VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPG #0321/01 1481339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD98B9A1 MSI4217-695)
R 271339Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0340
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHFSI/DIR FSINFATC WASHDC

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000321 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE AND CA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS CMGT EZ
 
SUBJECT: PRAGUE CONSULAR ROUNDUP - JAN/MAY 2008 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  Visa waiver negotiations culminated in the signing of a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Washington, and initial 
objections from the European Commission have abated.  DHS visited to 
conduct a country review and to discuss implementing arrangements. 
The Department is leading the negotiation on HSPD-6, and 
negotiations on sharing of information on dangerous criminals should 
begin soon.  Meanwhile, demand for visa interviews year-to-year has 
increased significantly.  IAFIS and other fraud prevention tools are 
identifying cases of mala fide applicants and individuals with 
questionable travel histories in the US.  Czech accession to the 
Schengen zone in December 2007 had unintended consequences of 
concern to Americans residing in the Czech Republic.  Consular 
section held two large outreach events to provide information on 
absentee voting and other services, and to give the Ministry of the 
Interior an opportunity to explain visa policy and residency 
procedures.  Post continues to provide training opportunities for 
officers and Locally Engaged Staff.  Post hosted the 2008 EUR CLDC, 
and a visit by AA/S Jacobs.  End Summary. 
 
VISA WAIVER PROGRESS 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  Czech Prime Minister Topolanek and DHS Secretary Chertoff signed 
a Visa Waiver MOU on February 28.  Some tense moments followed as EU 
officials insisted that visa policy should be negotiated 
collectively so as not to undermine areas of EU competence.  But the 
Czechs were only the first of a number of member states for whom 
visa waiver was more important than EU solidarity, and five other 
states had soon also signed MOUs.  DHS and the EC subsequently 
agreed on a "two track" approach, in effect giving the visa waiver 
aspirant countries the latitude they need to negotiate agreements 
for visa waiver.  The MOU signing was followed by a DHS on-site 
country review, and a visit to discuss possible MOU "implementing 
arrangements."  The outstanding tasks for the Czechs now are the 
conclusion of an HSPD-6 agreement, the text of which is under 
negotiation, and an agreement on information sharing with respect to 
dangerous criminals.  DHS Secretary Chertoff announced during the 
MOU signing that he expects Czechs to travel without visas by 
October or November of 2008.  Post hopes to learn the technical 
details of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), 
which will be part of the enhanced Visa Waiver Program.  The extent 
of ESTA integration with the CLASS lookout and visa refusal database 
will help Post predict the nature of the applicant pool when VWP 
takes effect. 
 
TOURIST VISA DEMAND UP, SWT APPLICATIONS DOWN 
----------------------- --------------------- 
 
¶3.  Non-immigrant visa intake at the beginning of the fiscal year 
was comparable to past years, but demand in January and February of 
2008 was the highest month-to-month since 2004, 25% higher than the 
same months in 2007.  The majority of applicants continue to apply 
for tourist visas, and common purposes of travel are medical 
conferences, trade shows, training, and package tours, including 
more Caribbean cruises departing from US ports.  Intake in March 
declined due to an officer staffing shortage, but the growth in wait 
time indicates that demand for tourist visas remains high, despite 
public knowledge of visa waiver negotiations.  One possible reason 
for the growth in demand is the 20% year-to-year decline in the 
dollar against the Czech koruna.  This decline may also explain the 
significant drop in J-1 Summer Work and Travel applicants.   Post 
noticed much smaller audiences during Fall university outreach, and 
agencies that promote this program report a 50% decrease in business 
from last year.  With high economic growth and greater freedom to 
travel and work in the Schengen zone, Australia, and Canada, the 
Summer Work and Travel program, which requires significant document 
preparation, appears to be losing its appeal to Czech students. 
 
IAFIS, LEXIS-NEXIS, AND CCD ENHANCE FRAUD PREVENTION 
------------------- -------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) NIV software integration with the IAFIS database has 
identified several cases of visa ineligibilities.  In one case, Post 
determined unlawful presence for a visa applicant who stated 
multiple times that he had never received a U.S. visa, yet had 
fingerprint arrest records in three separate years in North 
Carolina.  A second case involved an applicant who provided an alias 
to police during an arrest in Florida.  IAFIS arrest data often 
allows more in-depth queries against the CCD or LexisNexis to 
identify other possible ineligibilities.  In cases where there is 
insufficient evidence for a "hard" ineligibility finding, 
interviewing officers are writing detailed refusal notes for future 
adjudications.  E-mail watch list alerts for all consular officers 
also notify staff whenever a case with previously identified fraud 
indicators is received.  Post finds the DHS Arrival and Departure 
Information System (ADIS) to be of significant help in confirming 
the length of US visits for applicants. 
 
EMBASSY EXPLAINS NEW CZECH VISA RULES TO AMERICAN EXPATS 
-------------------------- ----------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Czech accession to the Schengen zone in December 2007 created a 
large community of American citizens who must apply for visas or 
risk accumulating illegal presence in the zone.  ACS is aware of 
several cases of Americans who lived for years in the Czech Republic 
without visas, traveling to Austria or Germany every 3 months in 
order to resume a visa-free stay in the Czech Republic.  A couple of 
hundred Amcits attended an ACS open house on February 12 to receive 
voting and federal benefits information and to ask visa questions of 
a Czech Ministry of the Interior official.  The number of questions 
was so great that the section organized a second "Schengen visa 
workshop" at a larger venue on March 3, advertised through warden 
e-mails and placement in English-language newspapers and Web sites. 
During this meeting, attended by 300 Amcits, the Ministry of the 
Interior (MoI) announced a "grace period," at the urging of the 
Embassy, to allow Americans who applied for long-term visas by March 
31 to remain in the Czech Republic in excess of ninety days without 
risk of fines or expulsion. 
 
¶6.  During the workshop the MoI pointed out several problems with 
existing Czech visa policy.  A Czech long-term "D" visa is a 
territorially restricted visa that allows the holder to reside in 
the Czech Republic.  Unlike a longterm residency visa, however, the 
holder accumulates time against the "90 days during 180" visa-free 
travel period for the Schengen states.  This means that after 90 
days of living in the Czech Republic the "D" visa holder cannot 
travel in the rest of the Schengen zone (except for Germany).  The 
consular section is pressuring the MoI to address this restriction 
by granting permanent residence visas in place of D visas, which 
allow travel throughout the Schengen zone, but this will require new 
Czech legislation.  In the meantime, Czech officials suggested 
Americans should apply for their permanent residence four months 
before the expiration of their long-term "D" visas and advised 
Americans to apply for visas to travel to other European countries. 
In a Catch-22 twist, most other European countries refuse to grant 
short term visas to American "D" visa holders because America is on 
the so-called visa free "white list".  Post will continue to update 
Americans through the Embassy Web site and media outlets. 
 
CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR CONSULAR STAFF 
------------------ ------------------ 
 
¶7.  All Locally Engaged Staff who had not previously taken the 
distance learning course PC-102, "Immigration Law and Visa 
Operations" successfully completed the course in mid-January, and 
training is now in progress on PC-103, "Nationality Law and Consular 
Procedures."  One officer was able to attend the Warsaw Regional 
Consular Workshop, and provided an update to all consular officers, 
along with some fraud prevention procedures described during the 
conference. 
 
POST HOSTS CLDC AND VISIT OF A/S JACOBS 
------------------- ------------------- 
 
¶8.  Post welcomed consular officers from about 25 European posts, 
experts from Washington, and Acting Assistant Secretary Jacobs to 
Prague for the 2008 EUR Consular Leadership Development Conference 
May 5-8.  In addition to addressing the conference, Ambassador 
Jacobs met with the Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for consular 
affairs and the new director of the Czech central authority for 
Hague abduction and adoption cases.  All consular staff - FSOs, LES, 
EFM - were able to participate in at least part of the conference, 
and were thrilled to meet the Bureau leadership. 
 
GRABER