[Protest of Rejection of Nonresponsive Bid]

A firm protested the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under an invitation for bids (IFB) issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for unarmed security guard service. The protester's bid was rejected as nonresponsive for failing to properly execute a bid bond, acknowledge an IFB amendment, and offer a 90-day bid acceptance period. The protester contended that these were not material errors. GAO held that a bid offering an acceptance period of less than that required in the solicitation is nonresponsive and cannot be changed after the bid opening date. Since the protester's bid was properly rejected because of the limited bid acceptance period, GAO did not address the other areas of the protest. Accordingly, the protest was denied.