30 day Supporting Statement (9-2010)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
OMB # 1405-0100, DS-1648

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Ambassadors, public ministers, diplomats, consular officers, foreign government officials, their immediate family members, and attendants, public servants, and personal employees may apply for nonimmigrant A visas consistent with INA § 101(a)(15)(A) (Attachment 1). Representatives of recognized foreign governments to international organization and international organization officers or employees as well as their immediate family, attendants, servants or personal employees may apply for nonimmigrant G visas consistent with INA § 101(a)(15)(G) (Attachment 2). As established under the Agreement on the Status of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, National Representatives and International Staff; Agreement Between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of Their Forces; and the Protocol on the Status of International Military Headquarters Set Up Pursuant to the North Atlantic Treaty and as outlined in 22 C.F.R. § 41.25 (Attachment 3), the principal permanent representative of a member state to NATO, other representatives of member states to NATO, official clerical staff accompanying representatives and their immediate family and personal servants or employees may apply for NATO visas to enter the United States.

2. DS-1648 is used for the reauthorization of A, G, and NATO visas. Applicants who are in the country on these classifications use this form to extend their status. The information requested on the form is limited to that which is necessary to determine the eligibility of applicants for a reauthorization of their status. The Department is unable to approve such a request without collecting this information and the form is an indispensable part of the Visa Office’s Diplomatic Liaison Division’s adjudication functions. Approximately 30,000 nonimmigrant A, G, and NATO visa reauthorization are processed each year.

3. The DS-1648 will be submitted electronically to the Department via the internet. The applicant will be instructed to print a confirmation page containing a bar coded record locator, which will be scanned at the time of processing.

4. This information collection solicits information from the applicant that is otherwise unavailable to the Department.

5. This information collection does not impact small business or other small entities.

6. Applicants for A, G, or NATO visas will complete this form each time they apply for an extension of their visas. It is essential that updated information be collected upon each extension or revalidation of the visa. It would not be feasible to collect the information with less frequency.

7. No such special circumstances exist.

8. The Department of State (Office of Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs) published a 60-day notice to solicit public comments on this information collection on Monday, May 10, 2010. No comments were received from the public. The Office of Visa Services meets regularly with immigration experts from the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate policy. The Office of Visa Services also meets with student groups, business groups, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and other interested groups to discuss their opinions and suggestions regarding visas procedures and operations.

9. No payment or gift is made to the respondent.

10. Although no assurances of confidentiality are expressly stated on the form, in accordance with Section 222(f) of the INA (Attachment 4), information obtained from applicants in the nonimmigrant visa process is considered confidential and is to be used only for the formulation, amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigration, nationality, and other laws of the United States.

11. No questions of a sensitive nature are asked on this form.

12. Approximately 30,000 respondents complete this form each year. This is an increase from the 20,000 previously reported to more accurately reflect the number of applications received. Completing the entire form will require approximately 30 minutes of time and no special research on the respondent’s part is required. The annual hour burden to respondents is estimated to be 15,000 hours (30,000 x 30 minutes = 15,000 hours).

13. There is no cost burden to the respondents. Officials are exempt from visa fees per 22 CFR 41.107(c).

14. The annualized cost burden to the federal government in regard to this information collection is $4,110,000 a year. The cost to process a visa has increased since this form was last renewed, to $137. This estimate is based on historical experience of 5 full-time U.S. government employees and support staff processing approximately 30,000 forms on an annual basis.

15. The number of respondents completing the form increased from 20,000 to 30,000. This is due to an increased number of applicants wishing to reauthorize their A, G, and NATO visas. This also resulted in a corresponding change in burden hours from 10,000 to 15,000.

16. A quantitative summary of all Department of State visa activities is published in the annual Report on the Visa Office.

17. The Department will display the OMB expiration date for this collection.

18. The Department is not requesting any exception to the certification statement.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.

Attachment 1: INA § 101(a)(15)(A)

(15) The term "immigrant" means every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes of nonimmigrant aliens

(A)

(i) an ambassador, public minister, or career diplomatic or consular officer who has been accredited by a foreign government recognized de jure by the United States and who is accepted by the President or by the Secretary of State, and the members of the alien's immediate family;

(ii) upon a basis of reciprocity, other officials and employees who have been accredited by a foreign government recognized de jure by the United States, who are accepted by the Secretary of State, and the members of their immediate families; and 

(iii) upon a basis of reciprocity, attendants, servants, personal employees, and members of their immediate families, of the officials and employees who have a nonimmigrant status under (i) and (ii) above; 

Attachment 2: INA § 101(a)(15)(G)

(15) The term "immigrant" means every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes of nonimmigrant aliens

(G)

(i) a designated principal resident representative of a foreign government recognized de jure by the United States, which foreign government is a member of an international organization entitled to enjoy privileges, exemptions, and immunities as an international organization under the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669) 22 U.S.C. 288, note, accredited resident members of the staff of such representatives, and members of his or their immediate family;

(ii) other accredited representatives of such a foreign government to such international organizations, and the members of their immediate families;

(iii) an alien able to qualify under (i) or (ii) above except for the fact that the government of which such alien is an accredited representative is not recognized de jure by the United States, or that the government of which he is an accredited representative is not a member of such international organization, and the members of his immediate family;

(iv) officers, or employees of such international organizations, and the members of their immediate families;

(v) attendants, servants, and personal employees of any such representative, officer, or employee, and the members of the immediate families of such attendants, servants, and personal employees; 

Attachment 3: 22 C.F.R. § 41.25

Sec. 41.25 NATO representatives, officials, and employees.

(a) Classification. An alien shall be classified under the symbol NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4, or NATO-5 if the consular officer is satisfied that the alien is seeking admission to the United States under the applicable provision of the Agreement on the Status of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, National Representatives and International Staff, or is a member of the immediate family of an alien classified NATO-1 through NATO-5. (See Sec. 41.12 for classes of aliens entitled to classification under each symbol.)

(b) Armed services personnel. Armed services personnel entering the United States in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement Between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of Their Forces or in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol on the Status of International Military Headquarters Set Up Pursuant to the North Atlantic Treaty may enter the United States under the appropriate treaty waiver of documentary requirements contained in Sec. 41.1 (d) or (e). If a visa is issued it is classifiable under the NATO-2 symbol.

(c) Dependents of armed services personnel. Dependents of armed services personnel referred to in paragraph (b) of this section shall be classified under the symbol NATO-2.

(d) Members of civilian components and dependents. Alien members of a civilian component accompanying a force entering in accordance with the provisions of the NATO Status-of-Forces Agreement, and dependents, or alien members of a civilian component attached to or employed by an Allied Headquarters under the Protocol on the Status of International Military Headquarters, and dependents shall be classified under the symbol NATO-6.

(e) Attendant, servant, or personal employee of an alien classified NATO-1 through NATO-6. An alien attendant, servant, or personal employee of an alien classified NATO-1 through NATO-6, and any member of the immediate family of such attendant, servant, or personal employee, shall be classified under the symbol NATO-7.

Attachment 4: INA § 222(f)

(f) The records of the Department of State and of diplomatic and consular offices of the United States pertaining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States shall be considered confidential and shall be used only for the formulation, amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigration, nationality, and other laws of the United States, except that—

(1) in the discretion of the Secretary of State certified copies of such records may be made available to a court which certifies that the information contained in such records is needed by the court in the interest of the ends of justice in a case pending before the court. 

(2) the Secretary of State, in the Secretary's discretion and on the basis of reciprocity, may provide to a foreign government information in the Department of State's computerized visa lookout database and, when necessary and appropriate, other records covered by this section related to information in the database—

(A) with regard to individual aliens, at any time on a case-by-case basis for the purpose of preventing, investigating, or punishing acts that would constitute a crime in the United States, including, but not limited to, terrorism or trafficking in controlled substances, persons, or illicit weapons; or 

(B) with regard to any or all aliens in the database, pursuant to such conditions as the Secretary of State shall establish in an agreement with the foreign government in which that government agrees to use such information and records for the purposes described in subparagraph (A) or to deny visas to persons who would be inadmissible to the United States.