T5 B63 IG Materials 3 of 3 Fdr- 12-12-02 Whiteside Memo- Draft OIG Review of Visa Issuance Policy...

8/14/2019 T5 B63 IG Materials 3 of 3 Fdr- 12-12-02 Whiteside Memo- Draft OIG Review of Visa Issuance Policy 487

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OfGcc of inspector G eneralIog E ntry ReportOIG NumberDate ReceivedDocument DateS/S Number

02-1707! Addressee IIG12/12/2002112/12/20021 Source

From M./DGHR-Ruth A. Whiteside, Acting

Subject iDraft OIG Review of Visa Issuance Policy. Copy given to!CPO/PRA-Temchatin on 12/12/02.Comments ; Recommendations 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 19

IGRef

SensitiveCommentsLog ActionOICNum Code What Action Routed Due IntolG OutOfIG

Cj)2-1707 ISP'"M707 CPT3-PRA Temchat C

-1707 IG CApprop. ActionInformationInformation

12/12/2002

Printed O n 12/12/02 by taylorm lofl


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United States D epartment of StateWashington, D.C. 20520December 12, 2002

MEMORANDUM

T O : O IG - Clark Kent ErvinpFROM: M/DGHR - Ruth A. Whiteside, ActingSUBJECT: Draft OIG Review of Visa Issuance PolicyWe appreciate the opportunity to review the OIG's draft reportand to offer preliminary comments. We recognize that thisreview was conducted in a short time frame and that additionalstudy of these issues within the Department will continue. Thisreport should add to the body of knowledge being created fromcompleted and ongoing internal reviews and the recent GAOreview. HR has participated in this process and continues towork with CA to ensure that consular staffing issues areaddressed.In general, we note that many of the recommendations aresweeping and would have serious resource and assignmentimplications. Therefore, we have not been able in this shorttimeframe to do a serious analysis of the issues.However, we provide our initial comments on the specificrecommendations below.Recommendation 10: The Department should discontinue mostjunior officer rotational assignments that include one year in aconsular section, and instead assign each junior officer to two-year consular tours.We will review the JORP program with this recommendation inmind. Such a review will be in the context of ensuring adequatetraining of junior officers and review of their responsibilitiesto ensure that in the new environment, they are prepared for theincreasingly complex work of visa adjudication. We believe thatthe JORP, program provides many career enhancing and moralebuilding benefits that should not be discarded unless it isclear that those junior officers are less able to handle visaduties. No junior officer is single-handedly expected toadjudicate visa requests of such complexity that an additionaltwelve months of experience will make a material difference intheir performance.


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However, there may be other approaches that would respond to theconcern. We believe that supervision is key - regardless of howlong junior officers spend in the section - to ensuring thatjunior officers perform well. We recognize that increasedresponsibilities, combined with the mid-level staffing gap, havemade for stressful, demanding jobs for mid-level consularsupervisors. If we continue to receive the resources to supportthe Diplomatic Readiness Initiative, we would expect thatworkload would be eased by the increased staffing.Recommendation 11: The Bureau of Human Resources should utilizeall alternate staffing programs that are available, ncludinghiring language-qualified employees on limited non-careerappointments, to adjudicate visa applications and staff consularsections.We continue to believe that State Department junior officers whohave passed a vigorous screening process prior to entry are ourvery best resource to adjudicate visa applications and staffconsular sections. The most important characteristic is theintegrity of the consular officer. That is why we recruit thebest talent for the Foreign Service and seek those who aremotivated by service, who are prepared for a career-longcommitment, who can put consular work in a broader context, andwho we can train in the additional specific skills required.We are also focusing our recruiting more intently on candidateswho may already possess critical language skills. For example,we recruit heavily at universities with strong language programsand among participants in the National Security EducationProgram.While language is important, it is not the primary skillrequired, and it is one that can be taught. Our goal is tofully staff consular sections with the brightest officers, whohave all the training and skills required for this criticalresponsibility.Recommendation 12: The Bureau of Human Resources, inconjunction with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, should.- reviewall consular positions to determine appropriate positionclassifications in light of new complexities in consular work,security concerns, and anti-terrorism initiatives.HR will be undertaking such a review.


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Recommendation 13: The Department should establish proceduresto ensure that only officers who have completed at least oneconsular assignment should be assigned to a one-person consularsection.We agree that having first-tour officers staff one-personconsular sections is not the optimal situation. However, highlyexperienced regional consular officers who provide guidance andtraining through regularly scheduled visits to posts supportthese officers.Recognizing the additional threat since 9/11, we are closelymonitoring assignments to these posts. As more experiencedofficers become available through DRI related intake, we willmake every effort to assign experienced officers to one-personconsular posts. Some positions will be upgraded to mid level asthe mid-level officer ranks begin to grow.

Recommendation 17: The Department should require languagetraining for consular positions and all consular officers shouldbe required to be able to communicate at least at the basiclevel (S-2/R-2).We make it a priority for every officer assigned to a consularposition abroad to have the language skills necessary to do thejob. Every year we conduct a review of positions abroad todetermine what the language designation of each position shouldbe. The designation is made according to the assessed need forlanguage use at each post. In "hard" languages, a 2/0 isgenerally required when there is no assessed need for readingability.Our commitment to providing language training is strong. In thepast year we granted only 8 full and 10 partial language waiversto officers assigned to consular positions abroad. Officers whoare assigned with a partial language waiver continue theirlanguage training at post. In the last year we have increasedthe training time for junior officers in most of these hardlanguages from 23 to 36 weeks.The single most important factor in expanding the ability of theForeign Service in languages is additional personnel andresources.Recommendation 19: The Department should assign officers withappropriate Middle East languages and area knowledge to majorvisa-processing posts outside the Middle East.


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HR response to draft OIG Review of Visa ProcessDecember 11, 2002Drafted: DHHR/PC - Laura A. Hall x72665

HR/CDA - Lee LohmanHR/RMA - Bill MullicanCleared: yd Lv^CA/EX: Moss ok ]IT [*DGHR: Whiteside


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P L E A S E C H E C K ONLY IF T H IS M U S T G O U P T O N IG H T

Office of the Director GeneralBureau of Human Resources

SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO DRAFT O IG REPORT ON VISASDATE/TIME IN 12/11/2002 3:57PM DISK ATTACHED? YesDRAFTER'S NAME: LAURA A . HALL OFFICE: DG HR/PCTEL: x 7-2675Note: PLEASE PROOFREAD AND SPELL-CHECK YOUR DOCUMENT.

ROUTING INFORMATION IF MARKED, P L E A S E SIGN F O R A/SD =>OD =>OD DAS CAMPBELL =>O]D DAS TAGLIALATELA * . =>[Q]03 PDASWHITES!DE =>[D]D DIRECTOR GENERAL =>[D]E] RETURN TOSTAFF ASSISTANTSD RETURN TODRAFTER

C O N T R O L *Special Instructions

D COPY IN R E A D F I L ED ue today . v ^Copies please to C D A . R M A . PC \V-^ \y to D G "Copy in Read file

T5 B63 IG Materials 3 of 3 Fdr- 12-12-02 Whiteside Memo- Draft OIG Review of Visa Issuance Policy...

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