VZCZCXRO3174
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHDIR RUEHFL
RUEHIK RUEHKUK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV
RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHFT #1722/01 1820852
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010852Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL FRANKFURT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1004
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0592
RUEHMZ/AMCONSUL MUNICH 1699
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 3385
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 5750
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1797

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 001722 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP; DEPT PASS TO KCC; POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION 
MANAGERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC KFRD IR GM
SUBJECT:  FRANKFURT'S IRANIAN VISA APPLICANT VALIDATION STUDY 
 
REF: ANKARA 449 
STOCKHOLM 224 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Consulate General Frankfurt conducted a validation study 
of Frankfurt's 2007 Iranian B-1/B-2 travelers.  Of the 288 
applicants who traveled to the United States, 19 (6.6%) claimed 
asylum, adjusted status or overstayed.  For the vast majority who 
returned from the United States without incident, standard 
indicators such as age, family ties and marital status were largely 
accurate predictors of good travel.  Two categories of higher 
overstay risk emerged - travelers over the age of 60 with immediate 
family in the United States and travelers under the age of 35 with 
promising professional career potential.   Post will use the results 
of this study to make better-informed adjudications of this growing 
population of visa applicants in the future.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2. The Iranian expatriate population living in Germany totals more 
than 54,000, with almost 30,000 residing in Frankfurt's consular 
district.  This is down from the more than 107,000 Iranian passport 
holders who lived in Germany in 2000.  Much of this decline can be 
explained by the more than 65,000 Iranians who have become 
naturalized German citizens over that same period.  In addition to 
the large local expatriate population, Germany is a popular travel 
destination for Iranians who travel here to visit their family and 
friends and to apply for visas for onward travel to U.S. at 
Frankfurt, a designated Iranian-processing post.  In short, 
Frankfurt sees a large number of Iranian visa applicants. 
 
¶3. To assess Iranian visa applicants' compliance with U.S. visa 
regulations and to inform consular officers' adjudications, 
Consulate General Frankfurt performed a validation study of Iranian 
applicants issued B-1/B-2 visas during the calendar year 2007. 
Working with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Visa 
Security Unit here and using DHS's Arrival Departure Information 
System (ADIS) database, Frankfurt reviewed all 2007 Iranian B-1/B-2 
travel records.  For those for whom no departure record could be 
found, post used the contact information provided in the DS-156 to 
contact each individual. 
 
RESULTS 
------- 
 
¶4. Frankfurt processed a total of 965 Iranian visa applicants in 
¶2007.  Officers approved 318 B-1/B-2 visas within the calendar year, 
with an adjusted refusal rate of 46.1%.  (NOTE: The adjusted refusal 
rate excludes cases originally refused for Security Advisory 
Opinions (SAOs) but later issued after receiving clearance.  END 
NOTE) Of the 318 B-1/B-2 visa issuances, 30 applicants (9.4%) did 
not travel to the United States.  Post then examined the travel 
history of the remaining 288 Iranian travelers. 
 
¶5. Of the 288 applicants reviewed, 269 (93.4%) complied with the 
terms of their visa and registered timely departures from the United 
States.  The remaining 19 (6.6%) either claimed asylum after 
arriving in the United States(five applicants), adjusted to another 
nonimmigrant visa category or to legal permanent resident (LPR) 
status (eight applicants), overstayed their permitted duration of 
stay (five cases) or, in one case, were arrested and detained for 
legal prosecution on charges of child pornography. 
 
ANALYSIS 
-------- 
 
¶6. To understand better the travel patterns and tendencies of the 19 
applicants who did not comply with their visa issuances, post 
closely reviewed each case.  Following is a brief summary of the 
lessons and trends from this analysis. 
 
PRIOR TRAVEL - A high proportion (47%) of these 19 applicants had 
prior good travel to the United States.  In several cases, the 
applicants had frequent (up to one time per year) travel over a 
multi-year period. 
 
AGE MATTERS - The median age of the 288 Iranian B-1/B-2 travelers in 
2007 was 59.4 years old, which substantiates officers' anecdotal 
observations that many Iranian visa applicants here are retirees 
with immediate family or close relatives living in the United 
States.  In contrast, the median age of the five applicants who 
claimed asylum was 44.8 years old.  This was much lower than the 
median age of applicants who adjusted status (57.9 years old) or who 
 
FRANKFURT 00001722  002 OF 002 
 
 
overstayed (62.2 years old).  Excepting one 76-year old applicant 
who claimed asylum, the other four applicants claiming asylum were 
between 21 and 50 years old.  Conversely, only one of the five 
applicants who overstayed was under the age of 50.  Of the eight 
applicants who adjusted status, two were young doctors (NOTE: both 
are now listed on the Internet as practicing medicine in the U.S. 
END NOTE), while the other six were all over the age of 56. 
 
PRIOR REFUSALS - Five of the 19 applicants were previously refused 
under section 214(b).  In three of these cases, however, at least 
one visa was issued after the refusal but before their 2007 travel. 
 
 
MARITAL STATUS - Three of the 19 applicants had spouses whom they 
either left behind or abandoned.  Two of the three claimed asylum 
and the third has never registered a departure from the United 
States. 
 
FAMILY IN IRAN OR GERMANY - While strong family ties in Iran and/or 
Germany led to the return of most of the 288 Iranian travelers, this 
did not appear to be a compelling tie for the 19 travelers who did 
not register a timely departure.  Only two of the 19 listed no 
immediate family members (i.e., spouse, children or parents) living 
in Iran or Germany.  Most, in fact, had a significantly higher 
proportion of immediate family members living outside the United 
States than inside the United States. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. The 93.4% compliance rate among Frankfurt's 2007 Iranian B-1/B-2 
travelers tracks closely with the results of recent similar 
validation studies by Embassies Stockholm and Ankara (reftels).  The 
study underscores that in the preponderance of cases, standard 
factors of evaluation (prior good travel, strong social ties outside 
of the United States and prior refusals in Frankfurt or another 
post, among others) remain reliable indicators for good travel.  As 
the 19 overstay/aslyee/adjustment of status cases indicate, however, 
these are not foolproof.  Two primary profiles of travelers with 
higher overstay risk emerged in the study: 
-- (1) Travelers over the age of 60 with immediate family members 
living in the United States; and, 
-- (2) Applicants under the age of 35 with promising professional 
career potential in fields such as medicine. 
 
¶8. As the overall median age of 59.4 would indicate, many of the 
Iranian travelers in 2007 fell into the over 60 former category, 
making this outcome somewhat predictable.  More striking, however, 
is the indication that younger, highly-educated applicants also 
present a significant overstay risk.  Frankfurt will use the results 
of this outcome to better inform our future adjudications of Iranian 
visa travelers.  In particular, consular officers will more closely 
scrutinize younger travelers and their educational background. 
 
 
POWELL