Security Advisory Opinion

There are various types of SAOs, usually named after various animals, with two named after legendary characters. As of August 2006, these included: • Visas Mantis: potential illegal transfer of sensitive or dual-use technology, which was introduced in 1998 • Visas Bear: for foreign government officials, representatives to international organizations, and their families • Visas Donkey: name hits, certain nationalities • Visas Merlin: refugees and asylees • Visas Eagle: certain nationals of Cuba, China, Iran, Russia • Visas Condor: certain nationalities, introduced in January 2002 • Visas Hawk: for immigrant visas • Visas Viper: for suspected terrorists There are also other types of SAOs used for notifying the Department of State about visa issuance and that the applicant will be traveling to the United States, including: • Visas Horse: diplomatic visa holders of certain nationalities • Visas Pegasus: officials of Commonwealth of Independent States ==Validity period==

The validity of the clearance (which specifies a deadline for the time a visa could be issued) is based on its type, and ranges between three and 48 months. During the period of validity, posts can usually issue another visa for the applicant without requesting a new SAO if the applicant's circumstances have not changed much. ==Issuing time==

The Department of State claims that 80% of SAOs are cleared within two weeks, but the general expected time for a clearance is unknown. The average time was 15 days, which was significantly reduced, as the same report mentions that during October 2003, the average was 75 days. According to the U.S. Department of State website, most cases applied for in Beijing should be cleared within 60 days, but 90 days are also expected. As of February 2010, the U.S. consulate in Dubai is reporting that administrative processing can delay some applications for 175 days (~6 months) or more. As reported by some Chinese media in 2019, the U.S. consulate in China delayed over 1000 Chinese F-1 applications for over 6 months, most of whom are graduate STEM students. ==References==