The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently reviewed the State Department’s rollout of the Biometric Visa Program, including its implementation progress.  The State Department is implementing the Biometric Visa Program at all 207 overseas consulates by October 26, 2004, as a complement to the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program.  The program requires that all persons applying for U.S. visas have certain biometrics and a digital photograph collected during the visa application interview.  This information must be cleared through the DHS Automated Biometric Identification System before an applicant can receive a visa.

The GAO found that the State Department is installing the equipment and software for the Biometric Visa Program on schedule and will likely meet the October 26, 2004, implementation deadline.  However, DHS and the State Department have not fully developed guidance for the program’s use.  As of September 1, 2004, the State Department had installed program hardware and software at 201 out of a total of 207 overseas posts and plans to complete the installation at the remaining 6 posts by September 30.  The posts with the program are now collecting fingerprints of each visa applicant and processing the prints through the DHS Automated Biometric Identification System. 

DHS and the State Department have not developed and not provided comprehensive guidance that includes directions to consular officers on when in the visa process prints are to be scanned and when and how information from the database on visa applicants should be considered by consular officers.  Because of the absence of such guidance, GAO found that consular officers are unclear on how to use the program and the information available from the DHS Automated Biometric Identification System on visa applicants.

GAO is recommending that DHS and the State Department develop and provide to consular posts guidance on how the program should be used to help adjudicate visa and that the State Department direct each consular post to develop an implementation plan based on this guidance.  The State Department and DHS generally agreed with the recommendations.