Such technologies could  be used by countries of concern to upgrade their military capabilities. Export Licensing and Visa Regulations Impose Requirements on Foreign Nationals Working in the United States

To work with controlled dual-use technology in the United States, foreign  nationals and the firms that employ or sponsor them must comply with U.S.  export control and visa regulations. Commerce, in consultation with other  departments, is responsible for issuing deemed export licenses to firms  that employ or host foreign nationals. Deemed export licenses are generally valid for 2 years. Almost 10  percent of all export licenses approved by Commerce authorize deemed  exports. Commerce Approves Most Deemed Export License Applications

In fiscal year 2001, Commerce approved 822 deemed export license  applications and rejected 3. About 90 percent of the licenses approved in fiscal year 2001 authorized  foreign nationals to work with advanced electronics, computer, or  telecommunications and information security technologies (see fig. Not all domestic transfers of technology to foreign nationals require a  deemed export license. Commerce’s Efforts to Detect Unlicensed Deemed Exports Do Not Use All Available Sources of Data

To better direct its efforts to detect possible unlicensed deemed exports,  Commerce screens applications for H-1B and other types of visas  submitted overseas and develops potential cases for enforcement staff in  the field. However, it does not screen H-1B change-of-status applications  submitted domestically to INS for foreign nationals already in the United  States. Also, Commerce cannot readily track the disposition of potential  cases referred to the field. According  to DOD officials, these conditions are needed to mitigate the risk to U.S.  national security posed by providing controlled dual-use technology to a  foreign national. Commerce uses several of these conditions to limit the level of technology  to which foreign nationals may be exposed. The licensing conditions were first formulated in 1997 by an interagency  group that included representatives of the departments of Commerce,  Defense, State, and Energy. A firm may also be required to monitor the immigration status of the  foreign employee and to document whether the foreign national leaves the  firm before becoming a permanent resident of the United States.
What GAO Found

To protect its national security and foreign policy interests, the United States controls exports of civilian technologies that have military uses. U.S. firms may be required to obtain a license from the Department of Commerce before exporting these "dual-use" technologies from the United States to many other countries, including countries of concern. Since Commerce regulations also deem domestic transfers of controlled dual-use technologies to citizens of these countries to be exports, Commerce may require firms that employ foreign nationals working with these technologies in this country to obtain "deemed" export licenses. The firms should, in many cases, hold a deemed export license, and the foreign nationals should have an appropriate visa classification, such as an H-1B specialized employment classification. Commerce issues deemed export licenses to firms that employ or sponsor foreign nationals after consulting the Departments of Defense, State, and Energy. Deemed export licenses are generally valid for 2 years and comprise almost 10 percent of all export licenses approved by Commerce. In fiscal year 2001, Commerce approved 822 deemed export license applications and rejected 3. Most of the approved licenses allowed foreign nationals from countries of concern to work with advanced computer, electronic, or telecommunication and information security technologies in the United States. To better direct its efforts to detect possible unlicensed deemed exports, in fiscal year 2001 Commerce screened thousands of applications for H-1B and other types of visas submitted by foreign nationals overseas. From these applications, it developed 160 potential cases for follow-up by enforcement staff in the field. However, Commerce did not screen thousands of H-1B change-of-status applications submitted domestically to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for foreign nationals already in the United States. In addition, Commerce could not readily track the disposition of the 160 cases referred to field offices for follow-up because it lacks a system for doing so. Commerce attaches security conditions to almost all licenses to mitigate the risk of providing foreign nationals with controlled dual-use technologies. However, according to senior Commerce officials, Commerce staff do not regularly visit forms to determine whether these conditions are being implemented because of competing priorities, resource constraints, and inherent difficulties in enforcing several conditions.