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H z . Questions for GAO Interviews on U.S. EmbassyNon-Immigrant Visas (NIV) Policies and Procedures (as of 4/17/02)

N a m e :Date:

Sylvia D. Johnson04/22/02 Post: Kuala Lumpur

1) Has your post made any of the following changes to the N TV application and approval processsince September 11 , 2001? (Check all that apply)

a. Strengthened anti-fraud programsb. Instituted new or changed existing standards on how closely anapplicant's name and date of birth must match the name and dateof birth returned by CLASS (before consular officers submitrequests for a Security Advisory Opinion)c. Reduced the availability of personal appearance waiverprogramsd. Increased the percentage of NIV applicants who areinterviewede. Other (please specify)f. Other (please specify)

YesX

XX

No

X

X

N/A

Please provide additional comments, if any.A) This post already has a strong anti-fraud program, involving visa applicants. W e havebeen working with INS to provide additional training to Malaysian immigration andairport officials who regularly encounter persons with fraudulent travel documents,boarding pass switches, etc. Persons who have been involved in fraudulent visa scamswhen interviewed have stated that they applied for visas in other U.S. Embassies in theregion because it wa s too difficult in Kuala Lumpur.B) W e haven't changed ou r standards because they a re already very high. Shortly after 9/11we reviewed our VLA and CLASS namecheck procedures. This post is veryconservative in matching names/dates of birth with information in CLASS entries. Wealso conduct periodic review sessions on evaluating CLASS hits and more than oneofficer will review very close hits.C) This post is an "interview" by exception post. However, we carefully scrutinizeinform ation received on applicants, randomly call in applicants as part of a check orcontrol on th e system, and routinely contact the applicant by telephone to verifyinform ation.D) We have to interview more applicants to obtain inform ation needed to determine ifadditional administrative processing, i.e. security advisory opinions will be required.

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E) W e increased instructional information available on the website for visa applicants, andapplicants may download the DS-156 and DS-157 through the Embassy's website.F) With the introduction of the upgrade in software for N TV applications, we have begun toscan photos of refused visa applicants.2) About w hat percent of N TV applicants w ere interviewed at your post (a) in the 12 monthsprior to September 11, 2001, and (b) since September 11, 2001?

15%22%

a. 12 mo nths prior to September 11,2001b. Since September 11, 2001Please provide additional comments, if any.W e interview third country nationals in almost all cases. Also, we are examining the travelpatterns of applicants for more than 10 years, therefore this information is not usually availableon the V isa Forms, and interviews in many cases are now required. W e also ask about thecircumstances su rrounding lost passports in interviews. All cases are initially reviewed as drop-bo x cases, and the officer conducting the review will determine if the interview is required andwhat additional information the applicant should submit during the interview.3) In your opinion, to wh at extent, if any, do the fo llowing security procedures and requirementshelp your post's consular officers iden tify potential terrorists?(Please check one box in each row.)

a) Security AdvisoryOpinion for selectedindividuals from StatesSponsoring InternationalTerrorism (see State109933)b) V isas V iper Committeesc) CLASS name check sd) The 20-day waitingperiod for selectedapplicants (see State196355)e) Requirement thatapplicants provideinformation on the DS-157formf) T he Visas Condorprocess (see State 015702)

Great extentX

XX

Some extent

X

N o extent N ot sure

X

X

N o basis to judge

Please provide additional comments, if any.A) Security Advisory Opinions (SAO) have always been useful in providing information oncases.

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B) Viper Committees that have cooperative members are an excellent source of informationfor the Consular officer.C) CLASS name checks have always been invaluable. The system provides a rapidresponse, indicating to the officer that additional processing may be required.D) I am not sure how the 20-day waiting period differs from the processing cases byreviewing CLAS S and/or through SAOs. If it provides information on applicants forinclusion in a database then it is useful, but it doesn't provide this office with additionalinformation that can be used in adjudicating the visa application.E) The Supplemental Form DS-157 does provide useful U.S. contacts and educationalinformation that assists officers in adjud icating a visa case.F) Since January, 2002 we have drafted 2,200 Visa Condor cables. They are very timeintensive (keeping track of the time, contacting the applicants, filing, in addition topreparing the cables). To date, we have received one response from Washington on aVisas Condor, but after the appropriate delays had passed and the case had been issued inaccordance with Department procedures.

4) For your post, to what extent, if any, wo uld the following proposed changes to the NTVapplication process help identify potential terrorists? (Please check one box in each row.)

a Interview a greater percentage of allapplicants( I f you check very or somewhat helpful, pleaseindicate the percentage 96)b. Interview all applicantsc. Fingerprint a percentage of all applicants ( I f youcheck very or somewhat h e l p f i t l , please indicate thepercentage % )d. Fingerprint all applicantse. Improve training for consular officers in identifyingsuspected terrorists, cooperating with other agencies/international organizations, and cultural sensitivityg. Make the visa process a law enforcementfunction ( I f you check yes, please elaborate in thecomm ents section on how this should beaccomplished, e.g., should the function remainwithin State or be moved to another agency)h. Other (please specify)**.***,--Sftuii. Other (please^^

Veryhelpful Some-whathelpful

XX

NothelpfulX

X

X

X

Not sure

X

X

Please provide additional comments, if any.A & B. Interviews don't uncover potential terrorists, particularly if they are articulate, well-versed, and have a plausible story.C. & D. Fingerprints for some, but for whom ? At wh at stage of the process? M en, Women, andChildren?

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E. Training: Consular officers already receive extensive training on interview techniques,and we are very pro-active with sharing information with other agencies at post and inWashington. Unfortunately, other agencies are not always as forthcoming withinformation to consular officers.G. Converting visa processing into a law enforcement function would not helpful. Thefocus of law enforcement agencies would not be to facilitate legitimate travel. We arehaving to deal with stories in the press almost on a dailybasis on how U.S. immigration,airport security, or other law enforcement agencies mistreated men, women, and/orchildren. Give consular officers the information available, let agencies work with us andshare with us all that we need to know to properly adjudicate visa applications.H. There should be more information sharing on patterns, organizations, associations andthe persons involved in them. These areas are most helpful, but are the most difficult toobtain. There is not universal database with the names of various companies, theirprinciples.I. If fingerprints are useful, then implement a system at the point of embarkation, tied into ainternational database. Also, implementinga system at the point of embarkation or at theU . S . port of entry will ensure that prints will be available for persons entering the U.S.,including those with previously issued visas.

5) How feasible would it be for your post to implement the following proposed changes to theN FV process? (Please check one box in each row.)

a Interviewa greater percentage of all applicants (Ifyou checkveryor somewhat helpful, please indicatethe percentage 96)b. Interview all applicantsc. Fingerprint a percentage of all applicants (I f youcheck very or somewhathelpful, please indicate thepercentage % )d. Fingerprint allapplicantse. Improve training for consular officers in identifyingsuspected terrorists, cooperating with other agencies/international organizations, and cultural sensitivityf . Make the visaprocess a law enforcement functiong. Institute a secure travel document that incorporates abiometric such a s sM J lB iC r p i 'i n tsh Other (please ^Bcj^f)

v*f ~ -i. Other (please specify)

Veryfeasible

X

Some-what feasible

X 5 %more

Notfeasible

X

X

Notsure

X

XX

Please provide additional comments, if any.Interview: Our current resources won't permit us to interviewno more than about 25% of ourtotalworkload.Fingerprints: Fingerprintingall applicants would require additional space and staff that we don'thave.

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Training: We would welcome additional training, but we are already cooperating with and usinginformation that is available to us.Travel Document: The Malaysian passport already as a computer chip that has the photo andcapability of including a fingerprint or other biometrics. Unfortunately, there are still oldpassports in circulation that do not have the new technology.

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6) Would any of the following factors make it difficult for your post to fully implement theproposed changes listed in questions 4 and 5? (Please check one box in each row.)

a. Consular staffing shortagesb. Lack of space, facilitiesc. An adverse effect on U.S. interestsin the host country (please elaboratein comments section)d. Host country would requiresameof U.S. citizens (reciprocity)e.Other (please specify)

Yes, to a great extentXXX

Yes, to some extent

X

No N ot sure

Please provide additional comments, if any.We are already strapped for space and are sharing desks/ work areas, and regularly workingovertimejust to meet the Condor requirements. This post is not designed to have 100+applicants entering the consular section everyday. It is only designed to hold 30-40 applicantsincluding persons seeking American Citizen and Immigrant Visa services.The Government of Malaysia has cooperated in sharing information with the consular sectionincluding tax records, and entry/exit histories upon request for their own citizens. To imposenew more burdensome requirements across the board for all Malaysian applicants will damagethe working relationship that we have worked so hard to obtain.A large number of the Malaysian visa applicants are employees of large U.S. companies such asMicrosoft, Dell, Intel, Shell, and Boeing. These companies have postponed important meetings,sales of aircraft, computer installations at major airports, because their employees were caught inthe 20-day delay or Condor process. Our office has worked overtime to provide outreach to theMalaysian business community, American Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations, toappear as helpful to them while complying with all of the regulations that have been added tovisa processing.The Malaysians accept that additional security is required, but they don't appreciate beingincluded in a select group of nationalities that require additional processing. They point out to usevery day that Reid and Moussoui or none of the 9/11 hijackers were not carrying Malaysianpassports. In most cases, Americans do not have to obtain a visa before arriving in Malaysia. Ifadditional requirements are imposed upon Malaysians, particularly, if these requirements are notapplied to all nationalities, the Malaysians will probably review their immigration requirementsand impose new ones for Americans entering Malaysia.