Compliance Follow-Up Review of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program

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Date Issued

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Submitting OIG

Department of State OIG

Other Participating OIGs

Department of State OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Department of State

Components

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

Bureau of Consular Affairs

Report Number

AUD-MERO-23-01

Report Type

Other

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

Funds for Better Use

Open Recommendations

This report has 7 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
1	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Unit, the National Visa Center, and data scientists, revise the Standard Operating Procedures for Quarterly Congressional Reports to include specific steps and procedures for calculating and reporting average processing times for Department of State-controlled stages of the Afghan SIV application process so that reported data reflect the actual average processing times.
2	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official, in coordination with the National Visa Center and the Afghan SIV Unit, design and implement control activities in accordance with the Government Accountability Office’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government to monitor, verify, and validate the accuracy and completeness of the Department of State-controlled data used to generate the average processing time reported in the Afghan SIV quarterly reports.
3	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, design and implement control activities in accordance with the Government Accountability Office’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government to verify and validate the accuracy and completeness of the information obtained from the entities involved with processing Afghan SIV applications.
4	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official (SCO) develop and implement a policy and procedures to establish ongoing interagency coordination with all designated SCOs until the Afghan SIV program concludes.
6	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official (SCO) develop and implement an updated staffing plan to adjust resources for all Department of State offices involved with the Afghan SIV program to reduce the current Afghan SIV application backlog.
7	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official develop a process and procedures to monitor the implementation, effectiveness, and efficiency of the staffing plan for all Department offices involved in the Afghan SIV program to reduce the current Afghan SIV application backlog.
8	No	$0	$0
OIG recommends that the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Senior Coordinating Official (SCO), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD) SCO, establish a memorandum of understanding between the Department of State (Department) SCO and the DoD SCO defining the roles and responsibilities of the Department and DoD for efficiently and accurately collecting employment documentation of Afghan SIV applicants who worked for DoD contractors. The Department and DoD SCOs should also meet regularly to address efficient employment verification until the Department resolves the backlog of Afghan SIV applications.