Patent Publication Number: US-2016224982-A1

Title: Visa compliance monitoring system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims foreign priority to United Kingdom Patent Application No. 1501508.4 filed 29 Jan. 2015 entitled VISA COMPLIANCE MONITORING SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally, but not exclusively, to immigration control and systems for monitoring visa compliance, in particular, to systems which are able to track the location of one or more visa holders and which are able to provide an indication of whether or not a visa holder has complied with the restrictions of their visa. 
     BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
     Although most countries have some form of border control at which people entering the country are required to go through some form of authorisation check, which might involve checking a person&#39;s visa and recording whether that person has entered the country, often no such checks are made when a person leaves the country. As such, there is often no record of when a particular person leaves a country. 
     As a result of this, border agencies often do not know whether or not a person who has entered a country and who only has conditional authorisation to remain in that country, such as a temporary visa, has left the country. As such, border agencies are often unable to tell whether or not a person has outstayed their visa by remaining in the country beyond the expiry date of their visa. 
     Many countries rely on strong sanctions against people who overstay their visas in order to deter people from doing so. For example, in the United Kingdom, if a person overstays their visa by more than 28 days they are not allowed to apply for further leave to remain in the United Kingdom from within the United Kingdom. If a person overstays their visa by more than 90 days, they may be barred from returning to the United Kingdom for at least 12 months. Much longer sanctions are also possible. 
     Currently, no effective systems exist for monitoring visa compliance. Emphasis is placed on encouraging voluntary departure for people who are not in possession of a visa permitting them to stay within a country. Costly compliance activities are sometimes undertaken by border authorities to actively pursue people who have outstayed their visas. Locating people who have expired visas in order to ascertain whether they are still within the country who provided their visa can be a drain on resources. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a technologically efficient means for ascertaining whether or not a person with an expired visa has remained in the visa issuing country. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer implemented method, at a processor, of tracking visa compliance of a person, the method comprising the steps of: receiving and storing payment card data associated with a payment card associated with the person; receiving and storing visa data associated with a country and the person; identifying transaction data containing a date and a location of transactions performed using the payment card; and creating immigration status data associated with the person based on the visa data and the transaction data. 
     Advantageously, such a computer implemented method enables the visa compliance of a person (cardholder) entering a country using a visa to be efficiently monitored using transaction data created by the use of a payment card belonging to the person. 
     The method of the first aspect of the invention may be performed at a secure server hosted within a payment processing network. 
     This method may be performed by a tracking server. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the visa data may comprise one or more of a visa number, a visa start date, and a visa end date. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the step of identifying transaction data may be carried out over a specified period of time. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the step of identifying transaction data may comprise the steps of: accessing a database containing identification information suitable for uniquely identifying the payment card at the end of or after the specified period of time; analysing transactions performed during the specified period of time for the identification information to identify transactions which contain the identification information. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the identification information may be the payment card data. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the specified period of time may be calculated based on a visa start date and/or a visa end date. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the specified period of time may begin 4 to 8 weeks before a visa start date. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the specified period of time may end 4 to 8 weeks after a visa end date. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the step of creating immigration status data may occur after the specified period of time has elapsed. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the immigration status data may indicate whether or not the person entered the country between a visa start date and a visa end date. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the immigration status data may indicate whether or not the person left the country between a visa start date and a visa end date. 
     Advantageously, the generated immigration status data may be used to identify persons who have or have not complied with their visa restrictions. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, payment card data associated with a plurality of payment cards belonging to the person may be received and stored and the transaction data containing a date and a location of transactions performed using each of the payment cards may be identified. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the payment card data associated with a plurality of payment cards belonging to a plurality of persons may be received and stored and the transaction data containing a date and a location of transactions performed using each of the payment cards may be identified. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, each of the payment cards may belong to a single person. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the payment card data may comprise payment card credentials of the payment card which include one or more of a person name and a Primary Account Number. 
     In one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the step of identifying transaction data may be carried out by accessing a payment processing network. 
     According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a server configured to perform the method of any of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention. 
     According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic device comprising: one or more processors; and memory comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more of the processors, cause the device to operate in accordance with the method of any of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention. 
     According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon for implementing the method of any of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention. 
     According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a network component configured to implement the method of any of the embodiments of the first aspect of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  depicts an operating model of the parties involved when a visa compliance tracking system is used to track the compliance of a person entering and leaving a country; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a timeline of various transactions made using a payment card by a person, the processing of transaction data produced by said transactions by a tracking server, and the use, by a border agency, of data produced by the tracking server based on the transaction data; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram showing the steps involved in an exemplary visa compliance tracking process involving the parties shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram which depicts the steps involved in a further visa compliance tracking process; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram which depicts the steps which occur, at a tracking server, in a further method for tracking visa compliance of a person. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  depicts an operating model of the parties involved when a visa compliance tracking system is used to track the compliance of a cardholder entering and leaving a country.  FIG. 1  depicts a cardholder  101 , a country  102 , a border agency  103  associated with said country  102 , a tracking server  104  and a payment card  105  belonging to the cardholder  101 . 
     Where the term cardholder has been used, it will be understood that it is intended to cover any person who is associated with a particular payment card. For example, where a subsidiary card of a main account is used by a person who is not the account holder (e.g. a family member or employee of the main account holder), but who is still associated with the subsidiary card, that person may be considered to be a cardholder. A cardholder is considered to be any person who is associated with a payment card. 
     The payment card  105  may be one of a credit, debit, prepaid or charge card. 
     Although only a single cardholder  101  and payment card  105  are depicted, it will be understood that this system could be used to track the compliance of multiple cardholders each with one or more payment cards. 
     In one or more embodiments, the tracking server  104  may not necessarily be a server. The tracking server  104  may be any system, network component, electronic device comprising one or more processors and memory or computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon suitable for performing the below outlined functionality. 
     The cardholder  101  is not a citizen of country  102  but is in possession of a valid visa which enables them to enter the country  102  for a limited amount of time, for example, 90 days. 
     At step  1 , the cardholder  101  registers their payment card  105  with the tracking server  104  and/or the border agency  103  (not shown). 
     At step  2 , the cardholder  101  then travels to the country  102 , and, upon arrival, presents their visa to the border agency  103  who checks that the cardholder  101  is authorised to enter the country  102  at the time of their arrival. 
     At step  3 , the use of the payment card  105  by the cardholder  101  is tracked by the tracking server  104  whilst the cardholder is in the country  102 . The tracking server  104  may, for example, obtain the details of one or more of the date, time, and location of any transactions made by the cardholder  101  using the payment card  105 . 
     This transaction data may be obtained by accessing a payment processing network over which the transactions are performed. 
     The time for which the tracking server  104  tracks the use of the payment card  105  is known as a tracking window or event window. There may be one or more tracking windows during which the use of the payment card  105  is tracked. 
     In order to enable the tracking server  104  to identify the transaction data produced by use of the payment card  105  during a tracking window, there may be provided a database (not shown) containing identification information, such as Primary Account Numbers (PANs), suitable for uniquely identifying any payment cards which have been registered with the tracking server  104  including payment card  105 . The tracking server  104  may then interrogate this database each time a transaction is made using the payment card  105  or any other registered payment card to check whether it needs to obtain the transaction data for the transaction in question. 
     The database may be in the form of an input data table of identification information. The tracking server  104  may interrogate the database (input data table) at the end of a tracking or event window, analyse the transactions performed during that window to identify those containing the relevant identification information and generate one or more statuses or sets of immigration status data based on the identified transactions. 
     It will be understood that, where the term status is used, the status can be considered to be status data. 
     The tracking server  104  may be a piece of code or algorithm, which is executed to interrogate the input data table. The tracking server  104  uses the input data table of identification information, matches and extracts transactions containing the given identification information (thus ‘obtaining’ the required transaction data), performs its analysis of the transactions, generates statuses or sets of immigration status data based on the analysed transactions, and saves these statuses or sets of immigration status data in a data table. 
     All these steps may be performed on a secure server or servers. The secure server(s) may be hosted within a payment processing network. 
     The input table may be provided to the tracking server  104  by the border agency  103 , and the status data table may be sent back to the border agency  103  by the tracking server  104 . This may occur where, for example, at step  1  the cardholder  101  registers their payment card  105  with the border agency. 
     In an alternative embodiment, a spare data field in the authorisation message, which is sent when a transaction is made using the registered payment card  105  or any other registered payment card, may be created. 
     The spare data field may be populated with a suitable flag which causes a notification to be sent from the payment processing network over which the transaction is being performed to the tracking server  104  during the transaction authorisation process. 
     The notification may let the tracking server  104  know that it needs to obtain the transaction data for the transaction in question. 
     At step  4 , the cardholder  101  leaves country  102 . The tracking server  104  continues to track the use of the payment card  105  by the cardholder  101 . 
     At step  5 , the cardholder  101 , who has now left country  102 , performs a transaction using payment card  105 . The tracking server  104  ascertains that the transaction was performed outside of country  102 . 
     At step  6 , the tracking server  104  sends a message to the border agency  103  signifying that the cardholder  101  has left country  102 . 
     It will be understood that the system shown in  FIG. 1  is merely representative and there are various ways in which the system may be implemented, many of which will be discussed in what follows. 
     For example, one variation is that, following registration step  1 , the tracking server  104  continually tracks the use of the payment card  105  by the cardholder  101  and continually provides the border agency  103  with information about the estimated location of the cardholder  101 , based on transaction data produced by the use of payment card  105 . 
       FIG. 2  depicts a timeline of various transactions made using the payment card  105  by the cardholder  101 , the processing of the transaction data produced by said transactions by the tracking server  104 , and the use, by a border agency  103 , of data produced by the tracking server based on the transaction data. 
     It is assumed that the payment card  105  has been registered with the tracking server  104  or the border agency  103 , as per step  1  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     At step  21 , the cardholder  101  performs a transaction using payment card  105  when located in country  202 . 
     At step  22 , the cardholder  101  makes a further transaction using payment card  105  when located in the country  202 . 
     At step  23 , the tracking server  104  is able to infer that the cardholder  101  is located in country  202  based on transaction data (including date and location data for each transaction) produced at steps  21  and  22  obtained by the tracking server  104 . 
     The tracking server  104  may obtain the transaction data by accessing a payment processing network over which the transactions are performed or by any of the aforementioned means. 
     At step  24 , the tracking server  104  may, optionally, notify the border agency  103  of the location of the cardholder  101  and may pass on date and corresponding location data to the border agency  103 . 
     At steps  25 ,  26  and  27 , the cardholder  101  performs three respective transactions using the payment card  105 , after having travelled from country  202  to country  102 . 
     At step  28 , the tracking server  104  obtains, via any of the aforementioned mechanisms as detailed in the description of the other embodiments described herein, and makes use of transaction data (including date and location data for each transaction) produced by each of the transactions performed at steps  25 ,  26  and  27  to infer that the cardholder  101  is located in country  102 . 
     At step  29 , the tracking server  104  may send a message to border agency  103  indicating that the cardholder  101  is located in the country  102  and may pass on date and corresponding location data to the border agency  103 . 
     At steps  30  and  31 , the cardholder  101  performs respective transactions using payment card  105  whilst located in country  202 , after having travelled from country  102  back to country  202 . 
     At step  32 , the tracking server  104  obtains, via any of the aforementioned methods, and makes use of transaction data (including date and location data for each transaction) produced by each of the transactions performed at steps  30  and  31  to infer that the cardholder  101  is now located in country  202 . 
     At step  33 , the tracking server  104  sends a message to the border agency  103  indicating that it is likely that cardholder  101  has left country  202  and may pass on date and corresponding location data to the border agency  103 . 
     The border agency  103  may make use of the information provided by the tracking server  104  at steps  24 ,  29  and  33  in order to ascertain whether the cardholder  101  has complied with the conditions of their visa, for example, by overlaying the start date of the visa and the end data of the visa with date and location data provided by the tracking server  104  in steps  24 ,  29  and  33 . 
     In another embodiment, the tracking server  104  may have access to the visa information of the cardholder  101 , for example, by having direct access to a database within which the visa information is stored. In this embodiment the tracking server  104  would be able to provide the border agency with an indication of whether or not the cardholder  101  is complying with the conditions of their visa, for example at one or more of steps  24 ,  29  and  33 . 
     In yet another embodiment, steps  23  and  28  may not occur and the tracking server  104  may obtain, via any of the aforementioned methods, and make use of the transaction data produced at each of steps  21 ,  22 ,  25 ,  26 ,  27 ,  30  and  31  at step  33  to infer that the cardholder  101  is now located in country  202 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram showing the steps that occur in an exemplary visa compliance tracking process involving the parties shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     At step  301 , a cardholder  101  applies for a visa for country  102  and is granted a visa. 
     At step  302 , the cardholder  101  registers the details of a payment card  105 , belonging to the cardholder  101 , with a tracking server  104  or a border agency  103 . The cardholder  101  may also register additional details. For example, the details registered by the cardholder  101  with the tracking server  104  or the border agency  103  may include one or more of the cardholder&#39;s full name, passport number, passport issuing country, a  16  digit primary account number (PAN) of the payment card  105  and the cardholder&#39;s visa details (e.g. including one or more of visa number, start date and end date). The details provided by the cardholder  101  are stored by the tracking server  104 , for example, on a database hosted by the tracking server  104  or by the border agency  103 . 
     At step  303 , the tracking server  104  tracks the usage of the payment card  105  using any of the aforementioned mechanisms as detailed in the description of the other embodiments described herein. 
     The tracking server  104  may track all transactions made using the payment card  105  (for example, by accessing the payment processing network over which the transactions are performed) and merge the data produced by these transactions onto the database. The tracking server  104  may obtain details of the date and location of all transactions performed using the payment card  105 . 
     The tracking server  104  may track the payment card  105  for a predetermined or specified period of time (i.e. a tracking window). This predetermined period of time or tracking window may be determined based on the start date and the end date of the visa belonging to the cardholder  101 . For example, the tracking window may begin four to eight weeks before the start date of the cardholder&#39;s visa and may end four to eight weeks after the end date of the cardholder&#39;s visa. 
     In an alternative embodiment the tracking server  104  may begin tracking the use of the payment card  105  when it receives an alert from the border agency  103  (shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) indicating that the cardholder  101  has entered the country  102 . 
     In another embodiment, the tracking server  104  is configured to continually track the usage of the payment card  105  and the tracking server  104  may not be provided with any of the cardholder&#39;s visa details as these details may not be required. 
     At step  304 , which occurs after the tracking window during which the transactions of payment card  105  are tracked has elapsed, the tracking server  104  may generate a status or immigration status data for the card holder  101 . Exemplary statuses include the following:
         “Entered and departed the country within the issued visa dates”   “Entered the country within issued visa dates, but departed the country post visa expiry date”   “Entered the country within issued visa dates, departed the country, but unsure when”   “Entered the country within issued visa dates, not departed the country until four to eight weeks past visa expiry date”   “Entered the country within issued visa dates, unsure if departed the country”   “Unsure if entered or departed the country within visa dates”       

     The above listed statuses are merely exemplary and are by no means an exhaustive list of suitable statuses which may be generated by the tracking server  104 . The status may be generated by an automated algorithm, at the tracking server  104 , which estimates the location of the cardholder  101  throughout the event window. 
     At step  305 , the generated status is sent by the tracking server  104  to the border agency  103 . The tracking server may pass on other details which have been stored by the tracking server  104  including cardholder name and passport number details. 
     Advantageously, the border agency  103  is provided with an indication of whether or not the cardholder  101  has complied with their visa restrictions. 
     At optional step  306 , the tracking server  104  stores the generated status and points are assigned to the cardholder  101  based on the status types accumulated by the cardholder  101 . Registered cardholders may then be able to view an online account and see how many points they have accumulated with each international visit. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram which depicts the steps that occur in a further method for tracking visa compliance of a cardholder  101 . 
     At step  401 , the cardholder  101  applies for a visa for country  102  and the application is accepted by the border agency  103  who may also conduct any other usual entry checks. 
     At step  402 , the cardholder  101  also provides the border agency  103  with the PAN of their payment card  105  or registers the PAN of their payment card  105  with the border agency  103 . This may be a mandatory step or a voluntary step. 
     At step  403 , the border agency  103  provides the tracking server  104  with one or more of the following bits of information: the cardholder&#39;s full name; passport number; passport issuing country; a 16 digit primary account number (PAN) of the payment card  105  if registered in step  402 ; and the cardholder&#39;s visa details (including one or more of visa number, start date and end date). These details are stored by the tracking server  104 , for example, on a database hosted by the tracking server  104 . 
     At step  404 , the tracking process, outlined in the above discussion of step  303  occurs. 
     At step  405 , after the tracking period is over, a status is generated for the cardholder  101  by the tracking server  104  based on estimated location of the cardholder  101  during the tracking window or period. The status could be one of the following exemplary values:
         “Departed the country within issued visa date”   “Departed the country post visa expiry date”   “Departed the country, but unsure when”   “Not departed the country until four to eight weeks past visa expiry date”   “Unsure if departed the country”       

     The above listed statuses are merely exemplary and are by no means an exhaustive list of suitable statuses which may be generated by the tracking server  104 . The status may be generated by an automated algorithm, at the tracking server  104 , which estimates the location of the cardholder  101  throughout the event window. 
     At step  406 , the status is passed on to the border agency  103  by the tracking server  104  along with the 16 digit PAN and/or visa details, if the 16 digit PAN and visa details were previously provided to the tracking server  104  by the border agency  103  at step  403 . The border agency  103  may combine the statuses with any information stored on their own databases to refine their list of possible visa overstays. 
     At step  407 , the same process ensues as occurred in step  306 , shown in  FIG. 3  and as described above. 
     At step  408 , the cardholder  101  is given a unique tracking ID, generated by, for example, the tracking server  104  or the border agency  103 , which can be used to view an account uniquely associated with the cardholder  101 , for example, by accessing it through the internet, which shows the points that they have accumulated with each international visit. For future visa applications and/or entry clearance, the cardholder  101  may be able to submit their tracking ID to the relevant border agency who could either expedite their visa application should the points reflect a number of favourable statuses attributed to the cardholder  101  or prompt further investigations prior to granting the cardholder  101  with a visa should the points reflect a number of unfavourable statuses attributed to the cardholder  101 . 
     Any border agency, like the example border agency  103  may be able to query a database of cardholder data hosted by, for example, the tracking server  104  using a cardholder unique tracking ID in order to obtain information relating to any registered cardholder  101  who provides them with such a unique tracking ID and any border agency, such as the example border agency  103 , may be able to use such a tracking ID to assist in granting or refusing visa applications. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram which depicts the steps which occur, at a tracking server  104 , in a further method for tracking visa compliance of a cardholder  101 . 
     This method may be performed at a processor, on a storage device or at a secure server hosted within a payment processing network. 
     At step  501 , the tracking server receives and stores (on, for example, a database hosted by the tracking server  104 ) payment card data associated with a payment card  105  belonging to the cardholder  101 . 
     The payment card data may be sent to the tracking server  104  by the border agency  103 . The payment card data may comprise the PAN of the payment card  105 . The border agency  103  may send an encrypted file containing the payment card data (e.g. the PAN) to the tracking server  104 . 
     The tracking server  104  may receive payment card data associated with multiple payment cards each belonging to a cardholder  101 . 
     At step  502 , the tracking server  104  receives and stores (on, for example, a database hosted by the tracking server  104 ) visa data associated with a country  102  and a cardholder  101 . 
     This data may be sent to the tracking server  104  by the border agency  103 . The border agency  103  may send an encrypted file containing the visa data to the tracking server  104 . 
     The tracking server  104  may receive visa data for multiple visas each associated with a country  102  and a cardholder  101 . 
     The payment card and visa data may be uploaded onto secure servers by the tracking server  104 . 
     At step  503 , the tracking server  104  identifies transaction data containing a date and a location of transactions performed using the payment card  105 . 
     The tracking server  104  may identify and obtain the transaction data by accessing a payment processing network over which the transactions are performed or by using any of the aforementioned mechanisms as detailed in the description of the other embodiments described herein. 
     At step  504 , the tracking server  104  creates immigration status data associated with the person, or a cardholder status, based on the visa data and the transaction data. 
     The visa data may comprise one or more of a visa number, a visa start date, and a visa end date. 
     The step  503  of identifying and obtaining transaction data may be carried out over a period of time or over a tracking window. For example, the period of time may be calculated based on the visa start date and/or the visa end date. In one embodiment, the period of time may begin 4 to 8 weeks before the visa start date and/or may end 4 to 8 weeks after the visa end date. 
     A predetermined period of time or ‘tracking window’ may be defined for each set of payment card data associated with a payment card  105  belonging to a cardholder  101  received by the tracking server  104  during which step  503  is carried out for each of received set of payment card data. 
     Step  503  may be carried out by running an algorithm on, for example, a weekly, daily or hourly basis for each set of payment card data whose tracking or event window is currently open and/or whose event window has passed. The algorithm may extract transaction data needed for analysis, perform analysis and generate a status for each set of payment card data and save the statuses in a secure table on secure servers, for example at the tracking server  104 . The table may be encrypted and sent back to border agency  103 . This method of identifying a transaction and obtaining data may also be used in any of the embodiments described herein. 
     Alternatively, the algorithm may interrogate a transaction database of a payment processing network and create a subset of transactions for the received set of payment card data by only considering transactions for the listed PANs and only looking at transactions which occurred in the associated event windows for each PAN. The algorithm may then analyse the extracted data sub-set and infer the location of the cardholder  101  at various points in the event window, and generate an individual status for each set of payment card data and save the statuses in a secure table on secure servers for example, at tracking server  104 . 
     The step  503  may be carried out multiple times, for example, whenever new transaction data is available. 
     The tracking server  104  may use the visa data to determine the period of time it will track a payment card  105  for. 
     The step  504  of creating immigration status data may occur after the tracking window has elapsed. As such, the status may be a final status which is attributed to the cardholder  101  and which is created a predetermined period of time after their visa has expired. This information may then be used by a border agency  103  to identify which cardholders  101  have outstayed their visas. 
     The immigration status data may indicate whether or not the cardholder  101  entered the country between the visa start date and the visa end date. 
     The immigration status data may indicate whether or not the cardholder  101  left the country between the visa start date and the visa end date. 
     The step  504  of creating immigration status data may occur on one or more occasions during the tracking window. As such, the status may be a current status which is attributed to the cardholder  101  and which can be updated throughout the period of time. The status may, for example, be updated by carrying out step  504  whenever the tracking server  104  identifies transaction data (step  503 ). 
     The tracking server  104  may receive and store the payment card data (step  501 ) and/or the visa data (step  502 ) after the aforementioned period of time has elapsed. 
     The tracking server  104  may identify transaction data containing a date and a location of transactions performed using the payment card  105  (step  503 ) after the aforementioned period of time has elapsed. For example, step  503  may occur after the aforementioned period of time, but before the tracking server  104  creates immigration status data. 
     Alternatively, step  503  may occur during the aforementioned period of time, for example, in real-time as the transaction data is created. 
     Although each of the above methods and processes is described with respect to the steps which occur when a single cardholder  101  makes use of the present system and the herein described variations thereof, it will be understood that the methods could equally be applied to the use of the present system and the herein described variations thereof by multiple cardholders  101  simultaneously. The above outlined methods and process can be applied to each cardholder  101  simultaneously. 
     The flow charts and descriptions thereof herein should not be understood to prescribe a fixed order of performing the method steps described therein. Rather, the method steps may be performed in any order that is practicable. Although the present invention has been described in connection with specific exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations apparent to those skilled in the art can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.