Immigration Benefits: INS Not Making Timely Deposits of Application Fees
GGD-00-185
Published: Sep 29, 2000. Publicly Released: Sep 29, 2000.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) extent to which the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) made timely deposits of the fees that it collected from aliens who applied for benefits; and (2) potential costs to the government if INS fee deposits were not timely.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Directorate of Border and Transportation Security | The Commissioner of INS should institute procedures for recording information on application acceptance processing at district offices to include data that would permit INS to monitor district compliance with Treasury deposit regulations. |
Closed – Not Implemented
USCIS has taken steps to institute better controls over the processing of applications that had been sent to district offices. In August 2003, USCIS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Treasury for Bank One to perform lockbox imaging and check collection and processing services for adjustment of status applications that had originally been sent to district offices. According to USCIS, by April 1, 2005, this arrangement had been extended to include all application types and related fees that had gone to districts. USCIS stated that this has resulted in increased controls over the timeliness of deposits. In order to close this recommendation, GAO needed to obtain the appendices to the MOU that detail the performance requirements for Bank One, and information indicating that USCIS can monitor compliance with Treasury's deposit regulations for applications that had previously been sent to district offices. In 2008, HSJ closed this recommendation as not implemented because the information necessary to close the recommendation had been requested, but not provided by DHS, over many years.
|
| Directorate of Border and Transportation Security | The Commissioner of INS should implement INS plans to require that the contractor make fee deposits in accordance with Treasury regulations. |
Closed – Implemented
U.S. CIS issued a Service Center support contract to a new contractor since GAO's September 2000 report. The contract requires the contractor to deposit all fees within 24 hours of receipt, in accordance with Treasury deposit regulation. Therefore, this recommendation has been implemented.
|
| Directorate of Border and Transportation Security | The Commissioner of INS should determine which service centers and district offices do not comply with the fee deposit requirement and why the noncompliance occurs. |
Closed – Not Implemented
According to USCIS, the fee deposit process at service centers is done by contractors. Service Centers maintain continuous surveillance of contractor performance to include the timeliness of fee deposits. The Department of Treasury monitors the lockbox operator's performance. In order to close this recommendation, GAO needs specific information from USCIS on (1) the extent to which service center contractors and the lockbox operator are in compliance with the fee deposit requirement; (2) the reasons for any noncompliance that occurs. In 2008, HSJ closed this recommendation as not implemented because the information necessary to close the recommendation had been requested, but not provided by DHS, over many years.
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| Directorate of Border and Transportation Security | The Commissioner of INS should take appropriate action to ensure that timely fee deposits are made. |
Closed – Not Implemented
USCIS' Service Center support contract provides a financial incentive for the contractor to be timely in depositing fees, and this is used as input for assessing the performance of the contractor. To close this recommendation, GAO needs information on how USCIS is ensuring that timely fee deposits are, in fact, being made for applications that had previously been sent to district offices. In 2008, HSJ closed this recommendation as not implemented because the information necessary to close the recommendation had been requested, but not provided by DHS, over many years.
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Topics
Cost controlFederal agency accounting systemsFeesImmigrantsImmigration information systemsInterestNaturalizationTreasury accountsData entryDatabase management systems