VZCZCXRO1734
PP RUEHBC RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDE #4793/01 2071321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261321Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2630
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 5617

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUBAI 004793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IR PREL CMGT
SUBJECT: STREAMLINING VISA PROCESS FOR IRANIANS WOULD REINFORCE US 
POLICY GOALS 
 
REF: 05 DUBAI 4824 
 
DUBAI 00004793  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: In their quest for a visa to visit the United 
States, Iranian nationals face a number of hurdles, including 
exorbitant cost of traveling outside Iran for the interview and 
visa pick-up and long waits for security advisory opinions. Time 
and financial burdens undermine our message that we stand with 
the Iranian people and support people-to-people exchanges. 
AmConGen Dubai's two primary recommendations for alleviating the 
burden Iranians face during the visa process are: 1) 
establishing a trusted courier system for visa pick-up; 2) in 
very specific cases, issuing a two-entry or multiple-entry visa 
with longer validity. End summary. 
 
The Goal 
-------- 
 
2.(SBU) The current visa process puts a substantial time and 
financial burden on Iranian applicants living in Iran, as they 
must travel to a US embassy or consulate outside of Iran for 
their visa interview. AmConGen Dubai processes the highest 
number of non-immigrant visas for Iranians. (Ankara, Istanbul, 
Nicosia, and Vienna also process a large number.) Iranians 
represent almost 50% of NIV applicants in Dubai. According to 
the NIV system on 1 July, AmConGen Dubai had interviewed 6582 
Iranian visa applicants since the beginning of the fiscal year 
on October 1. We issued 2497 visas and refused 3989 applicants 
(Some of these refusals are actually pending cases waiting for 
required security clearances). This cable only details the 
situation for Iranian NIV applicants in Dubai and our 
suggestions for ways to relieve some of these burdens here. The 
purpose of such changes would be to send a message of solidarity 
with the Iranian people that we are not trying to punish them 
for the behavior of their government. None of these suggestions 
compromise security measures currently in place. 
 
The Process 
----------- 
 
3.(SBU) Inhabitants of Iran who want to apply for an NIV in 
Dubai go through the following steps: 1) schedule an appointment 
for an interview; 2) obtain a visa to UAE (one very good contact 
was recently denied a UAE visa); 3) pay for an Iranian exit 
visa; 4) travel from Iran to Dubai for the interview (Note: All 
Iranian applicants must appear for a personal interview, 
including children. endnote); 5) if approved for a visa, Iranian 
applicants must undergo a security check, which usually takes a 
minimum of two weeks and can be much longer; 6) once their 
approval is posted to the website, they have three months to 
return to Dubai to pick up their visa. 
 
4.(SBU) We do not regularly quiz applicants on the costs 
involved in applying for a visa, and there are many variables, 
such as whether or not they need hotel accommodations, how much 
leave they need from work, and how much help they require from 
third parties, such as travel agencies, to fill out their 
paperwork or schedule an appointment. Anecdotally however, we 
hear that the financial costs for Iranian visa applicants are 
high. A close contact recently told Conoff that she paid a 
travel agency approximately $1000 for the costs related to her 
visa interview. This fee included: 1) payment of the $100 visa 
application fee; 2) one night's lodging at a local three-star 
hotel; 3) roundtrip airfare from Tehran to Dubai; and 4) a fee 
for an appointment (discussed below). Additional costs can 
include help from a travel agency or others in filling out the 
DS-156 application form electronically, as now required. (Note: 
the copy center located in the consulate building charges $40 
for each application.) 
 
Problems Getting Appointments Leads to High Costs 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
5.(SBU) In Dubai, NIV interviews are by appointment only, 
scheduled via an automatic phone system in Bahrain. The number 
of Iranian appointments given depends on the number of 
Farsi-speaking consuls available. Iranians often say they have 
trouble reaching the Bahrain number - possibly because of some 
kind of block on calls from Iran - or that when they get 
through, there are no available appointments in the near future. 
As a result, they often resort to using a travel agency to book 
their appointment. We believe switching to the Internet-based 
appointment system that CA is currently working on will ease 
many of our current problems with the scheduling process. (Note: 
The Iranian government could block that website. Iranians 
regularly report problems accessing State Department websites.) 
 
Hurdles Exist Even After Determined Eligible for Visa 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
 
DUBAI 00004793  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
6.(SBU) Iranian applicants approved for a visa face another 
hurdle - the security advisory opinion (SAO) or clearance 
process. This process currently takes an average of three to 
four weeks, but can often take longer if the applicant is an 
Iranian government employee (average time at least six weeks) or 
falls into an area covered by the Technology Alert List (TAL). 
We have a number of Iranian applicants who have been waiting for 
more than one year for their clearances. 
 
7.(SBU) Once applicants are cleared by Washington, they have 
three months in which to pick up their visa. As Iranian law 
prohibits the mailing of Iranian passports outside the country 
and we do not want to bear the responsibility of releasing 
applicants' passports to travel agencies, successful applicants 
must buy a second plane ticket to Dubai. (Note: one family 
member can pick up visas for the entire family.) Furthermore, 
because new mandated facial recognition checks sometimes require 
24 hours to process in visa printing, we can no longer offer 
same day visa pick-up, necessitating at least one night's stay 
in Dubai. All applicants - Iranian and otherwise - must also be 
cleared through our local DHS Visa Security Unit before 
issuance, as required by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This 
may require a personal interview and possibly an unexpected 
extension of their stay in Dubai or a last-minute change to 
their onward travel plans to the US. 
 
8.(SBU) Successful Iranian visa applicants receive a one entry, 
three-month visa. Frequent travelers have to repeat all the 
steps above and pay all the accompanying costs, every time they 
want a visa. In addition to the resentment this causes, we have 
seen cases where USG interests have suffered. We know of 
instances where prominent Iranian activists in the US on J visas 
have turned down invitations to speak at conferences abroad 
because of the uncertainty of getting return visas in a timely 
matter -- if at all. Their participation at such conferences 
would have served to highlight their calls for greater 
democratization in Iran. 
 
Ideas to Lighten the Load for Iranians 
-------------------------------------- 
 
9.(SBU) AmConGen Dubai's two primary recommendations for 
alleviating the burden Iranians face during the visa process 
are: 1) establishing a trusted courier system for visa pick-up, 
and 2) in very specific cases, issuing a two-entry or 
multiple-entry visa with longer validity. 
 
Eliminating a second trip to Dubai 
---------------------------------- 
 
10.(SBU) Embassy Abu Dhabi and ConGen Dubai will switch August 1 
to a courier passback service for printed visas through a local 
courier service, but this is only for applicants with UAE 
addresses. As mailing passports is illegal under Iranian law, we 
cannot use this option for most Iranians. We propose, instead, 
making a formal request to the Swiss Government that the US 
Interest Section in Tehran begin couriering to us Iranian 
passports. Approved visa applicants could drop off their 
passport with the US Interest Section, and the Swiss could send 
ConGen Dubai -- and possibly other posts -- passports via Swiss 
diplomatic pouch. In the case of Dubai, the Swiss consulate is 
located one floor above the consulate in the World Trade Center, 
making receipt of passports simple. Once the visas were printed, 
we would return them to the Swiss to return via dip pouch for 
distribution at the US Interests Section. 
 
11.(SBU) There is precedence for such a system; US passports are 
already sent to the Interests Section via dip pouch for 
distribution. In an informal discussion with a Swiss diplomat, 
he indicated the Swiss would likely be eager to help, if the 
logistics could be worked out. His primary concern was there 
could be a large time lag if the Swiss Embassy in Tehran had to 
send the pouches via Bern.  However, even if transmission and 
return took two weeks, we could offer it as an option. 
Eliminating or decreasing intake and return of passports in 
person, and the accompanying constant requests for special 
treatment and complaints if applicants do not show up at the 
allotted time, would also be a tremendous time-saver and 
stress-reliever to the visa section in Dubai. 
 
12.(SBU) We understand that CA and ECA are discussing a pilot 
program for pre-screening exchange program applicants to cut 
down trips to Dubai to one. We applaud this initiative. At this 
time, however, we do not foresee a way to expand such a program 
to all applicants. 
 
Validity of Visas 
----------------- 
 
DUBAI 00004793  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
13.(SBU) We urge that in a very limited number of cases where it 
is deemed to be in the USG interest, we be allowed to request 
for Iranians a two-entry or multiple-entry visa with longer 
validity, subject to Department approval. Many of the Iranian 
visa applicants in Dubai are return applicants who routinely 
travel to the US. They include students, academics, and 
professionals traveling to attend conferences, and those 
traveling to visit family members. Multiple entry visas in very 
specific cases would dramatically ease the current burden on 
Iranian visa applicants, as well as on the consular section. At 
the same time, should there be any new security-related 
information added to the system at any time about that person, 
the immigration officer would be able to address the issue on 
their attempted return to the US. 
 
Visa Processing Time 
-------------------- 
 
14.(SBU) Any possible steps to speed up SAO clearance time for 
Iranians, or even to have an instituted process for requesting 
expedited handling of cases deemed to be in USG interest, would 
be well received. There are numerous cases where prestigious 
Iranians are left in limbo for many months, or even over a year, 
with no response on their visa. (reftel) 
 
Scoring PD Points 
----------------- 
 
15.(SBU) Comment: Any improvement in the visa process for 
Iranians would be a huge public relations boon for the US. 
Iranians think we refuse them visas or make the process 
difficult for political reasons. In reality, according to the 
NIV system, we have issued 2497 visas to Iranians since October 
1, representing close to 40 percent of Iranian applicants. Even 
absent any change to the visa system, it is in our interest to 
publicize the large or specialized groups of Iranians we allow 
to visit the US, such as the blind Iranian goal ball team, who 
were allowed to attend a competition in May, and members of the 
Iranian soccer team who traveled to the US to participate in a 
friendly match against a US professional soccer team. The new 
RPO PAO can help flag future cases for Department attention. At 
the same time, in our public discourse, we can also call 
attention to cases where Americans are denied visas to Iran by 
the Iranian government. 
BURNS