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view telegram[3] R202318ZMAR02 FM SECSTATE WASHDC TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS SPECIAL EMBASSY PROGRAM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE AMEMBASSY KABUL UNCLAS STATE 053920

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E.G. 12958: N/A TAGS: CVIS, CMGT SUBJECT: CENTRALIZATION AND CONSOLIDATION OF VISA PROCESSES: THE ROLE OF NVC AND KCC AND VO REF: STATE 36300 1. Summary: The two stateside visa processing centers in New Hampshire (NVC) and Kentucky (KCC) have proven the benefits of a model employing contractor resources to perform routine clerical support of visa functions. VO is anxious to expand those centers to handle petition-based NIV cases, basic fraud prevention screening, document archiving and imaging and other projects. Our experience in utilizing contractors to handle public inquiries and INA Section 212(e) waivers has been successful and we are engaged in efforts to expand use of contractors in other areas in VO. End summary. The Vision

2. NVC was created with the vision of centralizing as much as possible the routine clerical aspects of immigrant visa processing so that consular sections overseas could concentrate their resources on actual adjudication. Put in other terms, the goal is to identify those portions of the visa process which are inherently governmental in nature and provide support through a US-based contract work force for everything else. This approach was designed to reap the efficiencies of processing in a factory-like center, standardize routine processes, improve internal controls and help with the work of building a domestic constituency for the work of consular affairs. In the years since its Pagel

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view_telegram[3] inception, NVC has gone from being an exclusively mail and file processing center to an operation that provides sophisticated value-added visa services. The addition of the Kentucky Consular Center in October 2000 provided CA with significant flexibility to continue the expansion of contractor support for visa processes. 3. Most consular officers are familiar with the basic case preparation activities of NVC and, for DV cases, KCC. The purpose of this message is to highlight some of the newer activities at the centers, outline the division of labor, and share some of our plans for the future. Defining Limits: What We Can and Cannot Do

4. As noted above, certain consular tasks are inherently governmental in nature and not appropriate for a contract workforce. In addition, the visa process and the authority of the Department of State in that process is essentially a matter of the exercise of consular authority by consular officers posted abroad. These distinctions are important due to questions of jurisdiction and consular nonreviewability. For these reasons, NVC and KCC cannot take any actions which are adjudicatory in nature, including any sort of valuative judgments on the merits of a case. For example, in the AOS review, NVC can point out that a required document is missing or that a document has not been properly completed, but cannot note in forwarding the case to post that the applicant appears ineligible under 212(a)(4). Procedures at the processing centers have been carefully structured to avoid the appearance of inappropriate decision-making while maximizing the benefits of these operations as factories of contract visa clerks. AOS Review

5. The Affidavit of Support review process at NVC has now been underway for three years and will be expanded to the remainder of posts worldwide by October 1,2002 (State 36300 dated February 26,2002). AOS review is in some ways a prototype for the sorts of services possible at NVC and KCC. Faced with a burdensome documentary requirement, complicated by the fact that posts overseas had to ask Page 2

view_telegram[3] applicants to relay information and documents to petitioners in the US, CA took the two-pronged approach of working with INS and Congress to try to simplify the 1-864 while designing a program to allow contractors at NVC to handle the communication and document review work. The dialogue on simplification continues, but in the meantime, the review program is up and running well. Fee collection

6. In conjunction with the AOS review, NVC has begun collecting the immigrant visa application fee through a bank lock-box operation. Changes are now being made to the billing and accounting procedures to help streamline that process and reduce some of the confusion that posts may have when trying to confirm payment. The program has been successful, however, in reducing the cashiering and internal controls burden on posts and providing the USG with payment up front for services provided. The fee collection process will become even more worthwhile when the new tariff schedule, which eliminates the IV issuance fee in favor of a single application fee, goes into effect. Appointment scheduling

7. DV posts are aware that KCC schedules appointments for all DV cases. In addition, NVC reviews the civil documents and schedules appointments for a number of posts, including Montreal, Tirana and all posts in continental Africa. In a further refinement, we are now requiring all Africa applicants to submit original documents in response to the "Instruction Package." These documents are checked against Appendix C to ensure that they reflect those post has indicated should be submitted and are then photocopied and stamped "Original Seen and Returned." After the appointment is scheduled, the case file is sent to post with both originals and copies, so that all consular officers need do at post is review the originals and return them to the applicants. This requirement for originals is being followed on a trial basis in the hope that it will reduce the number of 22 Kg) refusals caused by applicants failing to bring original documents to interview. A number of posts have asked to be added to the NVC appointment PageS

view_telegram|3] process, and VO is considering further expansion of the program. Termination

8. NVC will continue to shoulder the clerical steps of the termination process for non-responding immigrant visa cases by sending the Packet 4(a) and Termination Letter 1. When there is no answer to either of those letters, NVC then contacts post about cases that appear to meet the criteria for final termination. After the consular officer at post makes a determination, he or she provides NVC with the authoriation to physically destroy the petitions. Petition-based Nonimmigrant Visas

9. V and K3 visa processing will soon be moved to KCC. In the coming months KCC will begin serving as the link between INS and posts for all NIV petitions, including fiancee petitions. We plan to begin with fiancee petitions. KCC will receive both the paper file and an electronic file from INS, much as NVC now does with IV petitions. After completing an NCIC namecheck KCC will forward to posts both the electronic file and a scanned copy of the petition via e-mail. As soon as possible, we intend to have INS forward all NIV petitions to KCC. Stated simply, we intend to provide INS with two addresses: NVC for all IV-related work and KCC for all NIV-related material. By simplifying the process of getting petitions from INS to the Department of State (KCC in this case) and by imaging and e-maiting the petitions overseas, we expect to greatly reduce the amount of time currently required for petitions to reach post. KCCs role in the NIV process is still a work in progress. Many posts process most of their petition-based NIVs on the basis of approval notices without ever seeing the actual petition. We intend to structure a process over time that involves KCC in data entry and scanning of documents as appropriate to ensure that consular officers get complete, secure information as quickly as possible. Visa Revalidations Page 4

view telegram|3] 10. CA/VO/P/D annually processes over 60,000 applications for revalidations of visas for accredited diplomats and holders of certain types of work visas. At present, while fee collection and initial data entry is performed by a lock box operation, all other aspects of visa processing is handled by career employees, interns or TOY assistance. We intend to contract out most visa processing work, to include downloading of RDS data, document checking and assembly, visa printing and quality control, and return of visa'ed passports, to contractors who will be integrated in P/D. Visa adjudication will continue to be reserved to career Civil Service and Foreign Service officers. We believe this arrangement will allow us to process revalidations, which have increased over 100 percent in the past five years, more efficiently. Fraud prevention screening

11. One aspect of this evolving role is fraud prevention screening, which will begin first at NVC within the next few months and then at KCC. Bearing in mind the limitations on contractor activities, we are planning to form small Fraud Program Units at both sites which will used automated search tools to check petitioner information in employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa cases. Initially, these units will randomly sample a small number of cases and apply validation study-type strategies to review the caseload. As we gain experience and document trends, we intend to employ decision support software tools to help screen and identify cases for further review. Posts should not expect to see one hundred percent reviews. Neither can the contractors return cases to INS or provide full write-ups suitable for final action by post. Rather, the processing centers will attempt to verify address, phone and business information and provide objective facts to post in a format that can be used for further investigation or decision-making. Posts will not be able to refer cases back to NVC or KCC for investigation, but we expect the information provided will be of significant benefit to adjudicating consular officers. Student visas and the 1-20 Page 5

view telegram(3] 12. The debate on reform of the student visa and 1-20 processes continues to rage, so there are no final decisions to report at this point. If, as seems likely, a more involved 1-20 verification process with greater State Department participation is the outcome, we plan to use KCC to support the field. Document archiving and management

13. In the aftermath of September 11, the Category I refusal files from a number of posts were shipped to KCC, where they are being stored and scanned on demand as needed for law enforcement or visa processing purposes. In addition, a number of posts have begun shipping OF-156 NIV applications to KCC for storage due to longer retention requirements already in place and likely to become law in the near future. KCCs role as a document management center is in its early days, but we expect this to become a permanent role as we deal with issues of long term storage, imaging and retrieval of visa records. Backup for CLASS

14. KCC will also be the site of a contingency processing center for CLASS. We expect to establish a redundant CLASS mainframe at KCC by the end of 2002. Adoption processing

15. The Department is working with INS toward having all 1-600 and I-600A petitions forwarded to NVC. NVC will perform data entry and send the petitions to post. Currently, only an unknown percentage of approved orphan petitions pass through the NVC for this processing, while the remainder are sent directly from district offices to post or through cable or fax. By designating NVC as a central point for orphan petitions, it will be easier to retrieve records of approvals, particularly as prospective adopting parents often plan to adopt in one country, but then find an orphan they wish to adopt in another country instead. Orphan petitions receive expedited handling at Page 6

view telegram|3] NVC, due to their unique and sensitive nature. They bypass the IV fee collection and Affidavit of Support review. The visa application and issuance fees for these cases will continue to be collected at post. And Into the Future

16. We are working hard to develop facilities and systems architecture at both NVC and KCC that will allow us to shift work seamlessly between the two sites as workload and changing requirements necessitate. Our dialogue with INS and other federal agencies on datashare, although largely focussed on the border security benefits of using consular data at POE, also stresses CAs interest in two-way information flows. The processing centers are poised to take full advantage of petition and other information received electronically. 17. The Public Inquiries Division of VO has for the past 1 1/2 years employed contractors working side by side with Civil Service employees to handle the full range of public inquiries. We are currently engaged in efforts to contract out all routine telephone, fax, email and traditional written public inquiries to a call center, which will refer more complex matters to VO, NVC or KCC for resolution. (The call center will handle not only visa and AOS inquiries, but those related to overseas American services, passport issuances and vital records.) In addition to meeting a public information need and saving some work for posts, the call center will enable more effective use of NVC, KCC and VO, and for all of CA, by providing a single point of public contact. 18. We also expect to augment staffing throughout VO by integrating contractors into our existing workforce to perform both substantive and clerical work. What Does it Mean for Consular Operations?

19. The model of centralized contractor support of routine clerical work is a success and we plan to continue looking for ways to make this model work more effectively in the visa process. Proceeding down this path has some Page?

view telegram[3] implications that posts are already beginning to deal with. First, of course, increased centralization will necessarily lead to greater standardization. Some of this will be automatic, a consequence of having a single office handle the work. Other efforts at standardization will be more deliberate, as we eliminate some post-specific information sheets and procedures in order to make operations more efficient. 20. Greater centralization will also mean that consular officers will increasingly be dealing with aspects of cases that have already been in some way reviewed by the Department of State. Obviously, the goal of contractor processing is to provide the consular officer with as complete a file as possible for eventual adjudication, but officers will need to take into account the fact that the USG has already had a bite at the apple on these cases. We need to ensure that our processes remain transparent and fair. 21. As should be clear, although the vision is clear, the details of future NVC and KCC operations are not set in concrete. Suggestions and comments from the field are always welcome, because ultimately, its your operations that we are supporting. 22. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. POWELL

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