Federal Reports

The Department of State (DoS) issues nonimmigrant visas to individuals seeking entry into the United States on a temporary basis for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other reasons. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to address staffing limitations and visa backlogs, Dos and the Department of Homeland Security agreed to expand DoS' authorities to waive requirements to conduct consular interviews and collect fingerprints for some individuals seeking nonimmigrant visas. According to Dos, from calendar years 2020 through 2023, it granted nonimmigrant visas to approximately 7.1 million individuals without conducting in-person consular interviews. Dos also did not collect fingerprints for an unknown number of visas during the same period. In December 2023, Dos and OHS agreed to expand the categories of visas and applicants whose consular interviews could be waived beginning on January 1, 2024. The fingerprint waiver program ended in December 2023. During our ongoing audit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP} Screening of Visa Holders That Received Waivers from Department of State (24-011-AU D-CBP), we found that CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) port directors at some U.S. ports of entry had not been aware of the interview and fingerprint waiver program.

The objective of the audit was to determine if data generated to monitor and report on program growth and program employment is reliable, available, and accessible by the Commission to better inform decision-making and ensure achievement of strategic objectives.

Review of the FLRA’s Privacy and Data Security Policies, Procedures, and Practices for FY 2024

The Office of Investigations initiated an investigation in June 2021 based on concerns from the EPA Office of Wastewater Management that Grandview, Washington, acquired construction materials for a CWSRF project that may have been falsely advertised on a Canadian manufacturing company’s website as following AIS requirements. We determined that Grandview made every effort to comply with the AIS requirements; however, there is a question as to whether the Canadian company’s manhole products complied with AIS requirements. We identified a concern regarding the ambiguity of AIS requirements for PVC components being used in CWSRF projects.