The United States embassy today said the new visa ruling which requires a 20-day waiting period will apply with immediate effect to all Malaysian men aged between 16 and 45 years, regardless of their religion.

Malaysia was among the 25 countries were affected by the new US visa policy. Others include Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

Before this, applicants for US non-immigrant visas usually got their documents processed within a week.

However, the US embassy said the new ruling will only be temporarily imposed for security purpose.

"This procedure is being implemented on an interim basis to enhance the security of our visa issuing process. It does not indicate any change in visa eligibility," said the US embassy in its statement today.

Applicants are, therefore, urged to apply for their visas as far in advance of their planned travel dates as possible, it added.

Assurance

The US embassy also gave an assurance that despite the change of procedure, people who qualify for non-immigrant visas under existing laws will continue to receive them.

Last Friday, the United States announced it would tighten visa restrictions, beginning this week, for Muslim men from predominantly Muslim nations after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center.

This was met with criticism from the government which claimed that the restrictions were baseless and prejudiced.

According to the new ruling, applicants will have to fill up a detailed questionnaire stating their past military experience, weapon training experience, plus previous travel itineraries.

The 20-day wait is to enable a Washington terrorist task force to scrutinise the applicant's questionnaire.

Diplomatic and fiancee visas, however, will not be subject to the new ruling.