United States Department of State

, D.C. 20520

September 26, 2002

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM ' -' *
S/ES
UNCLASSIFIED

TO: M - Under Secretary Green

FROM: CA - George .t/Sfi^n. Acting

DS - W. Ray Williams, Acting

SUBJECT: Steps taken regarding Visa Fraud

Since September II, in an effort to better protect cur

borders, the Bureaus of Consular Affairs (CA) and Diplomatic
Security (DS) have significantly increased their resources and
capacity to share information to combat visa fraud. A
partnership between CA and DS, combined with increased
communication with other law enforcement agencies such as INS,
has increased the prospects of successfully combating this
crime. Individually, the task is daunting as consular officers
have limited authority to investigate suspected visa fraud, even
when they have indications of activity by a ma^or visa fraud
ring. With unparalleled domestic and overseas resources
however, DS and CA working together are uniquely positioned to
detect, investigate, and deter visa fraud and make significant
contributions to the US Government's border security strategies.

We are moving forward on a nurber of initiatives to enhance

our capabilities to deter and investigate visa fraud. A number
of these initiatives are summarized below?

1. CA/DS Training: Increased visa fraud expertise in the

field offices is an essential component of DS'
investigative efforts. CA, in conjunction with the DS
Training Center is expanding and improving visa fraud
training for new hire agents as well as fraud prevention
training and a specially designed consular course for DS
agents assigned to investigative positions overseas. These
expanded training modules are effective in helping DS
Agents better understand and investigate visa fraud.
Consular Affairs, Fraud Prevention Programs Office has not
limited its training to DS. They recently created a
reference and training package for federal, state and local

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law enforcement that provides better information on

detecting foreign travel document fraud. DS' New York
Field Office has found this information particularly useful
in training classes conducted recently with local and state
law enforcement agencies. Similarly, CA/FPP and DS'
Washington Field Office have embarked on a pilot project to
assist Virginia DMV in identifying foreign documents
through a train the trainer program. If this pilot is
deemed successful, ..they will expand it to other states

2. Eagle Integrated Information Management System (IIMS):

DS' new criminal investigations computer system Eagle IIMS
will standardize and improve investigative capabilities.
Scheduled for rollout in January '03, Eagle IIMS will
improve sharing data with other external and internal
systems, contain a central name index for enhanced
information sharing and even contain a link analysis
feature. This system will permit Consular adjudicators and
passport examiners to input information directly into Eagle
IIMS to markedly improve investigative responsiveness and
coordination between DS and CA.

3. Consolidated Consular Database (CCD) & CLASS: To

further enhance DS' investigative efforts in the area of
visa fraud, CA has provided DS investigative offices and
field offices with direct CLASS and CCD access. CCD
records contain detailed information on all visas issued
worldwide. The ability to access CCD is a major step in
furthering cooperation between DS and CA; and it is an
enormous tool for investigating external visa fraud and
allegations of consular malfeasance. A new CA independent
name check system called INK is being provided to RSOs,
facilitating their direct access to lookout information for
investigations and anti-fraud work.

4. DS/CA Anti-Fraud Positions: In 1999, DS and CA signed

a Memorandum of Understanding to establish three dedicated
consular anti-fraud positions at our posts in Manila,
Kingston and Lagos. Last year, two more positions were
added in Bogota and Islamabad. At Embassy Cairo, the RSO
and Consular Section took the initiative to establish their
own anti-fraud position at post, staffed by an ARSO. This
is yet another example where DS and CA can work together
and complement one another's e'fforts in fighting visa
fraud. In 2002-03, DS is expanding its investigative
presence overseas by assigning DS agents to 18 high fraud

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posts overseas. Although these additional positions do not

foil under the DS/CA MOU these agents will be dedicated to
investigations and working collaboratively with consular
officers and local law enforcement authorities to
investigate and deter passport and visa fraud in their
respective countries.

5. Other CA initiatives to counter visa fraud since

September 11 particularly in the area of assistance and
data sharing cooperation with other federal law enforcement
agencies:

• New more tamper-resistant Lincoln visas will be

fielded to all posts by the end of the year.

• Data-share of all nonimmigrant information is now

available to all INS inspectors at ports of entry.

• CA's "Intel Alerts," electronic notifications of

missing and stolen blank documents has expanded
significantly, with more than 700 addresses on the
mailing list, and the data is being entered into a
database to facilitate searching for suspect
documents.

• All reported lost/stolen visaed passports are

entered into a database that alerts CA and INS if a
stolen passport is presented.

• CA will assist the Social Security Administration

with investigations involving the submission of
fraudulent documents or altered US visas used to
apply for Social Security cards.

• CA is working with the EU and other European

countries on travel document fraud identification
and prevention.

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Drafted:DS/ICI/CR:Jeffrey
703-312-3535 (3-4535), 9/24/02 V

Clearances:CA/FPP:CMPhi11ips (cleared)
DS/ICI:WArraor (cleared)

UNCLASSIFIED