USCIS Intake Page for Pay.Gov
1615-NEW
A. Justification:
1. The U.S. Department of Treasury has an automated system called “Pay.gov” that allows the public to submit secure electronic payments to Federal Government Agencies. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services created an electronic intake page that will reside on Pay.gov. USCIS will use this intake page to allow members of the public to electronically submit their fees to USCIS for certain immigration benefits. Initially these immigration benefits include payment for:
Immigrant visas that are issued by the Department of State (DOS) in overseas consulates to foreign nationals seeking to reside permanently in the United States. Although DOS issues the visas, USCIS must complete several visa application-related activities prior to issuance of a permanent resident card. USCIS must create a file, review the application, correspond with the applicant, and produce and issue a secure card upon approval.
Civil surgeon designation. To be selected as a civil surgeon, the physician has to demonstrate that he or she is a licensed and Board certified physician with at least 4 years of professional experience in primary care (Family Practice, Internal Medicine or Pediatrics), which may include time spent in a post-medical school residency program. When a physician applies for a designation as a civil surgeon they must pay a fee to cover the costs of processing the request.
Biometric services. For capturing, storing, using and reusing biometrics when biometrics are taken overseas.
The authorizing regulations specific to the fees above are:
8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(D) requires a fee for immigrant visas to recover the costs that USCIS incurs for these related activities.
8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS) requires a fee for submitting an application for civil surgeon designation.
8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(C) requires a fee for capturing biometrics.
As USCIS makes more of its fees in 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i) available for payment via Pay.gov, USCIS will submit an OMB Form 83-C, Paperwork Reduction Act Change Worksheet, to add the applicable number of respondents for the estimated number of applicants or petitioners who will pay their fees on-line.
2. The new automated intake page resides on the U.S. Department of Treasury’s (DOT) Web site at www.pay.gov. An applicant can electronically submit the fee by answering the questions on the form, including his or her credit card information and pressing submit. The information collected on the form is necessary for USCIS to track payment of the fee and reconcile the payment received in the Treasury, Financial Management Service, Federal Financial Management System (FFMS), and the applicant’s file.
3. The use of this form currently provides the most efficient means for collecting and processing the required data. In this case, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will employ the use of information technology in collecting and processing information. The information captured on this form can be completed and submitted electronically at www.pay.gov.
4. A review of USCIS Forms Inventory Report revealed no duplication of effort, and there is no other similar information currently available which can be used for this purpose. Treasury has an approved OMB control number for the main Pay.gov entry screen, but each agency collection linking to Pay.gov adds a collection and requires a separate screen and separate control number to process its specific fees.
5. This collection of information does not have an impact on small businesses or other small entities.
6. If the information is not collected, USCIS will not be able to properly reconcile the payments against the applicants’ files which would delay the processing of the benefit requested. It would also be difficult for USCIS to identify payment inaccuracies in a timely manner.
7. The special circumstances are not applicable to this information collection.
8. USCIS published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on March 3, 2011, at 76 FR 11805 requesting comments from the public. USCIS published a 30-day notice in the Federal Register on June 8, 2011, at 76 FR 33328 requesting comments from the public. USCIS did not receive any comments on the 60-day or 30-day notice.
9. USCIS does not provide payments or gifts to respondents in exchange for a benefit sought.
10. There is no assurance of confidentiality. The system of record notice associated with this information collection is United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Benefits Information System, which was published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2008 at 73 FR 56596. The privacy impact assessment associated with this information collection is USCIS Benefits Processing of Applicants other than Petitions for Naturalization, Refugee Status, and Asylum.
11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Annual Reporting Burden:
a. Number of Respondents 521,200
b. Number of Responses per each Respondent 1
c. Total Annual Responses 521,200
d. Hours per Response .166
e. Total Annual Reporting Burden 86,519
Total annual reporting burden hours is 86,519. This figure is calculated by:
Multiplying the number of immigrant visa applications (500,000) x (1) frequency of response x .166 (10 minutes) per response.
Multiplying the number of civil surgeon designation application (1,200) x (1) frequency of response x .166 (10 minutes) per response.
Multiplying the number of overseas biometrics (20,000) x (1) frequency of response x .166 (10 minutes) per response.
The projected hours per response for this collection of information were derived by breaking the process into two basic components:
Learning about the law and the form: 3 Minutes
Completing and submitting the form: 7 Minutes
Total Hours per Response 10 Minutes (.166 hours)
13. There are no capital or start-up costs associated with this information collection. The Department of Treasury is providing this service for free. Any cost burdens to respondents as a result of this collection are identified in question 14.
14. Annualized Cost Analysis.
a. Printing Cost $ 0
b. Collecting and Processing $ 4,000
c. Total Cost to Program $ 4,000
d. Fee Charge, if any $ 0
e. Total Annual Cost to Government $ 4,000
Government Cost
The estimated annual cost of the program to the Government is $4,000. This estimate includes the number of hours administering the program 100 x $40 an hour (Suggested average hourly rate for clerical, officer, and supervisory time with benefits).
As stated above Pay.gov is free for use by Government agencies. There will be some minimal costs associated with the effort to obtain OMB approval and establish the new page linking USCIS fee payments to FMS but those costs are normal overhead of program administration. Annual maintenance costs will be minimal.
The estimated annual public cost is $2,586,058. This estimate is based upon the number of respondents 521,200 x (1) number of responses x .166 (10 minutes) x $29.89 (average hourly rate).
15. Since this is a new information collection there is an increase of 86,519 annual burden hours to the OMB inventory.
16. USCIS does not intend to employ the use of statistics or the publication thereof for this collection of information.
17. Based on 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iii)(C), USCIS is seeking an exception from OMB to display an expiration date for this information collection. OMB reviews USCIS’ immigration forms annually because they cannot be electronically-filed. USCIS has been including the expiration date of the annual approval on the forms, although the information being requested from the public does not usually change from year to year. USCIS’ current practice has been that once OMB approves the annual extension for use of the form, the existing forms inventory is destroyed and additional forms and instructions with the new expiration date are printed and distributed. The current process has caused our customers great confusion because often times the form they have on hand may have a stale expiration date. Even though the form and instructions did not change, they do not want to use the expired form in fear that their application will be rejected due to the stale expiration date. USCIS is proposing removing the expiration date from this form in an effort to avoid confusion for our customers and to save the costs associated with destroying and printing forms unnecessarily.
18. USCIS does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
Not Applicable.
PAPERWORK CERTIFICATIONS
In submitting this request for OMB approval, I certify that the requirements of the Privacy Act and OMB directives have been complied with including paperwork regulations, statistical standards or directives, and any other information policy directives promulgated under 5 CFR 1320.
____________________________ ___________________
Sunday Aigbe, Date
Chief,
Regulatory Products Division
Office of the Executive Secretariat
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Department of Homeland Security.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Attachment A |
| Author | S. Tarragon |
| Last Modified By | Evadne Hagigal |
| File Modified | 2011-06-09 |
| File Created | 2011-06-09 |