Visa Waiver Program Has Benefits and Risks

The Visa Waiver Program has many benefits. In 2002, we reported that  eliminating the program would increase State’s resource requirements as  millions of visa waiver travelers who have benefited from visa-free travel  would need to obtain a visa to travel to the United States if the program  did not exist. Visa Waiver Program Can Pose Risks to U.S. Security, Law Enforcement, and Immigration Interests

The Visa Waiver Program, however, can also pose risks to U.S. security,  law enforcement, and immigration interests because some foreign citizens  may exploit the program to enter the United States. 1). Although DHS has intercepted some travelers with  fraudulent passports at U.S. ports of entry, DHS officials acknowledged  that an undetermined number of inadmissible aliens may have entered the  United States using a lost or stolen passport from a visa waiver country. DHS Lacks a Clearly- Defined, Consistent, and Timely Process to Assess Risks of Visa Waiver Program

Despite these steps to strengthen and improve the management of the  program, we identified several problems with the mandated biennial  country assessment process, by which DHS assesses the risks posed by  each of the visa waiver countries’ continued participation in the program. For the 2004 assessments, we found the following:    Some key stakeholders were excluded from the process. The reviews lacked clear criteria to make key judgments. DHS Cannot Effectively Monitor Ongoing Concerns in Visa Waiver Countries

OIE is limited in its ability to achieve its mission because of insufficient  staffing. However, though the law has required the timely reporting of  blank passport thefts for continued participation in the Visa Waiver  Program since 2002, DHS has not established and communicated time  frames and operating procedures to participating countries. DHS Has Taken Some Actions to Mitigate Risks of the Visa Waiver Program

As previously mentioned, during the 2004 assessment process, the working  group identified security concerns in several participating countries, and  DHS took actions to mitigate some of these risks. While most visa  waiver countries use and contribute to Interpol’s database, four do not. However, according to DHS, State, and Justice  officials, because Interpol’s data on lost and stolen travel documents is not  automatically accessible to border inspectors at primary inspection, it is  not currently an effective border screening tool. Recommendations to Improve Program Oversight and DHS’s Response

In our report, we made a series of recommendations to improve the U.S.  government’s process for assessing the risks in the Visa Waiver Program,  including recommending that DHS provide additional resources to  strengthen OIE’s visa waiver monitoring unit; finalize clear, consistent, and  transparent protocols for the biennial country assessments and provide  these protocols to stakeholders at relevant agencies at headquarters and  overseas; create real-time monitoring arrangements for all 27 participating  countries; and establish protocols for direct communication between  overseas posts and OIE’s Visa Waiver Program Oversight Unit. In addition,  we made recommendations to improve U.S. efforts to mitigate program  risks, including requiring that all visa waiver countries provide the United  States and Interpol with non-biographical data from lost or stolen issued  passports, as well as from blank passports; developing clear standard  operating procedures for the reporting of lost and stolen blank and issued  passport data; and developing and implementing a plan to make Interpol’s  stolen travel document database automatically available during primary  inspection at U.S. ports of entry.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Visa Waiver Program enables citizens of 27 countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. In fiscal year 2005, nearly 16 million people entered the country under the program. After the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the risk that aliens would exploit the program to enter the United States became more of a concern. This testimony discusses our recent report on the Visa Waiver Program. Specifically, it (1) describes the Visa Waiver Program's benefits and risks, (2) examines the U.S. government's process for assessing potential risks, and (3) assesses the actions taken to mitigate these risks. We met with U.S. embassy officials in six program countries and reviewed relevant procedures and reports on participating countries

What GAO Found

The Visa Waiver Program has many benefits as well as some inherent risks. It facilitates travel for millions of people and eases consular workload, but poses challenges to border inspectors, who, when screening visa waiver travelers, may face language barriers or lack time to conduct in-depth interviews. Furthermore, stolen passports from visa waiver countries are prized travel documents among terrorists, criminals, and immigration law violators, creating an additional risk. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has intercepted many fraudulent documents at U.S. ports of entry, DHS officials acknowledged that an undetermined number of inadmissible aliens may have entered the United States using a stolen or lost passport from a visa waiver country. DHS's process for assessing the risks of the Visa Waiver Program has weaknesses. In 2002, Congress mandated that, every 2 years, DHS review the effect that each country's continued participation in the program has on U.S. law enforcement and security interests, but did not set a reporting deadline. In 2004, DHS established a unit to oversee the program and conduct these reviews. We identified several problems with the 2004 review process, as key stakeholders were not consulted during portions of the process, the review process lacked clear criteria and guidance to make key judgments, and the final reports were untimely. Furthermore, the monitoring unit cannot effectively achieve its mission to monitor and report on ongoing law enforcement and security concerns in visa waiver countries due to insufficient resources. DHS has taken some actions to mitigate the program's risks; however, the department has faced difficulties in further mitigating these risks. In particular, the department has not established time frames and operating procedures regarding timely stolen passport reporting--a program requirement since 2002. Furthermore, DHS has sought to require the reporting of lost and stolen passport data to the United States and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), but it has not issued clear reporting guidelines to participating countries. While most visa waiver countries report to Interpol's database, four do not. Further, DHS is not using Interpol's data to its full potential as a border screening tool because U.S. border inspectors do not automatically access the data at primary inspection.