To determine the extent to which USCIS, DOS, and DOJ implemented the requirements of IMBRA, we reviewed the Act, its legislative history, relevant provisions of the INA, and related legislation, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 which contains provisions that may affect a petitioner’s ability to have beneficiaries immigrate. For purposes of this review, we summarized and grouped IMBRA’s requirements into seven key areas and identified the actions taken and the actions remaining in each of the key areas. To determine what actions had and had not been taken, we obtained and analyzed pertinent documentation, such as USCIS’s and DOS’s IMBRA implementation guidance for its adjudicators and consular officers, respectively. We also interviewed cognizant officials at USCIS headquarters and at its California and Vermont Service Centers—the two service centers responsible for processing petitions for alien fiancé(e)s; at DOS, and at DOJ. We interviewed three DOS Consular Affairs Unit Chiefs by telephone and received written responses to our questions from four other Unit Chiefs all of whom were responsible for processing immigrant visa applications, including fiancé(e) visas. These Unit Chiefs were at seven consular posts located in Bangkok, Thailand; Bogotá, Colombia; Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Guangzhou, China; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Manila, Philippines; and Moscow, Russia. We chose these posts because they issued about two- thirds of alien fiancé(e) visas in fiscal year 2007. While information we obtained at these locations may not be generalized across all consular posts, because we selected the posts based on the volume of activity, we believe the posts provided us with a general overview and perspective on the implementation of IMBRA at the selected posts. To determine whether USCIS and DOS have collected and maintained data for our report as required by IMBRA, we obtained and analyzed available data for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 on fiancé(e) petitions filed from USCIS’s application management system, and on visas issued to fiancé(e)s from DOS’s visa database. To determine the reliability of data in USCIS’s and DOS’s database, we observed how petitioner data are entered into USCIS’s data system, reviewed pertinent USCIS and DOS documents, and interviewed relevant USCIS and DOS officials. We determined that the data we used from USCIS and DOS databases were sufficiently reliable for purposes of this report. In addition, we interviewed cognizant officials at DHS/USCIS in headquarters, Washington, D.C.; at the California and Vermont Service Centers, and at DOS. We conducted this performance audit from October 2007 to August 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. USCIS is the agency responsible for reviewing and making decisions on whether to approve or deny immigration benefit applications, including petitions filed by U.S. citizens requesting to bring a noncitizen fiancé(e), spouse, minor child, or other noncitizen relative to live permanently in the United States in accordance with the INA. Only U.S. citizens can request or petition for noncitizen fiancé(e)s to immigrate to the United States. To do so, citizens must file a form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), with USCIS to enable their fiancé(e) to come to the United States as a K-1 nonimmigrant and then apply for permanent residence. U.S. citizens who have already married noncitizens living abroad may also file Form I-129F to enable their spouse to come to the United States on a K-3 nonimmigrant visa and then apply for permanent residency. The purpose of the form I- 129F is to establish the relationship of the petitioner to the beneficiary who wishes to immigrate to the United States. For K-1 fiancé(e) petitions, the petitioner must establish that the petitioner and fiancé(e) are free to marry and that they have previously met in person within 2 years of filing the petition. For K-3 spouse petitions, the petitioner must establish the bona fide marital relationship to the beneficiary. Two USCIS Service Centers, one in California and another in Vermont, process all I-129F petitions. As part of its I-129F petition review, USCIS obtains criminal history information for specified crimes from the petitioner and conducts background checks on both the beneficiary and petitioner. If the petitioner has ever been convicted of any of the specified crimes, the petitioner is to provide to USCIS certified copies of court and police records showing the charges and dispositions for every such conviction. USCIS conducts name-based background security checks—checks of a petitioner’s name and date of birth—-against the Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS). According to USCIS, IBIS queries include a check of five National Crime Information Center (NCIC) data files, which include the Convicted Sexual Offender Registry; the Foreign Fugitive; Immigration Violator; Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization; and Wanted Persons files. During a background security check, if an IBIS query returns a “hit” where the name and date of birth information entered returns a response from one or more of the databases and it appears the petitioner may have a criminal background, USCIS adjudicators forward this information to the Background Check Unit located within the Service Center. This unit conducts further system searches for verification of the criminal histories. After researching and summarizing the criminal information on the petitioner, if there is no national security or criminality issue requiring further investigation, unit staff notate their findings in a memorandum, which they send back to the adjudicator responsible for the file. While IMBRA requires USCIS to collect petitioner criminal history information, we reported in 2006 that USCIS does not have general authority to deny a family-based petition solely on grounds that the petitioner has a criminal sexual history. Since we issued our report, Congress enacted legislation limiting a petitioner’s ability to immigrate relatives, including fiancé(e)s. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 prohibits DHS from approving any family-based petition, including a fiancé(e) petition, for any petitioner convicted of a specified offense against a minor unless the DHS Secretary, in his sole and unreviewable discretion, determines that the petitioner poses no risk to the beneficiary. DOS is responsible for processing all approved visa petitions received from USCIS and for determining whether to issue a visa to beneficiaries who are overseas, such as fiancé(e)s and K-3 spouses. Consular officers are responsible for reviewing (but not re-adjudicating) approved petitions and supporting documentation, and determining whether the noncitizen beneficiary meets admissibility requirements and can be issued a nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States. As part of this review, consular officers interview beneficiaries and ask questions about how the beneficiary and petitioner met. Figure 1 shows the key steps in the I-129F petition filing and visa application process, including filing a petition with USCIS, conducting criminal background checks, USCIS adjudication, and visa applicant interview by DOS. IMBRA also requires IMBs to search the name of the U.S. client (potential petitioner) against the National Sex Offender Public Registry or relevant state sex offender public registries, and to collect background information from the U.S. client, including the client’s marital history and arrest and conviction information for specified crimes, and to provide this information to the foreign client (potential beneficiary). IMBs may not release the foreign client’s personal contact information to the U.S. client until the required disclosures have been made and the foreign client provides signed, written consent authorizing the IMB to release personal contact information to the U.S. client. IMBs are also prohibited from engaging in certain activities such as (1) providing personal contact information of a foreign client to anyone other than the U.S. client and (2) providing anyone with personal contact information or other information about individuals under the age of 18. IMBRA establishes federal criminal and civil penalties for IMBs that violate these provisions. IMBRA-related criminal cases are to be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s offices, possibly in coordination with the Civil Rights Division or the Child Exploitation and Obscenity section of the Criminal Division depending on the circumstances of the case. With respect to IMBRA-related civil cases, the Attorney General has statutory responsibility for imposing civil penalties after notice and the opportunity for an agency hearing. Within DOJ, its Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is responsible for interpreting and administering federal immigration laws and rendering adjudicatory decisions on specific immigration cases. Within EOIR, the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer is responsible for hearing civil cases related to administrative fines that may be imposed under the INA. For a summary of selected IMBRA requirements for USCIS, DOS, DOJ, and IMBs see, Appendix I. USCIS, DOS, and DOJ have implemented some, but not all of the IMBRA requirements that are designed to inform visa applicants about the persons petitioning for them to immigrate to the United States. For example, USCIS is collecting criminal background information from petitioners and forwarding this information to DOS. DOS is in turn disclosing this information to beneficiaries when it interviews beneficiaries during the visa process.