9 FAM 601.2
Resources for Visa Units
(CT:VISA-1; 11-18-2015)
(Office of Origin: CA/VO/L/R)
9 FAM 601.2-1 Funding for visa
units
(CT:VISA-1; 11-18-2015)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-420
for more information on funding for visa units.
(1) See 7 FAH-1 H-422
for more information on Funds appropriated by Congress and approved for use in
the State Department budget
(2) See 7 FAH-1 H-423
for more information on fees collected for services that Congress permits the
Department to retain and apply directly to its operations
b. See additional information on the budget cycle in 7 FAH-1 H-424,
and details on the roles of the Consular Package, MSP and Mission Financial
Plans in the budget process in 7 FAH-1 H-432,
7 FAH-1 H-433
and 7 FAH-1
H-434 respectively. See also 7 FAH-1 H-435
on consular fee funding requests.
9 FAM 601.2-2 human resources in
visa units
(CT:VISA-1; 11-18-2015)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-311
for Human Resources in Visa Units.
b. See 7 FAH-1 H-330
for additional information on consular officers (including Foreign Service
Officers, officers on excursion tours, WAEs, and other TDY personnel) and 7 FAH-1 H-340
for additional information on overseas employees (including Locally Employed staff,
employment of family members and members of household, and consular agents). (See
9 FAM 601.4
for supervision of visa operations.)
9 FAM 601.2-3 Equipment and
supplies for visa units
(CT:VISA-1; 11-18-2015)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-464
for additional information on requisitioning procedures, 7 FAH-1 H-465
on safeguarding and emergency destruction of controlled equipment and supplies,
and 7 FAH-1
H-463 on general equipment maintenance. The use of standard forms and
records is addressed in 7 FAH-1 H-466.
b. Care of Visa Printers and Quality
Assurance Scanners:
(1) Printer Maintenance: Regular
care and the cleaning and maintenance of the Machine Readable Visa (MRV)
printers are crucial to their proper functioning, particularly keeping the
paper path, trays, and printer area workspace clean of adhesive, dust, and
debris. You should perform such cleaning on a daily basis if your post issues
more than 30 visas per day. Weekly cleaning is adequate for posts with a lower
volume of issuances. Proper cleaning of the printers, including the feed
rollers and internal paper path, is the responsibility of each individual post,
either through in-house servicing or post-funded outside servicing.
(2) Quality Assurance Readers:
The QA reader (scanner) is a delicate and expensive part of the MRV
equipment. CA/VO urges posts to follow carefully all cleaning and maintenance
instructions furnished with the reader.
c. Care and Storage of MRV Foils:
(1) Storage of MRV Foils: The
Accountable Consular Officer (ACO) at post should inspect new MRV foils for
defects immediately upon their receipt. You should store foils in a secured
area with normal temperature and humidity. You should refer problems regarding
the foils promptly to the General Services Division (CA/EX/GSD). (See 7 FAH-1 H-650,
Standard Operating Procedures for Safeguarding and Accounting for Controlled
Consular Items.)
(2) Defective Lincoln Foils:
In the event you identify a defective Lincoln foil, and assuming that the visa
recipient did not precipitate the problem, you should issue a replacement MRV
with no new application fee or interview required. The original expiration
date of the defective visa should be displayed on the newly issued MRV, as this
is simply a replacement of a defective product. The ACO must maintain
accountability for replacement visa foils at the end of day Accountable Items
(AI) module.
(3) Destroying Machine Readable Visa
(MRV) Foils:
(a) You should destroy at post spoiled or invalid MRV
foils, maintaining proper accountability in the Accountable Items (AI) module
of the NIV system. The ACO must supervise personally the destruction of
controlled consular items, including NIV foils, and must document that
destruction in AI. Another consular officer must certify witnessing the
destruction of accountable items in AI. You can find further information about
the proper handling of accountable items in Chapter 600 of the Consular
Management handbook (7 FAH-1). You may destroy accountable items through
shredding, burning, or whatever means post uses for the destruction of
classified material.
(b) If post facilities do not permit proper destruction,
you should return foils via classified pouch to the Department. You should
clearly mark the box(es) BULK MATERIAL TO BE DESTROYED. Each defective foil
should be placed back on its carrier sheet if possible. Foils must not be
piled on top of each other on the carrier sheet, because this inhibits the destruction
process of the foils. Send foils for destruction to:
Department of State
Consular Supply Facility (CA/EX/GSD/CSF)
SA-21
Washington, DC 20520-2101
(c) You should notify CA/EX/GSD in advance by sending an
e-mail to Consular Affairs (CA) Consular Supplies advising it of the
forthcoming shipment of foils to be destroyed, as well as the serial number for
each that is being returned. The text of the email should also include the
pouch registry number(s) and number of box(es) being shipped.
d. Visa Systems: See 9 FAM 604.1
for information on visa-related systems and post actions during system
failures.
9 fam 601.2-4 consular space for
visa operations
(CT:VISA-1; 11-18-2015)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-282
on evaluating consular section space and 7 FAH-1 H-283
on reconfiguring space and layout.
b. See 7 FAH-1 H-285
on renovation, expansion and moves.
c. See 7 FAH-1 H-284
and 7 FAH-1
H-644 on security and public access controls.
d. See 7 FAH-1 H-286
on maintenance of consular sections.
e. See 7 FAH-1 H-644
for additional details on security and access controls in consular sections.