"We're upset with the US embassy's visa system," said Yue Taiping, standing near a street blockade put up last year to protect the embassy after the attacks on New York and Washington.

Yue, 24, speaks solid English, scored high marks at a top Chinese university and is due to enroll at the University of Southern California graduate school in two weeks.

But the public administration major, used to leaping academic hurdles, has found his path blocked twice by US visa officers.

US officials acknowledge tighter scrutiny of applications, but said there was little impact on the number of visas issued and students rejected once had a chance to re-apply before September 1 so they can make it to their universities on time.

Chinese students have long complained about what they say is an arbitrary process in which visa officers rush through interviews and reject perfectly good applicants as flight risks.

Asked by police to leave, Yue and the other protesters walked to another US embassy office where an embassy spokesman met them and accepted their petitions. He declined to comment.

Ji Yan, 24, also protesting at the embassy, was admitted to study mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, but said her visa application had also been rejected twice.

"They didn't give me any reason," she said. "They didn't even give me time to answer all the questions."

The United States is the destination of choice for Chinese students hoping to study abroad - more Chinese study in the United States than any other group of foreign students.

In China, there are Internet chat rooms dedicated to US visa policies, giving out advice including descriptions of the visa officers such as which are forgiving and which are tough.

The State Department says from October 2000 to August 2001 the United States issued more than 18,000 student visas to Chinese citizens. So far this year, it issued more than 16,000.

State Department spokesman Phil Reeker said in a statement the refusal rate had risen in some US visa offices in China, which may reflect "more stringent processing requirements" since September 11. But some areas saw more approvals, he said.

Liu Qimin, 65, came to the embassy to protest its multiple rejections of his daughter who was admitted to Boston University.

"August 23 is the last day to register at B.U. (Boston University) and she still can't get a visa," he said. "I'm getting very nervous."

(China Daily HK Edition August 25, 2002)