

Visa Briefing by Consular Officers US Embassy Email

Ms. Cobb explained that most Bahraini visas are processed in 24 hours as long as the students name is not on a watch list and everything else on the application is in order.

The US Embassy set up a table at the fair to answer student's visa questions.

US Ambassador William T. Monroe opened the fair.

Private mini fair for the Crown Prince Scholarship fund students was held about an hour and a half before the regular fair. 60 students registered for the fair.

The fair was held in the Sheraton ballroom.

Attendance at Manama fair

    850 students attended the fair
    65% Undergraduate
    35% Graduate

    60% of the students were Bahraini
    40% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian and Saudi, the Saudi students drove from Dhahran, which is about 30 minutes away)

Visited 2 High schools visited in Manama.

Abu Dhabi, UAE

 

Country and educational briefing done by Educational Advisor, US Embassy.

The group had lunch at the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

US Embassy Visa Officers gave the visa briefing

Senior Educational Advisor at the US Embassy attended the lunch and fair.

Also the REAC officer for the Middle East came to the fair.

The fair was held in the Hilton Ballroom.

Attendance at Abu Dhabi fair

    643 students attended the fair
    65% Undergraduate
    45% Graduate

    20% of the students were UAE Nationals
    80% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian and Saudi)

Three private High School visits

Al Khobar and Qatif, Saudi Arabia

 

Educational and country briefing done by Educational Advisor, US Embassy

Public Affairs Officer, from the US Consulate, Dhahran also attend both fairs.

Visa Summary done by US Embassy Consul from Riyadh.

Aramco also gave a presentation to the group.

The fair was held in the Al Mana Institute.

Attendance at Al Khobar fair

    958 students attended the fair
    65% Undergraduate
    35% Graduate

    90% of the students were Saudi Nationals
    10% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian)

Second Fair was held at the Qatif Charitable Center.

We had lunch at the local Sheik's house. He also attended the fair.

Attendance at fair approximately 2000 students. The fair was larger than expected and most students came just to receive material from the universities. We were not able to get registration forms from the students at the Qatif fair.

They both have helped over 1000 Saudi students with admissions to American universities. This information was given to me from the US Consulate in Dhahran.

GENERAL QUALIFCATIONS FOR SAUDI SCHOLARSHIP

The Ministry of Higher Education announced availability of scholarships to good American universities for undergrad and graduate studies.

The students must have a minimum of a 2.75 GPA out of 4.00

General terms for scholarship

  • Must be a Saudi citizen
  • Must not be an employee in any private or government sector
  • Must be full-time study program
  • Must receive the proper visa from the US Embassy to study in any MOHE recommended university
  • Must have copy of last degree
  • Copy of good behavior report from High school

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