8/14/2019 T5 B65 GAO Visa Docs 6 of 6 Fdr- May 02 DOS Cable- Curbing Visa Referral Abuse- Santo Domingo 863

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PO Lview telegram)1]P 2 3 2 2 5 8 Z M A Y 0 2

FM S E C S T A T E W A S H D CT O AL L DIPLOMATIC AN D C O N S U L A R P OS T S P R I OR I T YSPECIAL EMBASSY PRO GRAMK A B U L P OU C HDUSHANBE POUCHUN CL AS STATE 100799

V I S A S IN F O R M C O N S U L SE.0 .129 58 : N |AT A GS : CVIS, CMGTSUBJ ECT: Curbing th e Potential fo r Visa Re ferra l SystemAbuse The Santo Domingo Example__ ~~^~- ___ vREF: A) SAN TO DOMINGO 1506 (NOTAL) B) STATE 57402 C)S T A T E 9 6 1 1 11. The Visa Off ice is retransmitt ing th e following cable,originally sent by Sa nto Domingo (ref a), as an example ofsteps other posts might find useful in mitigatingvulnerability to referral system abuse. A s noted in refs ban d c, Chiefs of Mission an d consular section chiefs shouldb e cognizant of recent convictions in U.S. courts of casesinvolving visa referra l fraud. Post leadership shouldconsider w h a t additional steps within th e guidelines of 9FAM Appendix K may be appropriate in preventing possibleabuse of the referral system at their mission.2. Begin Text:Thank you for your recent cable reminding Chiefs of Missionof the need to protect the integrity of the Mission VisaReferral Program. During th e last year, w e here not onlyrevised our own program, b ut w e n t to great effort toeducate ou r staff concerning its requirements an d place in .overall nonimmigrant visa operations. The result has been\t just a referral program which clearly supports USinterests and is more secure from possible abuse, but agreat reduction in time spent by mission officersresponding to requests for help with inappropriate visaapplications.

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view telegramU]3. As you know, with perhaps ten percent of Dominican ,nationals already in the U.S., demand and pressu res forvisas in this cou ntry are extremely high. O v e r the years aclimate had deve loped at this p ost in which Mission staff, !faHing to understand that the referral program was jintended only to facilitate visas of official interest tothe U S Government, submitted referrals that fell outsidethis standard. Part of theproblem w as confusion inthe L \text of post's Visa Re ferral Program memo. W hatever thecauses, the Nonimmigrant Visa Unit of the Consular Sectionwas beset with applications for "B" and even "A" refe rralsfor persons of no official interest. R efe rred applicantsincluded the low -level em ployees, distant relations,domestic servants, and friends of contacts - or sometimesjust local friends and acquaintances of Mission staff.4. Though "B" referrals we re certainly the catego ry mostoften abused, even "A" referrals were regularly submittedo n behalf of persons of no official interest. The resultwas not just added work for our NIV Unit, but for the wholeMission. Staff waste d time filling out and following up oninappropriate referrals, while being inappropriately drawninto visa work in other ways: listening to pleas for help ;with refused cases and calling the NIV Unit - or senior \r or even post management -fo r information or to \e "if

program and our reputation as a Mission.5. Beginning last year, the Charge supported revision ofthe Visa Re ferral Memo and a broad, continuing effort toeducate Mission staff on the required standard of USGinterest for all referrals. The Chief of Visa Operations( C V O ) and the NIV C hief have now met with all StateDepartment sections and other Mission agencies. FSNs,along with Ame rican staff, have been invited to attend,since it was frequently they who served as conduits totheir supervisors fo r visa requests from contacts.6. In these meetings, the CVO and NIV C hief have pointedout that irregularities in visa referrals can b e thesubject of criminal investigations (sometimes after theindividuals making and acce pting them had left post).Referrals must be strictly mon itored and controlled. Allreferrals must specify the nature of the US national

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view telegram[1]interest in the issuance of a visa, both to facil itatedecisions on whether or not to acce pt referred c ases and tomaintain records.7. In discussions with staff, CVO and NIV Chief have gonebeyond referra ls to discuss routine procedu res forapplicants, as we l l as general criteria fo r visa issuance.They stressed that, fo r cases no t involving officialinterest. Mission officers might write letters ofintroduction/recommendation fo r visa applicants favorablyknown to them to bring to interviews. Such letters,focusing on the recommending officer's knowledge of theapplicant's ties to the host country, might helpinterviewing officers determine whether or not thepresumption of intent to immigrate under the Immigrationan d Naturalization Act had been overcom e. While suchletters could help visa interviewing officers, Missionstaff (and visa applicants recomm ended by them) had tounderstand that decisions could only be made at the time ofinterview, based on al l information available at that t im e.8. In addition, C VO and NIV Chief p rovided letters fo rMission off icers to present to their professional c ontacts,describing fo r them th e circumstances in which they couldan d could not expect off icial support fo r a visaapplication. They also made available "business cards"summarizing standard visa application procedures, fo r staffto pass on to pe rsons app roach ing them for help with visas.9. Obv iously, these activities have involved aconsiderable investme nt of my staff 's t ime. Thankfully, asmentioned at the outset, they have more than repaid th einvestment. The NIV Unit reports that the number ofinappropriate visa referra ls has dropped almost to zeroo v e r th e course of the last year (along with a similardecline in calls from Mission staff seeking reversals ofvisa decisions).10. There has also been a corresponding decrease in theamount of time spent by non-consular staff responding torequests from contacts fo r help with visa cases of allkinds, a real plus in term s of productivity. Last but notleast, we are proud to be getting out to our contacts th emessage that Mission staff cannot and will no t officiallysupport visa applications of no official interest to the US

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view telegram! 1]Government. By so doing, w e have improved our Mission'sreputation fo r correct procedures and immunity to outsidepressures.11 . Several lessons for our post have emerged from thisprocess:-- The standard of direct U.S. Gove rnment interest must beclearly stated as the only one qualifying any visaapplication for consideration under th e Visa Referralprogram, whether as an "A" or "B " referral. This needs tobe strongly supported by the Chief of Mission.-- It must also be made clear that the only personsqualifying fo r "derivative status" under this standard arethe spouses and minor children of persons of USG interest.(A t ou r post at least, to accept th e argument that it is inthe US national interest to ingratiate ourselves with ou rcontacts by enabling them to ingratiate themselves withtheir ow n friends an d associates, is an open door forabuse.)- - The annual exercise of re-issuing the Mission VisaRe ferral Memorandum is necessary but not sufficient.Especially at posts like this one, where pressures onofficers to help out with visa c ases of all kinds are sointense and many of our multi-agency staff have had limitedexperience ove rsea s, there must also be opportunities fordialogue b etwee n consular and non-consular staff to ensurethat rules and p rocedures are understood.E n d text .12. CA applauds th e proactive efforts of Embassy S antoDomingo to tighten appropriately re ferral procedures atpost. While w e realize that every detail o f theseprocedures are not suitable for e ve ry post, eve ry missionshould take the potential for referral system abuse asseriously as Santo Domingo, and tighten/reform proceduresa s necessary. Proper visa referral systems are not only amission productivity issue; in the post-September 11environment, maintaining proper control over Embassyreferral programs is a border security issue as wel l .POWELL

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