200320216

XR 200319446

United States Department of State

Washington, D.C. 20520

August 8, 2003

SECRET
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED When Separated from Classified
Attachments

MEMORANDUM FOR MR. TOM ELDRIDGE

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES

SUBJECT: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the

United States request for Documents (Request for
Documents Request No. 4)

This is in response to the National Commission on Terrorist

Attacks Upon the United States' request for Department of State
documents.

Attached is the first installment of documents in response

to the Commission's fourth request for documents, specifically
question number three. This installment consists of classified
and unclassified State Department consular handbooks and other
reference materials. Additional installments will be provided as
we complete our search and review of material.

Under Executive Order 12958, the Department of State may

not disseminate classified information outside the Executive
Branch except under conditions that ensure that the information
will be given protection equivalent to that afforded to such
information within the Executive Branch. We ask that only
appropriate cleared members of your staff be granted access to
the material and that it be protected by applying standards at
least as stringent as E.O. 12958 on the handling of classified
information.

Although some material is not classified, the designation

as "Sensitive But Unclassified" requires special handling.
Therefore we request that all of these documents be protected
from unauthorized disclosure.

SECRET
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED When Separated from Classified
Attachments
 SECRET
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED When Separated from Classified
Attachments

-2-

We hope this information is useful to you. As always,

please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further
questions.

Karl Hofmann
Executive Secretary

Attachments:
1. Documents Responsive to Document Request Number 4,
Question Three:
a. Best Practices Handbook
b. Consular Management Handbook
c. Appendix A (Classified) to the Visa FAM
d. Standard Operating Procedures
e. INS Forms - Not applicable

2. Incoming Request

SECRET
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED When Separated from Classified
Attachments
 9/11 Commission Document Request No. 4

3. State Department Consular Reference Materials.

e. INS Forms. Guidance to posts concerning how to make
use in the visa process of INS routine reports on
aliens who have changed status or have been found to
be inadmissible aliens at ports of entry, from 1998
through 2003.

CA has no documents that are responsive to this request.

 DOS DOCUMENT REQUEST NO. 4
Thomas H. Kean The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the
CHAIR

"Commission") requests that the U.S. Department of State (DOS or the

Lee H. Hamilton
VICE C H A I R "respondent") provide the Commission with copies of the following documents no
Richard Ben-Veniste later than August 8, 2003 (the "production date"):
Max Cleland 1. State OIG Investigations.
Fred F. Fielding a. Documents created and collected pursuant to the State OIG
investigation of the issuance of visas to the nineteen September 11 hijackers
Jamie S. Gorelick
in response to a request from Rep. Frank Wolf (OIG Review ofNIV
Slade Gorton Issuance Policy and Procedures Memorandum, ISP-I-03-26, December
2002, and Review of the Issuance of Visas, ISP-CA-03-27, March 2003),
John Lehman
including: interview notes and reports; documents collected at posts and at
Timothy J. Roemcr the State Department facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area on
visa policies and procedures; the list of questions asked of the consular
James R. Thompson
officers; and congressional correspondence relating to the report.
Philip D. Zelikow b. Documents created and collected pursuant to the State OIG
E X E C U T I V E DIRECTOR
investigation of the issuance of visas to Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (OIG
Review of the Visa-Issuing Process Phase I: Circumstances Surrounding
the Issuance of Visas to Sheik Omar Ali Ahmed Abdel Rahman 4-CI-007
March 1994), including: interview notes and reports; documents collected at
posts, at the State Department facilities in the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area, and from other agencies, and congressional
correspondence relating to the report.
c. Compliance Reports prepared in connection with OIG reviews of the
issuance of non-immigrant visas for the period from 1994 through 2003.
d. Inspector General semi-annual reports to Congress for the period
from 1994 through 2003.
'^•H*. -

2. State - White House Border Policy in Response to September 11.

Regarding border security, border policy and controls, border security
arrangements with Mexico and Canada, passport, visa, and refugee security
reviews and clearance matters arising out of the events of September 11, 2001:
a. State Department records of meetings held in the White House from
September 11 through September 20, 2001, attended by State Department
officials, to discuss immigration and border security issues arising out of the
September 11 attacks, and a list of Departmental personnel who attended
those meetings and were responsible for follow-up to those meetings;
b. State Department records describing the current policies concerning
those matters raised in these White House meetings; and
c. Communications from the Secretary of State to the President or the
National Security Adviser or the heads of the Office of Homeland Security
or the Homeland Security Council, discussing proposed and implemented
TEL (202) 331-4060
FAX (202) 296-5545
http://\iA«Av.9-11commission.gov
 )OS Document Request No. 4
Page 2

measures concerning these matters, from September 11, 2001 through September 20, 2001.

3. State Department Consular Reference Materials.

a. Best Practices Handbook. A copy of the State Department's Best Practices
Handbook, 2000 edition, including subsequent updates;
b. Consular Management Handbook, 2000 edition, including subsequent updates;
c. Appendix A (Classified) to the Visa FAM, 2000 edition, including subsequent
updates;
d. Standard Operating Procedures. SOP's concerning clearances, security advisory
opinions, and terrorism-related determinations included in cables to posts, from
1998 through 2003; and
e. INS Forms. Guidance to posts concerning how to make use in the visa process of
INS routine reports on aliens who have changed status or have been found to be
inadmissible aliens at ports of entry, from 1998 through 2003.

4. Policy memoranda. Policy memoranda concerning border security matters (visas,

passports, related arrangements with Canada and Mexico, migration, refugee/asylee
issues) relating to terrorism and alien smuggling, including follow-up to PDD-39, PDD-
62, and HSPD-2, from the Secretary of State or the Deputy Secretary of State to Assistant
Secretaries of State (a) from 1993 through September 20, 2001, and (b) sufficient to show
current policies and proposed policies under consideration.

5. Secretary of State - Justice/Homeland Security. Documents, including legal analyses,

sufficient to describe the allocation of authority over visas and visa security advisory
opinions among the Secretary of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the
Department of Justice (a) on September 11, 2001, and (b) currently.

6. Intelligence Community. Policy correspondence concerning intelligence, information

sharing, and visa security clearances relating to terrorism, alien smuggling, travel
document fraud, and border security and controls, from 1995 to the present:
a. from the Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary of State, or any Under Secretary
to counterparts at: the Department of Defense and its intelligence agencies; the
Director of Central Intelligence and the CIA; the Department of Justice and its
agencies; the Department of Homeland Security and its agencies; and the
Department of the Treasury and its agencies; and
b. from the Assistant Secretaries of INR, CA, and INL, and the Coordinator for
Counterterrorism (S/CT), to counterparts at the CIA, the Department of Defense
and its agencies, the Department of Justice and its agencies, the Department of the
Treasury and its agencies, and the Department of Homeland Security and its
agencies.

7. Congress. An index or indices of correspondence to or from Members of Congress

concerning border security and control in relation to terrorist entry, alien smuggling, or
travel document fraud (excluding correspondence exclusively about individual cases),
from 1995 to the present:
a. signed by the Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State, or any Under Secretary;
DOS Document Request No. 4
Page 3

b. signed by the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs; or

c. signed by the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.

8. Congressionally Required Reports.

a. A list of reports prepared for Congress that are required by statutes, or by
conference or committee reports, addressing border security or control matters
(including visas and passports, and handling of refugees/asylees) that relate to
terrorist entry, alien smuggling, and travel document fraud (classified and
unclassified), from 1995 to the present; and
b. Copies of the congressionally required reports concerning denials of visas on
terrorism/security grounds, including any classified supplements with
individualized information.

9. Analyses. Legal analyses prepared at the State Department concerning: authority and
standards for watchlisting individuals associated with terrorism; authority to gain
cooperation from intelligence and law enforcement agencies on watchlist information;
interagency sharing of watchlist information; harmonization of U.S. and Canadian visa
and/or entry requirements; the use of U.S. passports to enter the U.S. from Mexico and/or
Canada; and standards for revoking of visas, from 1993 through 2003.

10. Refugee/Asylee Security Review Process. Documents sufficient to describe:

a. the security review and clearance process for asylees and refugees from 1998
through September 11, 2001;
b. new security requirements in the immigration process for refugees and asylees
imposed since September 11, 2001;
c. the number of asylee and refugee applicants and the number who have been barred
on terrorist-related grounds from 2000 to the present; and
d. the number of asylee and refugee applicants for whom security reviews are
currently pending.
~*tvr
11. Watchlists. Agreements among DOS and other government agencies regarding
information sharing on terrorist watchlists, from 1991 through 2003.

12. Alien Smuggling. Intelligence assessments prepared by INR that linked alien
smuggling, migration, or transnational refugee and asylee movements with terrorists,
from 1996 through 2003.

13. TIPOFF. The following information on the TDPOFF program:

a. the number of entries in TIPOFF by year, from its inception as a computerized
system to the present, with 6 month total numbers for 2001, 2002, and 2003;
b. the total number of entries submitted by source agency, by year, from 1998 to the
present;
c. the total number of true hits (matches of visa applicants and watchlisted
individuals) identified for years 1993 through 2003, the number of visas denied
based on these matches, and the reasons for these denials; and
DOS Document Request No. 4
Page 4

d. the TIPOFF entries (names, aliases, date of birth, place of birth, passport number,
passport country) for all TIPOFF true hits for Islamic extremist terrorists generally,
and al Qa'ida specifically, from 1993 to the present, indicating those to whom visas
were issued or denied, or issued through a waiver of ineligibility, and the post of
application.

14. Supplemental clearances.

a. documents (classified and unclassified) stating the legal authority, requirements and
procedures for the supplemental visa clearance processes (a) for males of specified
countries and age groups, instituted after September 11, 2001, and (b) for sensitive
technology-related visas;
b. the number of clearances sought through each process to date;
c. the number of individuals found ineligible or to whom a visa was denied through
each process, who were not already listed in TIPOFF, by agency providing the
clearance or derogatory information;
d. for those denied, the names, aliases, dates of birth, countries of origin and
nationality, passport number, visa classification, date and place of issue, and the
reasons for the denials, with an indication of which clearance process resulted in the
bar and/or whether a waiver of ineligibility was sought or obtained; and
e. memoranda reporting on the evaluation and associated recommendations
concerning the supplemental visa security review process instituted after September
11, 2001, and still in effect.

15. ICAO. Documents sufficient to describe the U.S. government position on machine-
readable travel documents and biometrics, associated with ICAO meetings, from 1998 to
the present.

16. G-8. Documents sufficient to describe U.S. positions concerning border security or
control issues (visas, passports, biometrics, migration, refugees/asylees, alien smuggling,
travel document fraud) at the G-8 meetings, from 1998 through 2003 .-„_

17. IOM. Documents sufficient to describe U.S. positions on any discussions in the
International Organization for Migration concerning terrorist mobility, from 1998
through 2003.

18. Diversity Program. Any memoranda or telegrams concerning the relationship between
fraud or other vulnerabilities in the Diversity Program and terrorist entry to the U.S.,
from 1998 to the present.

19. Foreign Government Visa Policies. Any analyses of foreign government visa policies
and their impact on terrorist mobility, e.g., Malaysia's policy of admitting Muslims
without visas and various island nations' citizenship purchase policies, from 1996 to the
present.
DOS Document Request No. 4
PageS

20. Annual Post Fraud Reports. Annual reports on fraud in the visa process sent from
Berlin, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Karachi, Islamabad, Cairo, Amman, Ankara
and Istanbul from 1998 to the present.

21. Diplomatic Security and/or Consular Affairs.

a. copies of Diplomatic Security or Consular Affairs alerts issued from 1998 to the
present concerning passport and visa fraud, including alerts concerning access by
terrorists to blank passports or fraudulent visas;
b. an index of reviews carried out by Consular Management Assessment Teams or
their predecessors to assess post consular vulnerabilities, 1998 to present;
c. Diplomatic Security reporting relating to Islamic extremist terrorist threats against
individuals, groups or sites in the United States sent to Washington by the field,
from August 7, 1998 through September 11, 2001;
d. copies of foreign airport in-transit reports of Islamic extremist terrorists
apprehended with fraudulent travel documents, from 1998 to the present;
e. analytic products that discuss the use of fraudulently obtained birth records and
drivers licenses in acquiring visas and passports, from 1998 to the present;
f. analytic products that discuss the link between passport and visa fraud and terrorist
entry to the U.S.;
g. annual arrests, referrals for prosecution (federal or state), declinations, and case
results, resulting from investigations of passport and visa fraud, noting any
involving Islamic extremists, from 1998 to the present; and
h. information concerning Diplomatic Security's current mission with respect to
preventing terrorist entry to the U.S. and resources dedicated to it.

22. Doha Visa Fraud. Summary report of the results of the investigation into alleged visa
fraud at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, referred to as "Operation Eagle Strike,"
including:
a. the names, dates of birth, passport country, passport and visa numbers of
individuals issued the fraudulent visas, and immigration status of«ach;
b. the manner in which the visas were acquired;
c. names and positions of those taken into custody, in connection with the provision or
acquisition of the visas;
d. whether any of the persons sought had terrorist affiliations, the nature of those
affiliations;
e. current status of any cases;
f. results of the investigation into the employees who processed visa applications
during the time of the fraud; and
g. any disciplinary or other actions taken as a result of the investigation.

23. Ambassador, DCM, and Principal Officers. Provide the names of the Ambassadors or
charge d'affaires, the Deputy Chiefs of Mission, the Principal Officers and the Consular
Section Chiefs for the period January 1, 1999 through the present, for posts in Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Germany.
DOS Document Request No. 4
Page 6

The Commission requests that the documents requested above be provided as soon as they are
available, even though all requested documents may not be provided at the same time, through
means of a "rolling" production.
If any requested documents are withheld from production, even temporarily, based on an alleged
claim of privilege or for any other reason, the Commission requests that the respondent, as soon as
possible and in no event later than the production date, identify and describe each such document or
class of documents, as well as the alleged basis for not producing it, with sufficient specificity to
allow a meaningful challenge to any such withholding.
If the respondent does not have possession, custody or control of any requested documents but has
information about where such documents may be located, the Commission requests that the
respondent provide such information as soon as possible and in no event later than the production
date.
If the respondent has any questions or concerns about the interpretation or scope of these document
requests, the Commission requests that any such questions or concerns be raised with the
Commission as soon as possible so that any such issues can be addressed and resolved prior to the
production date.

July 25, 2003 Daniel Marcus

General Counsel
 S/S 200318829
United States Department of State

Washington, D.C 20520

August I, 2003

UNCLASSIFIED

MEMORANDUM FOR DANIEL MARCUS

GENERAL COUNSEL
NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON
THE UNITED STATES

SUBJECT: The 9/11 Commission's Request for State

Department Briefings

The point of contacts for informal briefings as

requested by the 9-11 Commission are as follows: Office of
the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT) point of
contact will be Jim Neel, staff assistant, at 202-647-9994.
The point of contact for Diplomatic Security (DS) is
Jeffrey Culver, Office for Investigation and
Counterintelligence, at 571-345-2994. Population, Refugees
and Migrations (PRM) poc will be Teresa Rusch, Director of
Admissions at 202-633-1047, or Janice Belz at 633-104'2'V
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement-
Affairs (INL) poc is Steve Peterson, Director Office of
Crime, at 202-736-4380. Each office will coordinate
directly with Commission poc Betty Swope as requested.

Karl Hofmann
Executive Secretary

UNCLASSIFIED
 200316281

United States Department of State

Washington, D.C. 20520

July 16, 2003

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

MEMORANDUM FOR MR. TOM ELDRIDGE

NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES

SUBJECT: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the

United States request for Documents (Request for
Documents Request No. 2)

This is in reply to the National Commission on Terrorist

Attacks Upon the United States request for Department of State
documents.

Attached is the first installment of documents responding

to your request. Additional installments will be provided as we
complete our search and review of material.

This installment consists of unclassified documents. Please

note, however, that some of the attached information is
protected from disclosure under Section 222 (f) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1202 (f) , and, in
accordance with that law, may only be used for the "formulation,
amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigration,
nationality, or other laws of the United States." Although the
material is not classified in and of itself, its designation as
"Sensitive but Unclassified" requires special handling.
Therefore we request that all these documents be protected from
unauthorized disclosure.

In accordance with the Department of State's standard

practice, we have excised the names of drafting, clearing and
approving officers below the level of Assistant Secretary or
Ambassador, as well as information related to the deliberative
process or other non-responsive information.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
-2-

We hope this information is useful to you. As always,

please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further
questions.

l<rj/^^—-—•>
Karl Hofmann
Executive Secretary

Attachments:
1. State Department documents
2. Incoming Request

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED