State Department gains access to FBI crime database

The State Department will be able to access certain FBI records to conduct more extensive background checks on foreigners applying for visas under an interim rule published in the Federal Register Monday. The rule allows authorized State Department officials to access the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which contains more than 40 million records on criminals, suspects and stolen property. State Department officials will use the database to check the names of foreigners applying for both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas for criminal records.

The State Department issues immigrant visas to foreigners who are sponsored by an employer or a relative with a "green card" or U.S. citizenship. The agency issues nonimmigrant visas to foreigners studying or visiting the United States for temporary periods. Prior to enactment of the 2001 U.S.A. Patriot Act (H.R. 3162), the State Department typically checked only the criminal histories of people applying for visas to immigrate, according to Nancy Altman, an official in the agency's visa services department. The law, which allows federal agencies to share more sensitive intelligence with one another than before, directs the FBI to provide the State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service with access to certain information in the NCIC database. Under the interim rule, State Department officials will enter an applicant's name and date and place of birth into the department's "Lookout" database, which will be connected to certain portions of NCIC's criminal history records. If there are any hits that match the applicant's name or other information closely, the official must fingerprint the applicant and send the prints to the FBI for processing. To see how the system would work, consider the following hypothetical example: Jane Doe, born on Feb. 25, 1975 in Paris, applies for a U.S. student visa. A State Department official types her information into the database and sees two entries with a code indicating a criminal history: Jeanne Douet, born March 1, 1974 in Dijon, France and Janice E. Doe, born Feb.10, 1975 in Brussels. Although the spelling of the applicant's name and the date and place of birth are not exact matches, they are close enough to warrant a fingerprint check. The applicant must pay $25 for the government to run the check. If an applicant's fingerprints match an NCIC criminal history record, the FBI will give the State Department the full record. Although the State Department and the FBI have always shared a certain amount of information, the interim rule gives State a more proactive role in checking the backgrounds of applicants, Altman said. "The rule expands checks for nonimmigrant visa applicants, and facilitates a discussion between agencies on which information databases are the most useful to them." More than 31 million nonimmigrant foreigners legally enter this country every year through 300 checkpoints. Some 3 million to 4 million visitors each year remain in the United States illegally after their visas expire. The interim rule took effect Feb. 25, and written comments must be submitted on or before April 26, 2002. Individuals can send their comments to: Chief, Legislation and Regulations Division
Visa Services
State Department
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20520-0106
Email: VisaRegs@state.gov
Fax: 202-663-3898