Border Security: Actions Needed to Strengthen Management of Department of Homeland Security's Visa Security Program

In July 2005, GAO reported (Border Security: Actions Needed to Strengthen Management of Department of Homeland Security's Visa Security Program, GAO-05-801) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) planned to expand the Visa Security Program to five locations in fiscal year 2005 and intended further expansion in future years; however, chiefs of mission at the posts chosen for expansion in fiscal year 2005 delayed approval of DHS's National Security Decision Directive 38 requests. Embassy and State officials attributed the delays to questions about the program's goals, objectives, and staffing requirements, as well as DHS's plans to coordinate with existing law enforcement and border security staff and programs at post. Thus, GAO recommended that DHS develop a strategic plan for visa security operations in Saudi Arabia or the future expansion posts in fiscal year 2005 and beyond. In response to this recommendation, DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) developed the Visa Security Program Strategic Plan. In April 2007, pursuant to the recommendation, the plan includes a mission statement, program goals and objectives, approaches to achieving those goals, and a description of how the effectiveness of the program will be evaluated. In addition, ICE developed an additional program expansion plan in March 2007, which includes more specific information on the criteria used to select the locations for expansion, justification for the number of VSOs at each post, the roles and responsibilities of the VSOs in relation to other agencies located at post, and the resources needed to establish the Visa Security Program overseas.

In July 2005, GAO reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not maintain comprehensive data on the results of Visa Security Program activities, such as the number of cases for which visa security officers (VSO) recommended that visas be refused, and thus was unable to fully demonstrate the program's overall impact on visa operations. Therefore, we recommended that DHS develop and maintain comprehensive performance data that track the results of VSO activities to demonstrate the Visa Security Program's impact at each location. According to DHS officials, in the fall of 2005, the department developed the first version of an automated workload management database to serve as a mechanism through which VSOs conduct and manage their screening and vetting of visa applications. The system has been operational for non-immigrant visa work since January 2006. The VSO database facilitates automated screening in law enforcement databases that are not available to consular officers, and allows VSOs to record additional vetting activities, including a review of the hard copy documentation associated with each case. VSOs will also note in the system the extent to which they consulted with consular officers prior to or during visa interviews. Upon completion of their vetting, the VSOs make a determination to either support issuance of the visa or recommend refusal. The VSO database serves as a workload and performance management tool, according to DHS officials. The system will track those cases in which the VSO and consular officer disagree. In addition to the adjudication decision, the database tracks other law enforcement activities that may result from the VSOs reviews, including investigations that might be opened or the watch-listing of individuals of concern to U.S. interests. GAO observed that the system can produce management reports, including the number of DHS-initiated visa denials; the number of VSO consultations with consular officers; the timeliness of VSO reviews, including number of pending cases; and individual VSO workload statistics. DHS officials stated that they considered GAO's report in the development of this database to ensure that it would be a useful workload and performance management tool and responds to our recommendation.