Border Security: Improvements Needed to Reduce Time Taken to Adjudicate Visas for Science Students and Scholars

In February 2004, GAO reported that it took an average of 67 days to process MANTIS Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs). In November 2004, State reached agreement with an intelligence agency that the agency would use only 10 business days to respond to State on each MANTIS case. As a result, State should now be able to process MANTIS SAOs in as little as 15-17 calendar days.

In July 2004, State and the FBI reached agreement that FBI would no longer be an active participant in the MANTIS process. State no longer waits until FBI responds before issuing a recommendation to grant a visa. This has allowed State to process MANTIS cases more easily.

In February 2004, GAO recommended that the State Department "provide additional information through training or other means to consular posts that clarifies guidance on the overall operation of the Visas Mantis program, when Mantis clearances are required, what information consular posts should submit to enable the clearance process to proceed as efficiently as possible, and how long the process takes." In March 2004, the State Department began issuing "Visas Mantis Quarterly Reports" to all overseas posts in an attempt to address these concerns. In addition, the State Department has included general training on security advisory opinions (SAO) and a special presentation on Visas Mantis in its Basic Consular Training Course. In addition, State officials from the department's Nonproliferation Bureau have attended regional consular conferences to discuss the Mantis program. State also indicated it will organize a series of video conferences with posts that submit large numbers of Visas Mantis SAO requests. During these video conferences, embassy officers are provided feedback on the quality of their Mantis requests. Finally, State's Nonproliferation Bureau has begun providing feedback to State's Bureau of Consular Affairs on individual Mantis requests made by posts. Consular Affairs then forwards that feedback to the posts. According to State, future quarterly reports will provide classified nonproliferation information that will help officers understand more clearly what Washington's proliferation concerns are.

In February 2004, GAO recommended that the Secretary of State develop and implement a plan to improve the Visas Mantis process. As part of this plan, GAO recommended that the Secretary work to achieve interoperable systems and expedite transmittal of data between agencies. In spring 2004, the Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs informed Congress that the State Department had prepared a plan to implement this recommendation and would submit that plan to the Department of Homeland Security for concurrence. He added that the State Department had also created a new system for fully electronic communication of security advisory opinion (SAO) data in near-real time and was working with other government agencies to establish fully electronic connectivity in the near future.