Border Security: State Department Expects to Meet Projected Surge in Demand for Visas and Passports in Mexico
Published: 2008-06-25T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The U.S. Mission in Mexico is the Department of State's largest consular operation. In fiscal year 2007, it processed 1.5 million of the 8 million nonimmigrant visas (NIV) State handled worldwide. The U.S. Mission in Mexico also provided services, including passport processing and emergency assistance, to 20,000 American citizens in fiscal year 2007. This already significant consular workload is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years as millions of NIV Border Crossing Cards issued in Mexico between fiscal years 1998 and 2002 expire and need to be renewed. In addition, the implementation of new travel requirements under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will, for the first time, require U.S. citizens to carry passports, or other approved documentation, when traveling between the United States and Mexico. This testimony addresses (1) State's estimates of the workload for consulates in Mexico through 2012 resulting from, in particular, new travel requirements and the reissue of Border Crossing Cards; and (2) the actions State has taken to ensure consulates in Mexico keep pace with projected workload increases through 2012. This testimony is based on work currently in process that involves analyzing State's workload forecasts and forecast methodology, interviewing State officials, and visiting five posts in Mexico. GAO discussed this testimony with State officials, who agreed with GAO's findings.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: According to State forecasts, as of April 2008, the U.S. Mission in Mexico's (Mission Mexico) NIV demand will peak at slightly over 3 million applications in fiscal year 2011, about twice the number from fiscal year 2007. State acknowledges there are uncertainties regarding the number of Border Crossing Card holders who will renew their cards and the number of first time NIV applicants, which may affect the accuracy of its forecasts. State will be revising the forecasts on a periodic basis as new data become available. In addition to its increase in NIV workload, Mission Mexico will also be facing increases in its passport workload due to the implementation of WHTI. The exact magnitude of the increase in passport workload is more difficult to forecast than for NIVs, because there is not the same historical precedent. There is also a great deal of uncertainty as to how many U.S. citizens actually live in Mexico or the number of these citizens likely to apply for a passport. In anticipation of this surge in demand for NIVs and U.S. passports, State is taking steps to ensure consulates in Mexico keep pace, including adding consular interview windows to several high-demand posts and planning to hire about 100 temporary adjudicating officers. Consular officials GAO met with at several posts in Mexico generally agreed that these efforts to expand resources should be adequate for Mission Mexico to keep pace with expected workload increases, and GAO's analysis indicates the mission will generally have enough interviewing windows during the surge. Several posts will rely on the addition of temporary adjudicators to keep pace with increased NIV demand and would face backlogs if these slots cannot be filled or if the temporary staff are not as productive as expected. However, State is confident that it has an adequate pool of potential applicants. Mission Mexico may also gain additional capacity from a pilot program, currently under way at two posts, that outsources a portion of the NIV application process to off-site facilities; however, the pilot was implemented too recently to assess its potential impact on productivity, fraud, or security.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to be here to discuss GAO’s work on the Department of  State’s (State) efforts to prepare for the upcoming surge in its consular  workload in Mexico.
Legitimate travel between Mexico and the United States contributes to  bilateral trade of over $1 billion per day, according to State. The U.S.  Mission in Mexico (Mission Mexico) is State’s largest consular operation in  the world; in fiscal year 2007, it processed 1.5 million of the 8 million  nonimmigrant visas (NIV) State handled worldwide. Moreover, its post in  Ciudad Juarez was the largest issuer of U.S. immigrant visas in the world.  The U.S. Mission in Mexico also provided services, including passport  processing and emergency assistance, to around 20,000 American citizens  in fiscal year 2007. This already significant consular workload is expected  to increase dramatically in the coming years as millions of NIV Border  Crossing Cards issued in Mexico between fiscal years 1998 and 2002  expire and need to be renewed. In addition, the implementation of new  travel requirements under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative  (WHTI) will, for the first time, require U.S. citizens to carry passports, or  other approved documentation, when traveling between the United States  and Mexico. State must expand its consular capacity in Mexico to keep  pace with this expected surge in demand for millions of visas and  thousands of U.S. passports over the next several years. If State does not  take the steps necessary to adequately meet this growth in workload,  travel between the two countries could be significantly affected, resulting  in inconveniences and hardships for individual travelers and negative  consequences for the economies of both countries.
Today, I will discuss (1) State’s estimates of the workload for consulates in  Mexico through 2012 resulting from, in particular, new travel requirements  and the reissue of Border Crossing Cards; and (2) the actions State has  taken to ensure that consulates in Mexico keep pace with projected  workload increases through 2012.
My statement today is based upon GAO’s ongoing work, scheduled to be  completed at the end of July 2008, on State’s efforts to prepare for the  upcoming surge in its consular workload in Mexico. In our work to date,  we analyzed data provided by State on current and forecasted passport  and nonimmigrant visa workload for all 10 posts in Mexico. We analyzed  the reliability of State passport and NIV workload data and found them  suitably reliable for our purposes. As part of our review of the data, we  also assessed State’s forecasting methodologies based upon available  information. We also analyzed State’s estimates of the staffing and facility  resources needed to meet the anticipated workload increases in Mexico.  In addition, we performed work at five consulates in Mexico—Mexico  City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Ciudad Juarez, and Tijuana—observing visa  and passport processing at each post and meeting with consular  management and representatives from the Nonimmigrant Visa and  American Citizen Services units. We also conducted a series of interviews  with State officials in Washington, D.C. Lastly, we reviewed a range of  State and Mission Mexico documentation, including Mission Performance  Plans, consular packages, rightsizing reports, policy guidance documents,  and various cables and memos.
We conducted this performance audit from November 2007 to June 2008 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those  standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient,  appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and  conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence  obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions  based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Foreign nationals who wish to visit the United States, including business  travelers and tourists, must generally obtain a nonimmigrant visa. The  majority of travelers visiting the United States from Mexico receive an NIV  Border Crossing Card, which is valid for 10 years. In order to obtain a  Border Crossing Card, applicants must generally: (1) schedule an  appointment for a visa interview at a U.S. consulate, (2) fill out an  application and pay applicable fees, (3) have their photos taken and  fingerprints collected at a U.S. consulate, (4) have their information  checked in the Consular Lookout and Support System—State’s name- check database that consulates use to access critical information for visa  adjudication, and (5) have an interview with a consular officer, who is  responsible for making the adjudication decision.
In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant  Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), which required that every Border Crossing  Card issued after April 1, 1998, contain a biometric identifier, such as a  fingerprint, and be machine readable. The law also mandated that all  Border Crossing Cards issued before April 1, 1998, would expire on  October 1, 1999, regardless of when their validity period ended. This  deadline was extended by Congress two times, first to September 30, 2001,  and then to September 30, 2002. The passage of IIRIRA created a  significant surge in Mission Mexico’s NIV workload, as Border Crossing  Card holders sought to obtain the new visas before the congressionally  mandated expiration date. This culminated in a historic high in NIV  workload in fiscal year 2001, when the mission processed 2,869,000 NIV  applications.
We have previously reported on challenges State faced in managing its NIV  workload. Among other things, we found that NIV applicants have often  had to wait for extended periods of time to receive appointments for  interviews. Believing that wait times for NIV interviews were excessive, in  February 2007, State announced a worldwide goal of interviewing NIV  applicants within 30 days. In the year before the 30-day goal was  announced, the average wait time across the consulates in Mexico had  been as high as 73 days; by the time of the announcement of the 30-day  goal, however, Mission Mexico had already successfully reduced the  average wait time to less than 30 days at all but one of its posts. Since  February 2007, the mission has successfully kept the average wait time  among the consulates at less than 30 days.
subsections: section_title: The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
paragraphs: In response to recommendations in the 9/11 Commission report, the  Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, as amended,  required that the Secretary of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the  Secretary of State, develop and implement a plan that requires United  States citizens to provide a passport, other document, or combination of  documents that the Secretary of Homeland Security deems sufficient to  show identity and citizenship when entering the United States from certain  countries, including Mexico. This will represent a significant change for  many U.S. citizens living in Mexico, who have until recently been able to  routinely cross between the United States and Mexico with more limited  documentation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and State  are implementing these requirements through WHTI. DHS implemented  WHTI at all air ports of entry into the United States on January 23, 2007,  and plans to implement the requirements at land and sea ports of entry  beginning in June 2009, assuming that DHS and State can certify 3 months  in advance that certain criteria have been met, as required under the law.
section_title: State Anticipates Significant Increases in Mission Mexico’s Nonimmigrant Visa and Passport Workload from Fiscal Years 2007 to 2011
paragraphs: Ten years after the first surge in demand for Border Crossing Cards began  in fiscal year 1998, State anticipates another surge in NIV demand in  Mexico as these cards begin to expire and millions of card holders apply  for renewals at U.S. consulates. In addition to this cyclical surge in  demand caused by the expiring Border Crossing Cards, State officials  anticipate that Mission Mexico will continue to experience steady growth  in demand from first-time visa applicants. To assist in preparing for these  increases, State has developed forecasts of the expected future NIV  workload in Mexico. The NIV projections and forecasting methodology  discussed in this report are based upon data State provided to us in  February and April 2008. On June 18, State informed us that it has  developed revised NIV forecasts for Mission Mexico based upon an  alternative methodology. We have not yet had time to analyze these NIV  forecasts or incorporate them into this testimony, but we may include a  discussion of them in our final report, which is scheduled to be completed  at the end of July 2008.
State’s forecasts, as of April 2008, anticipate that the upcoming surge in  NIV demand will follow a pattern similar to the previous Border Crossing  Card surge from fiscal years 1998 to 2002, as shown in figure 1. According  to the forecasts, the surge will begin in fiscal year 2008, with missionwide  NIV demand peaking at a little more than 3 million applications in fiscal  year 2011—a 103 percent increase in demand from fiscal year 2007. The  forecasts show the surge beginning to abate in fiscal year 2012.
In addition to the missionwide forecast, State has developed demand  forecasts for individual consulates. As shown in figure 2, State’s forecasts  anticipate that Mexico City will have the highest levels of demand, with  applications growing to over 580,000 in fiscal year 2010. While Mexico City  is projected to have the highest overall demand, State anticipates that the  steepest increases in demand will occur at border posts. This follows a  pattern similar to the previous Border Crossing Card surge, where the  border consulates assumed a greater share of the total mission workload  during the surge, with this share then diminishing again at the surge’s end.
Estimating future NIV demand is inherently uncertain, and State  acknowledges that several factors could affect the accuracy of its April  2008 NIV demand forecasts. First, the forecasts are based heavily upon  Change Navigators’ 2005 Consular Affairs Futures Study (CAFS), which  generated NIV demand forecasts for various high-volume and high-growth  missions around the globe, including Mexico. Thus, the extent to which  the underlying CAFS numbers prove to be accurate affects State’s revised  forecasts. While the CAFS includes a general analysis of how various  demographic, economic, and political factors impact NIV demand across  countries, it does not explain how it arrived at its specific forecasts for  Mexico. Based upon our review of the forecasts, it appears that the CAFS  authors relied primarily upon historical workload data from the previous  Border Crossing Card surge, but we could not assess how, if at all, other  considerations were factored into the forecasts. Second, methodological  issues associated with State’s April 2008 NIV forecasts may affect their  accuracy in projecting demand. For example, State relied heavily on actual  demand data from fiscal year 2007 to revise the CAFS forecasts, in order to  try to better account for growth in demand from first-time visa applicants.  In doing so, State assumed demand for fiscal year 2007 was representative  of the underlying long-term growth in NIV demand. However, this is not  necessarily the case, as State officials acknowledge demand may have  been artificially high in fiscal year 2007 as posts worked off backlogs that  had accumulated from previous years. State officials also noted that they  chose to be conservative and assume all Border Crossing Card holders  would renew their cards when they expire. However, this is not likely to  happen, as a portion of Border Crossing Card holders have had their cards  lost or stolen and already had them replaced, while others have either  legally or illegally immigrated to the United States and will not be  returning to renew their cards. Consequently, the forecasts could prove to  be higher than actual demand depending on the share of Border Crossing  Card holders who do not seek a renewal at the expiration of their card.
State’s approach to forecasting NIV workload, based on historical  precedent and underlying growth in demand, and other factors, provide a  reasonable basis for addressing the anticipated surge in NIV demand. State  has detailed data on the number of Border Crossing Cards issued during  the previous surge and when they are expiring, which gives it a strong  basis for its projections. Further, even if the NIV forecasts do not prove  completely accurate, State officials do not expect significant risks for  several reasons. First, State officials believe that the forecasts are  conservative, with NIV demand likely to be lower than forecasted. Second,  State intends to avoid relying on the exact numbers in the forecasts and is  instead using them as a rough guide in developing plans to meet the  upcoming surge in NIV workload. Third, State officials believe they have  developed these plans with sufficient flexibility to be able to respond as  needed if actual workload deviates from the forecasts. Finally, State plans  to continually track demand at the consulates as the NIV surge unfolds and  will revise these forecasts periodically.
subsections: section_title: Passport Workload
paragraphs: In addition to the surge in NIV workload, Mission Mexico will also  experience a surge in its passport workload as a result of the  implementation of WHTI at air ports of entry in January 2007 and its  subsequent, intended implementation at land ports in June 2009.  According to State officials, the mission has already seen a significant  increase in its passport workload as U.S. citizens living in Mexico have  begun to apply for passports in response to the new documentary  requirements. Mission Mexico’s passport and CRBA workload, which State  tracks together because both types of applications are handled by  consular officers in posts’ American Citizen Services units, grew to 34,496  applications in fiscal year 2007, a 77 percent increase from fiscal year 2006.  Despite the expected increases, passport workload will continue to be  only a fraction of Mission Mexico’s workload, relative to NIV applications.
While State expects passport workload in Mexico to continue to increase  significantly in the coming years, it is difficult to predict precisely what the  magnitude of this increase will be. Unlike with the NIV surge, there is not a  clear historical precedent to the WHTI surge. Additionally, there is a great  deal of uncertainty regarding the number of U.S. citizens living in Mexico  and the number of these citizens who are potential passport applicants.  Therefore, efforts to forecast increases in passport workload due to WHTI  are extremely challenging. Nonetheless, State has developed rough  estimates of Mission Mexico’s passport and CRBA workload with the  implementation of WHTI. These estimates are based on the input of  experienced consular officers because the lack of data on U.S. citizens  living in Mexico made any type of statistical analysis problematic. Based  upon State’s estimates, Mission Mexico’s WHTI workload is projected to  peak at 73,000 passport and CRBA applications in fiscal year 2009 with the  implementation of WHTI at land ports of entry. State anticipates that  passport and CRBA workload will continue at that peak rate in fiscal year  2010 and then begin to decline. In its estimates, State predicts that from  fiscal years 2007 to 2009, workload will increase by around 177 percent for  Mission Mexico.
To this point, State has not revised its WHTI estimates based on workload  in fiscal year 2007, or year to date in the current fiscal year, even though  the workload estimates were low in fiscal year 2007. State says it has not  needed to revise its estimates at this point, because posts have been able  to keep up with workload increases without the need for additional  resources. In addition, rather than focusing on developing precise  workload estimates in order to prepare for the surge, State has instead  chosen to pursue strategies designed to provide it with the flexibility to  respond to increases in workload as they occur—particularly as a more  limited number of resources will be needed to cover increases in passport  and CRBA applications than NIV applications, given their small share of  Mission Mexico’s overall consular workload.
section_title: State Is Adding Interviewing Windows and Temporary Adjudicators to Posts in Mexico to Keep Pace with Projected Workload Increases
paragraphs: To keep pace with the expected NIV renewal surge, State is increasing the  total number of hardened interview windows in the consulates’ NIV  sections by over 50 percent before the demand peaks in 2011. State added  windows to the consulate in Hermosillo in fiscal year 2007 and will soon  be adding windows to the consulates in Monterrey and Mexico City. In  addition, new consulate compounds in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana will  result in additional windows for adjudicating NIV applications. The new  facility in Ciudad Juarez is set to open in September 2008, and  construction on the new building in Tijuana began this past April. Once  completed, these projects will provide Mission Mexico with the window  capacity to interview about 1 million additional NIV applicants per year.  Table 1 compares the number of interview windows available in fiscal year  2007 to the number that will be available by fiscal year 2011, when NIV  demand peaks.
Consulate officials at the posts we visited generally expressed confidence  that they will have sufficient window capacity to keep pace with the  expected NIV demand and avoid excessive wait times for interviews  beyond State’s standard of 30 days. As shown in figure 3, our analysis of  expected window capacity also indicates that Mission Mexico generally  appears to have enough window capacity to keep pace with projected  demand, based on the April 2008 projections. However, State officials  acknowledge that two posts, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros, will not have  adequate window capacity during the NIV surge. Consequently, NIV  applicants may face longer wait times for an interview appointment at  these posts. State officials noted that individuals who would typically  apply at one of these two posts will have the option to schedule  appointments at the relatively nearby consulate in Monterrey, which is  expected to have excess window capacity during the surge in demand. At  other posts, the potential shortfall in window capacity, reflected in figure  3, appears to be small enough that it can likely be managed by extending  hours that windows are open, if necessary. Although Guadalajara also  appears to have a significant shortfall, consular officials there believe the  post should be able to absorb the increased workload with the number of  windows available as long as they have enough staff to work the windows  in shifts to keep them open all day, if necessary.
subsections: section_title: State Plans to Hire Temporary Adjudicators
paragraphs: In addition to the increase in hardened windows, Mission Mexico requires  a significant increase in adjudicators over the next few years. Based on  NIV and passport workload projections, provided in April 2008, State  estimates it will need 217 adjudicators throughout Mission Mexico in fiscal  year 2011, which is the expected peak year of the surge in NIV demand.  This number is an increase of 96 adjudicators, or about 80 percent, over  the number of adjudicator positions in place in fiscal year 2007. State may  revise its staffing plans as it generates updated forecasts.
State plans to meet its staffing needs during the expected workload surge  primarily by hiring a temporary workforce of consular adjudicators that  can be assigned to posts throughout Mission Mexico, depending on each  post’s workload demands. Figure 4 shows the number of temporary  adjudicators and career adjudicators planned for Mission Mexico in fiscal  year 2011. State officials noted that relying on a temporary workforce  allows Mission Mexico to avoid having excess staff after the workload  surge and reduces costs per staff compared to permanent hires. State has  budgeted for about 100 temporary adjudicators to be in place during the  surge in workload demand, although State officials noted that these  budgeted funds could be reprogrammed if fewer than expected  adjudicators are needed. State has already posted the job announcement  on its Web site and expected to begin placing these additional temporary  adjudicators at posts in fiscal year 2009. State officials noted that they will  try to fill slots gradually to help posts absorb the additional staff.
The temporary hires will be commissioned as consular officers with 1- year, noncareer appointments that can be renewed annually for up to 5  years. They will also receive the same 6-week Basic Consular Course at  the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia, as permanent Foreign  Service officers. These individuals must be U.S. citizens, obtain a security  clearance, and be functionally fluent in Spanish. Housing in Mexico for the  temporary adjudicators will be arranged for by the State Bureau of  Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C., through contract services, which  will provide greater flexibility to move adjudicators from one post to  another, if necessary.
As figure 4 indicates, posts in Monterrey, Mexico City, Ciudad Juarez, and  Tijuana are expected to be the heaviest users of temporary adjudicators.  Consequently, these posts would be at greatest risk of increased NIV  backlogs if temporary adjudicator slots cannot be filled as needed or if  their productivity is not as high as anticipated. However, State officials  believe they have an adequate pool of potential candidates from among  returning Peace Corps volunteers, graduates of the National Security  Education Program, eligible family members, and retired Foreign  Service officers. These officials noted that they recently began reaching  out to targeted groups of potential applicants and have already received  strong interest. Furthermore, officials from the posts we visited were  confident that State’s plan to provide them with additional consular  officers would enable them to keep pace with workload demand. Post  officials anticipate the same level of productivity and supervision  requirements as they would expect from new career Foreign Service  officers. The officials noted that new consular adjudicators typically take  about 2 months of working the NIV interview windows to reach the  productivity levels of more experienced adjudicators.
section_title: New Processing Practices May Help Mission Keep Pace with NIV Demand
paragraphs: State began a pilot program in the spring of 2008 at two posts, Monterrey  and Nuevo Laredo, to outsource part of the NIV application process,  including biometric data collection, to an off-site facility. The pilot is part  of an effort by State to establish a new service delivery model for  processing visas worldwide in response to long-term growth in demand for  visas. State envisions expanding this model throughout Mexico and other  high-demand posts worldwide through a formal request for proposal  process. State also envisions the possibility of providing off-site data  collection facilities serving NIV applicants in cities that do not have  consulates. In Monterrey, the pilot made space available in the consulate  facility to add much needed NIV interview windows.
The pilot is implemented by a contractor that handles functions that do  not require the direct involvement of a consular officer, including scanning  of applicants’ fingerprints and passports, live-capture digital photograph,  and visa passback. Consular officers at these two posts focus on their  “core mission” of making adjudication decisions after the contractor has  electronically transferred the applicants’ application and biometric data.  The cost of outsourcing these functions is covered through an additional  fee of $26 paid by the applicants. Consulate officials at the posts involved  in the pilot are responsible for monitoring the performance of the  contractor through the use of surveillance cameras, random visits to the  off-site facility, and validation reviews of NIV applications to check for  incidence of fraud or incorrect information. According to State officials,  the contractor does not have the ability to alter any of the data it collects,  and a U.S. citizen with a security clearance is on site to manage the  facility. Consular officials in Monterrey stressed the importance of  monitoring contractor employees to help ensure they do not coach  applicants.
State officials stated that the department intends to assess the pilot to  ensure that the technological challenges of remote biometric data  collection and data transfer have been overcome. They will also assess  whether the new software involved presents the data to consular officers  in a user-friendly format to facilitate the adjudication. In addition, State  will monitor adjudication rates at the participating posts. State has neither  established specific milestones for completing the pilot nor provided us  with any metrics that would be part of an assessment of the potential  impact on productivity, fraud, or security.
In another step to help posts keep pace with NIV demand, Mission Mexico  has also begun to waive interviews of NIV renewal applicants allowable  under certain circumstances established by federal law and State  regulations. State recently provided guidance to posts worldwide on  waiving interviews for certain applicants, following the transition to the  collection of 10 fingerprints and technology allowing reuse of fingerprints.  The policy only applies to applicants seeking to renew their biometric  NIVs within 12 months of expiration. Consular officers retain the  discretion to require any applicant to appear for an interview, and no  applicant may have an interview waived unless they clear all computer- based security screening. According to State guidance, consular officers  will also have the discretion to waive interviews of applicants as part of  the off-site data collection model being piloted in Monterrey and Nuevo  Laredo, when prints collected off site match with the applicant’s  fingerprints already in the system. According to State officials, this will be  possible beginning in 2009, when Border Crossing Cards issued after 1999  containing biometric data start to expire.
The Monterrey and Ciudad Juarez posts have already begun to waive  interviews of applicants renewing NIVs and found significant productivity  gains. As a result, officers there were able to adjudicate cases more  rapidly and better utilize window capacity, according to consular officials.  These posts also found no significant difference in denial rates for NIV  renewal applicants who were interviewed compared to those whose  interviews were waived, although post and Bureau of Consular Affairs  officials noted it was necessary to continue monitoring the effect of  waiving interviews. These officials also highlighted the need to adjust  consular training to be consistent with State’s current guidance on waiving  interviews under certain circumstances.
section_title: Efforts to Meet Increased Passport Demand
paragraphs: Posts in Mexico will also be increasing resources for adjudicating  additional passport applications, which are expected to peak in fiscal year  2009. Although the volume of passport applications is much smaller than  NIV applications, adjudicating passport applications for American citizens  takes precedence over NIV applications. Consular officials at posts we  visited noted that because of the uncertainty over future passport demand,  they will depend on their flexibility to shift adjudicators from NIV work to  passport work, as needed. In addition, consular officials stated they will  have the option of using NIV interview windows to adjudicate passports  applications—possibly during off hours, if necessary.
In addition, posts are seeking ways to become more efficient in how they  process the increasing volume of passports. For example, many posts have  recently implemented an appointment system to better manage the flow of  passport applicants and have also improved their Web sites to help  provide better assistance to applicants, many of whom do not speak  English and are applying for passports for the first time. State is also  upgrading its software used for passport processing in overseas posts to  enable posts to scan passport applications, which they expect will reduce  staff resources needed for data entry. Some posts are also considering  increased use of consular agents in other locations, such as Puerto Vallarta  or Cabo San Lucas, to accept passport applications to help relieve some of  the workload for consular staff. In addition, some posts have suggested  exploring possibilities for processing passport renewals by mail, which  would also help relieve overcrowding.
section_title: Concluding Remarks
paragraphs: In anticipation of the expected surge in demand for NIVs and U.S.  passports in Mexico over the next several years, State has taken several  steps to project workloads and expand the capacity of its consulates to  avoid the type of backlogs that have occurred in Mission Mexico in the  past. State’s efforts to increase the number of hardened interview  windows at several of its consulates and hire additional temporary  consular officers represent a substantial increase in resources needed to  keep pace with the projected surge in NIV and passport workload. As State  continues to revise its estimates of future workload, it may need to adjust  its plans for increasing these resources to reflect the latest assumptions  about future demand for passports and NIVs. The success of the efforts to  prepare for the surges in passport and NIV workload is likely to depend on  State’s ability to fill the roughly 100 slots it has budgeted for temporary  adjudicators in time to meet the surge in workload. Several posts in  Mexico will rely heavily on these additional staff to keep pace with  expected demand for NIVs and avoid excessive wait times for interviews  of applicants. However, State officials have expressed confidence that  they will be able to fill these positions with qualified candidates. In  addition, Mission Mexico may reap productivity gains from a pilot program  to outsource part of the NIV application process at off-site facilities and  from State’s policy to waive interviews for some renewal applicants;  however, these efforts are in their early stages and are not yet widely  implemented. Consequently, it would be premature to assess the potential  effects of these efforts. We discussed this testimony with State officials,  who agreed with our findings.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to  answer any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may  have at this time.
section_title: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: For further information regarding this testimony, please contact Jess T.  Ford at (202) 512-4128 or fordj@gao.gov. Juan Gobel, Assistant Director;  Ashley Alley; Joe Carney; Howard Cott; David Dornisch; Michael Hoffman;  and Ryan Vaughan made key contributions to this statement.
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