The Department proposes requesting the
following information, if not already included in an application,
from a subset of visa applicants worldwide, in order to more
rigorously evaluate applicants for terrorism or other national
security-related visa ineligibilities: • Travel history during the
last fifteen years, including source of funding for travel; •
Address history during the last fifteen years; • Employment history
during the last fifteen years; • All passport numbers and country
of issuance held by the applicant; • Names and dates of birth for
all siblings; • Name and dates of birth for all children; • Names
and dates of birth for all current and former spouses, or civil or
domestic partners; • Social media platforms and identifiers, also
known as handles, used during the last five years; and • Phone
numbers and email addresses used during the last five years. Most
of this information is already collected on visa applications but
for a shorter time period, e.g. five years rather than fifteen
years. Requests for names and dates of birth of siblings and, for
some applicants, children are new. The request for social media
identifiers and associated platforms is new for the Department of
State, although it is already collected on a voluntary basis by the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for certain individuals.
Regarding travel history, applicants may be requested to provide
details of their international or domestic (within their country of
nationality) travel, if it appears to the consular officer that the
applicant has been in an area while the area was under the
operational control of a terrorist organization as defined in
section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi). Applicants may be asked to recount or
explain the details of their travel, and when possible, provide
supporting documentation. This information collection implements
the directive of the President, in the Memorandum for the Secretary
of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security
of March 6, 2017, to implement additional protocols and procedures
focused on “ensur[ing] the proper collection of all information
necessary to rigorously evaluate all grounds of inadmissibility or
deportability, or grounds for the denial of other immigration
benefits.” Consular posts worldwide regularly engage with law
enforcement and intelligence community partners to identify sets of
post applicant populations warranting increased scrutiny. The
additional information collected will facilitate consular officer
efforts to immediately apply more rigorous evaluation of these
applicants for potential visa ineligibilities. In accordance with
existing authorities, visas may not be denied on the basis of race,
religion, ethnicity, national origin, political views, gender, or
sexual orientation. The estimated number of recipients represents
the estimate of relevant State Department officials that 0.005% of
U.S. visa applicants worldwide, or in the range of 65,000
individuals per annum, will present a threat profile, based on
individual circumstances and information they provide, that will
lead U.S. consular officers at posts around the world to conclude
the applicant warrants enhanced screening that takes into account
the information that is proposed to be collected. The estimate will
be updated in the next request to continue collecting the
information based on experience reported by overseas posts. Failure
to provide requested information will not necessarily result in
visa denial, if the consular officer determines the applicant has
provided a credible explanation why he or she cannot answer a
question or provide requested supporting documentation, such that
the consular officer is able to conclude that the applicant has
provided adequate information to determine the applicant's
eligibility to receive the visa.
On March 6, 2017,
President Trump issued a Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the
Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security in which he
directed the recipient Cabinet officials to, as permitted by law,
“implement protocols and procedures as soon as practicable that in
their judgment will enhance the screening and vetting of
applications for visas and other immigration benefits, so as to
increase the safety and security of the American people.” The
United States, the President said in the Memorandum, “cannot delay
the immediate implementation of additional heightened screening and
vetting protocols and procedures for issuing visas to ensure that
we strengthen the safety and security of our country.” In
particular, the President instructed the relevant agencies to focus
on “ensuring the proper collection of all information necessary to
rigorously evaluate” individuals seeking U.S. visas or other
immigration-related benefits. The accompanying proposed information
collection sets out supplemental questions that Department of State
consular officers at visa-adjudicating posts worldwide will ask
when the consular officer determines that the circumstances of a
visa applicant, a review of a visa application, or responses in a
visa interview indicate a need for greater scrutiny and, for that
purpose, the officer must collect the proposed additional
information to resolve the applicant’s identity or to vet for
terrorism or other national security related visa ineligibilities.
Proposed additional questions cover prior passports; phone and
e-mail contact information and social media identifiers and
associated platforms over a five-year period; travel, address and
employment history over a 15-year period (as against a five-year
period in existing authorized collection); and the names and dates
of birth of siblings and, for some applicants, children. Consular
officers are already directed not to engage or interact with
individuals on or through social media; not to violate or attempt
to violate individual privacy settings; and not to use social media
or assess an individual’s social media presence beyond established
Department guidance. The same safeguards that protect a visa
applicant’s personal information will remain in effect for social
media identifiers. The collection of social media platforms and
identifiers will not be used to deny visas based on applicants’
political views, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion,
gender, or sexual orientation. Consular officers will be instructed
not to request user passwords and not to attempt to subvert any
privacy controls the applicants may have implemented on these
platforms. Visa records remain confidential under section 222(f) of
the INA, [8 U.S.C. § 1202(f)]. Adhering to ordinary time frames for
review of newly proposed information collections would mean that
these supplemental questions could not routinely be asked of the
class of identified visa applicants for a matter of months. Such
time for review would impede the purposes behind the Presidential
Memorandum and its call for immediate steps including the proper
collection of all information necessary to rigorously evaluate
those applicants for potential visa ineligibilities.
The additional questions for
certain visa applicants are mandated by the President's Memorandum
for the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of
Homeland Security of March 6, 2017.
$4,387,500
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Uncollected
Hector Perez-Casillas 202
485-7637
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form DS-5535 SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS FOR VISA APPLICANTS
Legal Authorities.docx
Signed Justification.pdf
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS FOR VISA APPLICANTS