DOS Cable Discusses CIPRIS
UNCLASSIFIED
TELEGRAM
February 06, 2001
To: ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS - ROUTINE
Origin: VO
From: SECSTATE WASHDC (STATE 21167 - ROUTINE)
TAGS: CVIS, CMGT
Captions: None
Subject: CIPRIS PROGRAM UPDATE: ADDRESSING POST CONCERNS
Ref: (A)STATE 229049 (B) BEIJING 12078 (NOTAL)
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1. Summary: In Ref A, Department reported on recent developments regarding INS'S CIPRIS program for tracking students and exchange visitors in the U.S., and discussed INS's plan for collecting a fee from F/J/M applicants beginning in 2001. Ref B was Beijing's excellent critique of INS's proposed fee collection process. Because many of Beijing's concerns are shared by other posts, we are sending this aldac to describe our ongoing efforts to ensure that the CIPRIS fee collection process, when implemented by INS, will have the least possible impact on your consular operations. End summary.
2. Our previous aldac (ref A) discussed in some detail INS'S proposed system for collecting a CIPRIS fee. The INS is currently drafting its regulations on the CIPRIS fee collection process and hammering out the modalities of the payment procedures with the Department; actual implementation of the fee requirement is still some months away, and will go into effect when INS publishes its fee regulations as an interim final rule in the Federal Register. INS is shooting for a May or June publication date, but delays resulting from the change of administrations may throw off this timetable. Most details of the payment system have already been settled, although we anticipate that as the program is fine-tuned there may still be some minor changes to the process.
3. Beijing's cable raised several concerns about the fee payment system, and several other posts have informally passed on to us many of these same worries. As one of the largest student visa issuing posts, in a country where following the CIPRIS fee payment requirements may prove problematic for most student and exchange visitor applicants, Beijing is particularly well-positioned to share its insight on INS's proposal. Among the major issues raised by Beijing were:
-- The payment system emphasizes using the Internet to provide information about paying the fee, and the fee can most easily be paid by credit card over the Internet. However, many F/J/M applicants do not have access to the Internet, and -- in China at least -- those that have access do not have credit cards.
-- Applicants without credit cards will have to pay by mail with a money order or personal check. By INS's own estimate, paying by mail will take up to several weeks for a student to receive the I-797 payment receipt from the Bank One lockbox. This delay will inevitably result in some F/J/M applicants missing the start dates of their programs. Posts will in turn have to deal with increased numbers of 221(g) refusals and a corresponding increase in public inquiries related to those refusals.
-- The high cost of the CIPRIS fee ($95 for most F/M and many J applicants) and the fact that the fee will be non- refundable, even if applicants are refused, will create a public relations headache for posts and may produce a backlash as host countries impose similar fees on U.S. travelers or students.
-- INS may introduce the payment requirement during the height of the student viSa rush. This could cripple high- volume F/J/M posts as they struggle to inform applicants of the new requirement and simultaneously deal with 221(g) refusals and public inquiries.
4. We have brought all of these potential problems to INS's attention at various times during the development of the fee payment system. State and INS continue to look for ways to overcome these problems, or at least ameliorate their worst effects. Some of these efforts, directed specifically at the issues listed above, include:
-- INS and Bank One/Anexys, the INS lockbox, are looking at the feasibility of Bank One collecting the CIPRIS fee at its overseas branches; this would make it possible for many applicants to pay the fee in their home country rather than having to mail it to the Bank One office in Chicago. Bank One will also explore currency exchange rules in various countries to determine if those rules might be an impediment to students' paying the CIPRIS fee.
-- INS will make available an option for express mail delivery of the fee receipt. This service will be provided at an additional cost to F/J/M applicants, but for those who take advantage of the service, express mail may cut down delivery time of the fee receipts by a week or more. -- We have suggested that INS develop a system whereby "J" program sponsors can pay fees in advance for their overseas participants. In reality, program sponsors and schools -- as well as U.S.-based relatives and sponsors of applicants -- will already be able to pay fees on behalf of those participants under the current proposed system. Our suggestion would simply streamline this process to make it easier for sponsors to pay for large groups of participants. Facilitating sponsors' advance payments for short-term programs such as camp counselors and summer work/study is important since, as many of you well know, applications to these programs tend to be last-minute affairs.
-- To help deal with public inquiries regarding the new fee, INS is incorporating a public inquiries element into CIPRIS. This public inquiries unit will provide general information on the CIPRIS fee as well as assist F/J/M applicants wishing to check on the status of their fee payments.
-- The timing of the introduction of CIPRIS fees is a major concern of the Visa Office. We have already stressed to INS that introducing the fee during our busy season may overwhelm our already-swamped posts. INS shares our concern that the fee not have an undue impact on post workloads, but INS's statutory requirement to get the program off the ground may compel the Service to launch CIPRIS fees during our summer peak season. In the event this happens, we are exploring work-arounds to avoid a 221(g) crush. For example, in some compelling cases posts' may be able to use "B-2 in lieu of F/J/M" visas to allow students and exchange visitors to travel in the absence of a fee receipt.
-- We have requested that our consular officers be given access to Bank One/Anexys' administrative web site to look up payment information on individual applicants. We are investigating systems modifications which would allow Bank One/Anexys, or possibly INS's Claims Division, to transmit electronically fee payment information to posts overseas. These developments would make it possible for posts to confirm that applicants have paid the fee even if those applicants have not yet received the paper receipt, and would substantially shorten the fee payment processing time.
5. As we have noted above, we take very seriously posts' concerns about the CIPRIS program. We also recognize that the fee payment system which we have described will have unintended consequences which will impact on posts' workloads. We rely on you to help us identify those consequences and to find ways of resolving them. To that end, we encourage you to share with us your views of the program -- your input provides us with a valuable "reality check" on the project. Please send your comments and suggestions to Greg Chapman (CA/VO/F/P), the VO contact for the CIPRIS project.
POWELL