DOS Letter Advises on Pilot Programs for IV Processing

Dear Mr. Leiden:

I am writing to inform you of the upcoming implementation of two Congressionally-mandated pilot programs for immigrant visa processing. I refer to the namechecking of immigrant visa applicants against the FBI's National Crime Information Center's Interstate Identification Index (NCIC-III) and the fingerprinting of immigrant visa applicants in ten countries.

The National Visa Center (NVC) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in cooperation with the FBI, will perform the NCIC-III namecheck for all immigrant visa applicants over the age of 16. This namechecking, which will begin on February 17, 1995, will be in addition to other clearances performed, including namechecks against the Department's Consular Lookout and Automated Support System (CLASS). The NVC will include the results of the NCIC-III namechecks in the applicants' files, as they are shipped to posts. In those cases where post determines that the namecheck hit may match the applicant, the applicant will be fingerprinted (and pay a fee of $18.00, which is the FBI charge) and the prints sent to the FBI for processing. We expect that the fingerprinting process, from the time the prints are taken to the receipt of the results at post, will take approximately 6 weeks.

The fingerprint pilot program, which requires the routine fingerprinting of immigrant visa applicants over the age of 16 applying at the top ten immigrant visa-issuing countries, will be implemented by March 31, 1995. The following posts in the top ten countries will take fingerprints: Ciudad Juarez (Mexico), Port au Prince (Haiti), Manila (Philippines), New Delhi, Bombay and Madras (India), Warsaw (Poland), Dublin (Ireland), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), San Salvador (El Salvador), Guangzhou (China), and Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto (Canada). In addition, Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania), Minsk (Belarus), and Kiev (Ukraine) will fingerprint nationals of those countries who are processed for immigrant visas in Warsaw.

Foreign Service posts will begin fingerprinting applicants during March. Applicants must be fingerprinted and the results received from the FBI before the immigrant visa interview can take place. Those applicants expected to be scheduled for immigrant visa interviews for April, and those who are between Packet 3 and 4, will receive a letter from posts advising them of the fingerprint requirement and instructing them to contact the appropriate posts immediately for further information. The NVC will also begin including information in Packet 3 on fingerprinting.

Each applicant must pay a nonrefundable fee (estimated at this time to be $25.00) at the time the prints are taken. The fingerprint pilot legislation permits the State Department to include in the fee the FBI's $18.00 charge as well as processing costs. Applicants and their attorneys should not contact posts before the 6 week period to learn if the FBI results have arrived.

Applicants whose petitions are filed/approved at posts are also subject to the fingerprint and namecheck requirements. For NCIC checks, the posts will cable basic data to NVC which will respond by cable for both negative and positive results. Beneficiaries with positive hits may have to submit fingerprints for positive identification and wait the six weeks for a response. Beneficiaries of petitions filed/approved in one of the ten fingerprint pilot countries now face up to an additional 6 week wait while their prints are checked.

We regret the inconvenience these new requirements will undoubtedly cause some applicants and have attempted to implement them as efficiently as possible. I ask your assistance in informing your members and clientele of these requirements, in order to spare them any unexpected delays.

Diane Dillard

27MM5D04