Currently, this information resides primarily in the paper-based A-Files. To improve the reliability and currency of the A-Files, as well as their  accessibility to geographically and organizationally dispersed users, USCIS  intends to automate the A-Files, beginning with scanning certain forms  contained in the A-Files and storing the resulting electronic images. USCIS estimates that it currently has more than 55 million of these paper- based files, each of which is to be maintained for a 75-year period. Under this strategy,  according to USCIS officials, long-term solutions to its A-Files automation  needs will be pursued within the context of business process re- engineering. USCIS Effectiveness in Managing Long-Term A-Files Automation Efforts Remains to Be Seen, but Near-Term Document Digitization Program Is Not Being Effectively Managed

It is not yet possible to determine the effectiveness of USCIS’s management  of its long-term A-Files automation effort because this effort is not yet  under way. Specifically,  USCIS has not developed a program management plan to guide program  execution and provide the basis for reliable cost and schedule estimates,  and it does not have a plan for evaluating its IDDMP concept of operations  pilot test of a document scanning capability. Without effective planning, IDDMP is at risk of falling short  of expectations and its funding requests cannot be justified. USCIS has yet to develop either an IDDMP management plan or a pilot  evaluation plan. Nevertheless, USCIS has awarded four contracts and is in the process of  awarding a fifth related to the program; these contracts total about $20  million, including an ongoing digitization and storage technology pilot test,  and it estimates that it will spend $190 million over an 8-year period on the  program. At the same time, officials told us they do not yet know which of  the roughly 50 types of forms associated with A-Files will be scanned and  stored or the sequence in which form types will be scanned. Conclusions

While it is too early to determine how effectively USCIS is managing its  long-term A-Files automation effort, USCIS’s recent decision to reconsider  its long-term IT modernization plans—including the role of IT in the  agency’s broader organizational and business transformation efforts—was  both warranted and appropriate. Objective, Scope, and Methodology

Our objective was to determine whether the United States Citizenship and  Immigration Service (USCIS) is effectively managing its alien files (A-Files)  automation efforts.
Why GAO Did This Study

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) relies on about 55 million paper-based files to adjudicate applications for immigration status and other benefits. Ensuring the currency and availability of these manual files, referred to as alien files, or A-Files, is a major challenge. To address this challenge, USCIS has initiated efforts, both long and near term, to automate the A-Files. The long-term effort is now being re-examined within the context of a larger USCIS organizational transformation initiative. In the near term, USCIS has begun a digitization program, which it estimates will cost about $190 million over an 8-year period to electronically scan existing paper files and store and share the scanned images. GAO was asked to determine whether USCIS was effectively managing its A-Files automation efforts.

What GAO Found

USCIS's effectiveness in managing its long-term effort for automating the A-Files cannot yet be determined because the scope, content, and approach for moving from paper-based to paperless A-Files has yet to be defined. Nevertheless, GAO believes that USCIS's recent decision to re-examine prior agency plans for a strategic A-Files automation solution within the context of an agencywide transformation strategy appropriately recognizes the integral support role that information technology plays in organizational and business transformation. GAO also believes that the success of USCIS's organizational transformation depends on other key supporting practices, such as having a comprehensive and integrated transformation plan (goals and schedules) and results-oriented performance measures. With respect to USCIS's near-term A-Files automation effort, known as the Integrated Digitization Document Management Program (IDDMP), effective planning is not occurring. In particular, USCIS has not developed a plan governing how it will manage this program and its contractors, and it has not developed an evaluation plan for its ongoing digitization concept of operations pilot test, even though it has either awarded or plans to award contracts totaling about $20 million for this pilot. In addition, USCIS officials told us they do not yet know which A-Files immigration forms will be scanned. Without a defined scope and adequate planning, this program is at risk of falling short of expectations.