A. JUSTIFICATION
1. The purpose of the DS-5528 is to document the U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of all eligible persons who avail themselves of U.S. government assistance, to provide evacuees an opportunity to authorize release of information to designated individuals consistent with the Privacy Act of 1974, and to process the corresponding emergency loans used to fund their travel. Crisis evacuation loans are issued for U.S. citizens and U.S. non-citizen nationals abroad and their immediate family members; adult escorts for minor U.S. citizen and U.S. non-citizen national children; escorts for incapacitated, ill, or injured U.S. citizens and U.S. non-citizen nationals; and third-country nationals who are determined eligible and possess appropriate travel documents (such as a valid passport issued by their country of nationality, a valid visa for entry into the United States or nearest safe-haven, etc.) when their lives are endangered by events such as war, civil unrest, or natural disaster. In such situations, U.S. embassies and /or consulates may evacuate third-country nationals to safe-haven countries based on agreements among governments, on a space-available and reimbursable basis. This may occur when it is not feasible for their own governments to safely evacuate them, or in other circumstances, before they are repatriated to their home countries by their governments.
22 U.S.C. § 4802(b) requires the Secretary of State to develop and implement policies and programs to provide for the safe and efficient evacuation of U.S. government personnel, dependents, private U.S. citizens and U.S non-citizen nationals when their lives are endangered. Such policies shall include measures to identify high risk areas where evacuation may be necessary and, where appropriate, to provide staff to United States government missions abroad to assist in those evacuations.
22 U.S.C. § 2671 authorizes the Secretary of State to make expenditures for unforeseen emergencies arising in the diplomatic and consular service. Emergency expenditures include activities such as evacuation when war, civil unrest, or natural disaster endanger the lives of U.S.government employees and their dependents, private U.S. citizens, and U.S. non-citizen nationals. Some services can also be extended to third country nationals and host country nationals on a space available, reimbursable, case-by-case basis.
22 U.S.C. § 2671(b)(2)(A)(ii) provides that such emergency expenditures are to be made “on a reimbursable basis to the maximum extent practicable.” Such reimbursements are “to be credited to the applicable Department of State (the Department) appropriation and to remain available until expended, except that no reimbursement under this clause shall be paid that is greater than the amount the person evacuated would have been charged for a reasonable commercial air fare immediately prior to the events giving rise to the evacuation.”
22 U.S.C. § 2715 requires the Secretary of State, in the event of a major disaster or incident abroad that affects the health and safety of U.S. citizens and U.S. non-citizen nationals residing or traveling abroad, to “provide prompt and thorough notification of all appropriate information concerning such disaster or incident and its effect on U.S. citizens and U.S. non-citizen nationals to the next-of-kin of such individuals consistent with the Privacy Act of 1974.”
22 U.S.C. § 2357 authorizes any agency of the United States Government “to furnish services and commodities on an advance of-funds or reimbursement basis to friendly countries, international organizations, the American Red Cross, and voluntary nonprofit relief agencies registered with and approved by the Agency for International Development,” whenever the President determines doing so to be consistent with and in furtherance of the purposes of subchapter I of 22 U.S.C. chapter 32 and within the limitations of that chapter.
Debt collection is pursued in accordance with federal government-wide debt collection laws codified at 31 U.S.C. § 3711 and 31 U.S.C. § 3717.
Department of State regulations pertaining to services to U.S. citizens and U.S. non-citizen nationals in distress and reports on catastrophes abroad are published in 22 C.F.R. Part 71.
2. The information collected in the DS-5528 is used to: document the evacuation of eligible persons abroad when their lives are endangered by events such as war, civil unrest, or natural disaster; document issuance of a crisis evacuation loan; obtain a Privacy Act waiver to share information about the welfare of a U.S. citizen, U.S. non-citizen national, or lawful permanent resident with designated persons; facilitate debt collection; and form the official manifest for the transport(s).
3. The Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) created an electronic version of the DS-5528, presently available on the Department’s website, allowing applicants to type their information into their loan request forms. The form must still be printed and signed by the applicant, and presented to the consular officer who will witness the signature and adjudicate issuance of the loan on behalf of the Department.
In connection with the electronic DS-5528, the Department is moving toward acceptance of electronic signatures in some circumstances. However, the Department does not yet accept electronic signatures on the form. To help prevent fraudulent applications, CA identified two categories of potential applicant:.
(1) Applicants whose signature, photograph, and/or other biographical information is on file with CA (i.e., on a previously submitted passport or visa application). This existing information will be used to verify the applicant’s identity and loan eligibility; and
(2) Applicants whose information is not available for consular verification. Consular officers may require additional documentation from applicants in this category to verify identity and loan eligibility.
CA plans to allow electronic signatures for applicants whose signature, photograph, and/or other biographical information is on file with CA and/or consular officers adjudicating loan applications in the crisis location in the future.
Also, in the near future, CA anticipates it will complete the electronic signature acceptability assessment for those whose information is not available for comparison and verification within CA.
In addition, CA will also assess the feasibility of accepting electronic signatures from consular officers in the field when adjudicating and, when applicable, approving evacuation loan applications on behalf of the Department.
Automated data collection, electronic signatures (when acceptable), and integrated systems capabilities will allow faster and more accurate information gathering, reduce the time necessary for consular officers to adjudicate a loan, improve the application process and increase the efficiency of debt collection. Internet technology will enable loan applicants to have quicker access to the forms and will offer the flexibility to complete the loan application form conveniently from any place in the world, a critical advantage in an emergency situation.
An online application will not supplant the physical DS-5528. In areas where internet access is unavailable or unreliable, if applicants do not have the level of technological literacy to successfully submit an application online, or when other circumstances make the use of the electronic form impracticable (e.g., the crisis has impacted the local internet and/or telecommunications infrastructure), the Department must provide applicants with the choice to use a paper application.
Until electronic submission of the DS-5528 is launched, applicants will continue to provide a paper copy of their application and supporting documentation to a consular officer for adjudication consistent with existing policies and procedures. Consular professionals will examine the documentation and coordinate with CA to ensure entry of the information into the pertinent Department of State electronic systems including the Consular Task Force system within the Consular Consolidated Database, covered under State-05, Overseas Citizens Services Records.
4. The information in the DS-5528 is not duplicative of information maintained elsewhere or otherwise available.
5. The information collection does not involve small businesses or other small entities.
6. The DS-5528 is essential to providing a mechanism for the expenditures involved in the evacuation of U.S. citizens and other eligible persons from foreign countries during periods of crisis described above. Conducting such evacuations and securing information to obtain reimbursement for certain expenditures are statutory responsibilities of the Department. If the information collection were not conducted, the consequences could include considerable hardship to U.S. citizens in foreign countries during a period of crisis.
7. No special circumstances exist.
8. The 60-day notice for the current OMB approval for this information collection was published in the Federal Register on January 19, 2017(82 FR 6685). The purpose of the Federal Register notice was to solicit comments from the public. No comments were received from the public.
9. No payment or gift is provided to applicants.
10. The DS-5528 informs applicants that the Department may release their information consistent with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974. The form also provides applicants the opportunity to designate additional persons to whom the Department may provide information about their welfare and whereabouts.
11. Although furnishing the information, including Social Security Number, is voluntary, applicants may not be eligible for the requested assistance if they do not provide the required information.
12. The estimated hour burden of 175 hours per year is based on estimates that the form is completed by approximately 525 persons per year, and only one response is permitted per applicant. Completion time for the form is estimated at 20 minutes. The information collected consists of personal biographic data and the financial cost of evacuation to the United States or a designated foreign safe haven, and does not require any special research. Below are the fiscal year statistics on the number of persons evacuated for the last three fiscal years.
The annualized cost to all applicants for the hour burden for collections of information, based on appropriate wage rate categories, is $5,470. The annualized cost to applicants was determined by figuring out the average hourly wage; $23.86 is the average mean hourly civilian wage. $23.86/hr. was multiplied by 1.4 to get a weighted hourly wage of $33.40/hr. $33.40/hr. was then multiplied by 175 burden hours. The final calculation equals $5,845.
13. The total cost burden to applicants regarding postage is zero. The DS-5528 is not submitted by mail. The form will be submitted manually or electronically (when available) by the applicant at a U.S. diplomatic mission; or in a critical situation where it may not be possible to get to the U.S. diplomatic mission, the information collection may be submitted at a remote location (such as a seaport or an aviation tarmac). There is no application fee.
14. The annual cost burden to the federal government to process the DS-5528 in FY 2015 was $26,508.41. This estimate is based on the fiscal year 2015 update to the consular Cost of Service Model, which calculates the cost to the U.S. government of providing consular services, including services to U.S. citizens overseas. The Cost of Service Model calculates the fully burdened cost of an hour of Foreign Service Officer time, including overseas and headquarters overhead required to support the FSO overseas. This hourly rate in FY 2015 was $202. If the number of respondents is 525 and each form takes 15 minutes to process, the fully burdened cost is $26,508.41.
15. Cost to the government numbers have changed since the last review because of the adjustment in projected hourly cost rates each year stated in the Bureau of Budget and Planning New Position Cost Model.
16. This information will not be published.
17. The OMB expiration date will be displayed.
18. No exceptions are requested.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | CROBA 30 day supporting statement 2006 |
| Author | MeszarosM |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-22 |