VZCZCXRO8997
RR RUEHJO
DE RUEHSB #0102/01 0391429
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081428Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0021
INFO RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 0001
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000102 
 
SIPDIS 
JOHANNESBURG FOR RCO KENT MAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CMGT CVIS CASC KFRD ZI
SUBJECT: HARARE ANNUAL CERTIFICATION OF MANAGEMENT CONTROLS 
 
REF: STATE 012136 
 
¶1.  Per reftel, post completed its review of consular operations on 
February 9, 2010, which was certified by Deputy Chief of Mission 
Kathy Dhanani, FE-OC.  Post is in full compliance with consular 
management control requirements. 
 
 
 
¶2. (a) Inventory and Reconciliation of Accountable Items.  The NIV 
and ACS Unit Chief serves as the ACO and completed a comprehensive 
physical inventory of all accountable consular supplies with the 
Consular Section Chief on February 8, 2010.  This inventory was 
without incident, and was documented in writing and electronically 
through the AI module in IVO, NIV, and ACS.  All AI tracked items 
and non-expendable items such as seals and stamps were included. 
Post no longer uses manual ledgers or inventory control sheets to 
track AI. 
 
 
 
(b) Guidance.  All consular officers are familiar with and have 
access to all consular references and instructions.  Officers rely 
on 7 and 9 FAM  , 7 FAH-1 
 , consular ALDACs, 
and CAWeb   (both the unclassified 
and classified) for reference.  Training materials are not used for 
reference.  All consular officers have access to classified 
systems.  However, the Consular Section Chief does not check 
classified e-mail daily because the consular section is not rated 
for classified equipment.  Classified email is checked at least 
weekly. 
 
 
 
(c) Consular Shared Tables Management.  Only consular section 
employees have consular roles in NIV, IVO, ACS, and ACRS.  RSO 
ARSOs are assigned CCD roles and the DCM is assigned an NIV review 
role.  Adjudicatory and management roles are limited to American 
consular officers.  All parser roles have been disabled.  All 
active users are at post and authorized system access only at the 
appropriate level.  Users who no longer have any need for access 
have been verified as disabled.  User passwords are periodically 
reset and individually chosen by the individual IAW SOP82. 
 
 
 
(d) Physical Access.  Physical access to the Consular Section and 
all consular workstations is controlled and limited to Consular 
Section employees.  Locally employed staff (LES) are not present 
outside office hours unless a cleared American consular officer is 
present. 
 
 
 
(e) Access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII).  Post 
protects and restricts access of PII to only those with a 
legitimate need for such information.  Data base systems that 
contain such information (including PIERs, IVO, NIV and ACS) are 
restricted through CST user roles and local controls, and only 
accessed in connection with official duties.  All consular assigned 
personnel have been briefed on inappropriate use of such systems, 
the penalties for improper use, and the critical need to safeguard 
such information.  Post is unaware of any breaches or incidents 
involving loss, theft, unauthorized access or compromise of PII. 
If such a breach occurs in the future, it will be reported and 
handled per 7 FAM 1300, Appendix Y 
 . 
 
 
 
(f) Control/Reconciliation/Destruction of Controlled Items. 
Consular Section procedures ensure accountable consular items are 
controlled, handled, destroyed, and accounted for in accordance 
with 7 FAH-1 H-600.  The Accountable Items (AI) function is being 
used for daily reconciliation of all accountable consular supplies 
including passports, passport foils, supplemental pages, CRBAs, NIV 
foils, and IV foils.  Post destroys spoiled, unusable, and obsolete 
controlled times, and records via a witness their destruction in 
AI.  Per State 112062, all unusable, spoiled, or obsolete passport 
books, passport cards and border crossing cards are returned to the 
Department for destruction. 
 
 
 
(g) Cash Accountability.  The ACO, backup ACO, Consular Cashier, 
and backup Consular Cashier are all designated in writing per 
guidance, and all are fully familiar with the instructions in 7 
 
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FAH-1 H-700.  The ACO completed FSI on-line course PC 417, 
Accounting for Consular Fees, in August 2008.  The backup ACO 
completed the course in March 2008.  Both the Consular Cashier and 
backup have completed PC 419, Collection of Consular Fees for 
Consular Cashiers.  Local SOPs are in place that implement 7 FAH 
and CAWeb Consular Fee Page guidance, ensuring that accounting and 
reconciliation procedures for consular fees are properly carried 
out.  Daily Accounting Sheets reconciled against ACRS and OF-158 
receipts are on file for the last 12 months, with monthly 
reconciliation signed by both the ACO and FMO.  There have been no 
discrepancies within the past 12 months. 
 
 
 
(h) Periodic comparison of MRV fees and NIV applications.  Post 
does not use an off-site collection for MRV fees.  All consular 
service fees, including MRV, are paid to the consular cashier in 
USD cash at the time of service.  Adjudicating officers confirm a 
valid ACRS (MRV) receipt for each service, and cancel the receipt 
by initialing it.  State Dept copies of MRV receipts are stapled to 
the application.  Daily, weekly, and monthly comparison of MRV fees 
collected against NIV applications is carried out as prescribed in 
7 FAH-1 H-740.  However, post finds the guidance for reconciliation 
of non off-site MRV fees provided on the consular fees page of 
CAWeb to be lacking.  Instead of NIV Report 44, post recommends 
Report FEE, MRV Fees for Non-Immigrant Visas by Visa Class.  An 
additional option better suited than NIV Report 44 is the Visa Fee 
Collection Estimate Report from CCD.  The ACO uses all three 
reports to compare the cumulative total of fees collected against 
the number of MRV applications (excluding no-fee). 
 
 
 
(i) Referral System.  Post's NIV referral policy is published as 
Management Policy 56, and reflects 09 State 068314 and 9 FAM 
Appendix K.  Only American officers under COM Authority are 
permitted to make referrals, all referrals are signed by both the 
referring officer and agency or section head as appropriate, 
referral information is captured in the NIV system, all referral 
forms (A and B referrals, whether issued or refused) are scanned 
into the NIV system with the application form and all supporting 
documents, and consular managers periodically review referral 
reports to identify trends and possible areas of concern.  All 
officers are required to be briefed on the policy and sign a 
compliance agreement before being entered into NIV as an approved 
referrer.  All class A and B referrals are adjudicated by the 
Section Chief or the Acting Section Chief in his absence. 
Referrals from within the consular section are handled and 
documented identically to those from outside the section and no 
unofficial referrals are allowed outside of the formal process. 
 
 
 
(j) Training.  American and locally employed staff are expertly 
trained for their responsibilities in accordance with SOP 73, 
including fraud detection.  The ACO and backup ACO have completed 
PC-417 and the on-line user training for ACRS.  Post has instituted 
weekly training sessions that take advantage of FSI OJT training 
modules and other material posted on the CA website.  All locally 
employed staff have completed PC102, PC103, and PC104. 
 
 
 
(k) Standards of Employee Conduct.  The Consular Section has a 
written zero gift policy, and a policy for all consular officers to 
recuse themselves from any case in which there may be a real or 
perceived conflict of interest.  All consular employees are 
familiar with the standards of ethical conduct expected of them. 
Consular officers have reviewed the Department's Standards of 
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, and these 
standards have been reviewed and discussed.  There are no 
influences being brought to bear on the visa or passport process 
that would lead to any perception of impropriety.  All members of 
the section know and understand the reporting requirements and 
options for reporting possible unethical or malfeasant activity. 
 
 
 
(l) Namecheck and Clearance Reviews.  Namecheck returns are given 
rigorous review and consistent standards are applied in determining 
when a hit is close enough to warrant further action.  When 
insufficient information is present to rule out a potential match 
to a namecheck hit, that hit is treated as if it were a match. 
 
 
 
(m) Visa Lookout Accountability (VLA).  Post's Visa Lookout 
Accountability (VLA), Automated Biometric Identification (IDENT), 
 
HARARE 00000102  003 OF 004 
 
 
Facial Recognition (FR), and Integrated Automated Fingerprint 
Identification System (IAFIS) procedures are in compliance with 
Dept guidelines.  The Section Chief regularly reviews issuances to 
verify compliance and reviews VLA responsibilities with arriving 
officers.  All adjudicating officers understand VLA provisions and 
requirements, as well as the consequences for failing to comply 
with VLA procedures. 
 
 
 
(n) Intake, Interview, and Screening.  Intake, interview, and 
document screening procedures comply with the Department's 
instructions (including 9 FAM 41.102 and 41.103).  Screening of 
applications by locally employed staff (LES) does not encroach on 
adjudication.  LES only review applications for completeness and do 
not ask questions or make notes on the application that could be 
interpreted as influencing adjudication.  LES do not turn away NIV 
or IV applicants who have paid the appropriate fees and have a 
completed application, even if they believe additional documents 
are required. 
 
 
 
(o) Oversight of processing.  Adequate supervision of processing is 
exercised by American officers.  However, the layout of the 
Consular Section does not allow constant line-of-sight supervision 
of print stations.  Posts DNA policy and collection of samples 
complies with 09 State 097431 and 9 FAM 42.44.  Post exercises 
proper oversight of panel physicians and possesses recently updated 
MOUs. 
 
 
 
(p) Biometric collection.  Fingerprinting for biometric purposes is 
only performed by consular officers or cleared American EFMs.  Post 
is in compliance with Bio/Visa Enrollment policy and procedures 
found in 9 FAM Appendix L. 
 
 
 
(q) Photo Standards.  Per the photo guide on www.travel.state.gov, 
post is only entering recent photos of the applicant and is 
rigorously applying the photo guide standards for NIV, IV, and 
passport photos. 
 
 
 
(r) Visa Adjudication Oversight.  The Section Chief and DCM 
regularly review NIV refusals and issuances via the NIV review 
system in CCD, at a rate well above the minimum.  Comments are 
entered into the system from initial adjudication through CCD 
review.  If upon review, a supervisory consular officer determines 
that an error in the application of law was made during the initial 
adjudication, s/he personally re-interviews the applicant and makes 
an adjudication decision under his/her own login.  In such cases, 
the supervisor marks the case as overcome in the system, explains 
the legal error in the original officer's adjudication, and the 
action taken.  Supervisory overcomes are extremely rare and are not 
used in cases of reconsideration in which there was no legal error 
in the original adjudication.  All cases for reconsideration 
require a new application and fee.  All applicants for whom a 
personal appearance is required are interviewed per 05 State 
092176, 08 State 04990, and 9 FAM 41.102.  Post regularly (at least 
monthly) reviews issuance patterns to third country nationals, and 
knows to report any unexplained trends or anomalies to CA/VO/F/P 
and CA/FPP/CID.  Per 9 FAM 41.121 N2.5, previously refused visa 
applicants are allowed to reapply any time, using the same 
procedures as first-time applicants.  Posts does not have a written 
re-application procedure. 
 
 
 
(s) Files.  Consular files are managed in accordance with the 
Record Disposition Schedule and visa files are maintained per 9 FAM 
Appendix F instructions.  All consular personnel safeguard visa 
records in accordance with INA Section 222(f), in order to prevent 
unauthorized disclosure of any form.  NIV records are filed 
chronologically per instructions in 9 FAM Appendix F, 200. 
 
 
 
(t) Passports and CRBAs.  Procedures and controls are in place to 
ensure the accuracy and integrity of U.S. passport, CRBA, and other 
nationality determinations.  Post conducts passport namechecks per 
7 FAM 1330 for all passport services, including the addition of 
visa pages.  The ACS Unit chief and Consular Section Chief audit 
passport cases and procedures to ensure the accuracy of: annotation 
of citizenship and identity documentation; annotation related to 
 
HARARE 00000102  004 OF 004 
 
 
name clearances, endorsements and limitations; clarification of 
illegible entries; correction of inaccuracies; and, fraud 
detection.  Per 09 State 112062 and 7 FAM 1366, all unusable, 
spoiled, or obsolete passport books, passport cards and border 
crossing cards are returned to the Department for destruction. 
 
 
 
(u) Fraud Prevention Programs.  The Section Chief serves as post's 
Fraud Prevention Manager and post has a written Fraud Prevention 
SOP that includes criteria for referring cases for investigation. 
The FPU feature (button) in NIV and IVO are used to refer cases to 
the FPU and to track FPU case status.  Written procedures are in 
place to safeguard the role of the LES fraud investigator by 
prohibiting her (or any other LES) from influencing eligibility 
decisions.   Reports on investigations are confined to factual 
information, not opinion or recommendations for adjudication.  All 
investigative reports are carefully reviewed by an American officer 
and are randomly validated.  Anti-fraud field trips are undertaken 
rarely, but often with a consular officer.  The Section Chief 
reviews and approves all fraud investigator vouchers. 
 
 
 
(v) Wilberforce Act.  Per 09 State 05632, 09 State 05634, and 09 
State 067921, post provides the Wilberforce pamphlets to the 
relevant visa applicants, and confirms that the applicants have 
received, read, and understood the contents of the pamphlet.  Links 
to the Wilberforce pamphlet and information about worker and 
student rights are provided on Post's NIV website. 
 
 
 
(w) Oversight of Applicant Service Centers (ASCs).  N/A. 
 
 
 
(x) Consular Agents.  N/A. 
RAY