Spring 2007 Middle East Fair

Country and educational briefing done Ms. Fouzia El Azhari, Senior Educational Advisor

Visa briefing done by Ms. Pamela Hack, Vice Consul, US Embassy

Ms. Hack was quite open when her visa numbers and mentioned that she personally had done over 400 F1 visas and that the US Embassy had done over 900 F1 visas all together.

Fair was held in the Le Royal Monsour Hotel Ballroom

Attendance at Casablanca fair 700 students attended the fair
60% Undergraduate
40% Graduate

85% of the students were Moroccan Had a group dinner at a traditional Moroccan restaurant

Visited 1 private High school visited in Casablanca.

Casablanca American School

Country, educational and visa briefing done by AMIDEAST Jordan Educational Advisor Ms. Zohre Allawzi,

No US Embassy officials were present because MS. Karen Hughes from the Bush Administration was in Amman.

Fair was held in the Sheraton Ballroom

Attendance at Amman fair

1235 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)

Several universities went to see King's Academy High School. The school has not officially opened yet, but in the future it will be a source for high level students coming to the US.

Educational and country briefing done by Ms. Sofia M. Khilj, Cultural Attaché, US Embassy

Ms. Karen Fellabaum, Educational Advisor at US Embassy also answered questions:

Visa briefing done by Mr. Ted Halstead, Consul US Embassy

The fair was held in the Al Yamamah College

Attendance at Riyadh fair

300 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)

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

Country and Educational briefing done by Ms. Lori Cross, Educational Advisor, AMIDEAST

Visa briefing done by Mr. Jason B. Khile, Vice Consul, US Embassy,

U.S. Ambassador Richard LeBaron came to the fair to meet all the universities.

Announcement of fair on US Embassy website, http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/pr_03082007.html

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

Attendance at Kuwait fair

961 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)

American International School of Kuwait (AIS)

Al Bayan Bilingual School

Country and educational briefing done by Ms. Samar F. Hasan, Educational Advisor, US Embassy

Visa Briefing by Mr. Wyn Hornbuckle, Consular Officers, US Embassy

Aramco also gave a presentation to the group.

Two High School Counselor from the Eastern province also came to the fair in Manama

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.

Ms. Hornbuckle 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.

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)

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

US Embassy Visa Briefing was gave by the Public Affair Officer
Ms. Marion H Ram, Public Affairs Officer

The fair was held in the Movenpick Ballroom.

Attendance at Abu Dhabi fair

1143 students attended the fair
65% Undergraduate
35% Graduate

2% of the students were UAE Nationals
98% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian)

Country and educational briefing done by Mrs. Bahar Haji-zada, Director, US Azerbaijani Educational Center.

Second Secretary US Embassy attended the fair.

US Embassy Information Resource Center, attended the fair.
The fair was held in the ballroom of the Park Hotel.

Attendance at Baku fair

1200 students attended the fair
70% Undergraduate
30% Graduate

100% of the students were Azeri

Baku Oxford School
At the Baku Oxford High School the counselor is sending 10 students a year to US Universities. She is doing all of this on her own and is almost randomly selecting the schools. She asked our group for help and any other universities that would like to contact her.