VISA-WAIVER PROGRAM: PASSPORT-RELATED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 002344

SIPDIS


STATE FOR CA:JARZT; CA/PPT FOR MHOLLY; CA/VO/F/P:DLOPES
DA ROSA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF AU
SUBJECT: VISA-WAIVER PROGRAM: PASSPORT-RELATED
REQUIREMENTS FOR VWP TRAVELERS AND PARTICIPATING
COUNTRIES

REF: STATE 125862


1. Per Reftel para 9, Post provides the following
information regarding Austrian Lost and Stolen Passport
(LASP) reporting procedures. This information concerns
current procedures.


2. QUESTION a.Which office(s) at your post receive
information on lost and stolen passports? If offices
other than the consular section receive this info, how is
it (or is it) passed to the consular section? ANSWER:
As in the U.S., there is no legal requirement for
Austrian citizens to report the loss or theft of
personalized, issued, passports, therefore post rarely
receives reports of missing personalized passports. We
understand that 8050 personalized passports were reported
lost or stolen in 2003, but the actual losses could have
occurred years earlier. The Austrian Ministry of
Interior has not lost any blank passports in some years,
so post has no recent experience with the reporting of
the loss of blank passports. Austrian authorities tell
us all such losses would be reported to INTERPOL. Our
MOI contacts would additionally inform the consular
section directly, but the DHS/ICE office might also
receive the information, in which case the DHS/ICE staff
would also enter the data in the lookout system.


3. QUESTION b. From which entity(ies) do you receive
this info? If from the government, please specify exactly
which part of the government. If there is a distinction
between info on blank and issued passports and the
country's willingness or mechanism for providing such
info, please specify. If you get info from other
diplomatic missions or sources, please specify.
ANSWER: The consular section would be informed of missing
blank passports by the Ministry of Interior, which is in
charge of passport issuances. In 2006 all passport
issuance will be centralized in Vienna. At this time,
however, passports are issued in passport offices located
throughout Austria. There is no requirement to report
lost or stolen personalized passports, therefore post
would not learn about them from the Austrian government.
In the last 24 months we have received no information
from other diplomatic missions regarding lost or stolen
passports.


4. QUESTION c. Currently, how do the governments handle
lost-stolen passport data reporting internally? Does the
government have a single point of contact on lost or
stolen passport issues (or one at two different
ministries),and if not, why and how do they handle
reporting? ANSWER: Again, there is no recent experience
with this issue. We would expect that the Ministry of
Interior would inform the Embassy. The ministry would
also inform other relevant divisions within the Ministry,
such as the gendarmerie.


5. QUESTION d. How do you actually receive lost and
stolen passport data (by phone, fax, email, CD,
electronic transfer, etc.)? ANSWER: Again, no blank
passports have been lost in recent memory, so post has no
experience on this.


6. QUESTION e. Which position/suboffice within your
section has the responsibility for ensuring that data is
put into CLASS or forwarded to VO/I and FPP? How long
does it take on average to make CLASS entries or forward
the info? If present at your post, does DHS enter lost-
stolen passport data into their system? ANSWER: This
very small consular section would most likely have NIV
staff enter the data with 24 hours. When we receive
information on a missing personalized passport the Visa
Chief or our EFM assistant has entered the data. DHS/ICE
informs us they would enter data if they had passport
numbers.


7. QUESTION f. Do you get information on recovered
passports, and how do you usually deal with that?
ANSWER: We rarely receive any information on recovered
foreign passports unless the traveler has reported the
loss to us - in conjunction with a visa application -
but has not yet applied for a new visa.


8. QUESTION g. Anything else we should know about this
issue? ANSWER: Most Austrians - about 80 percent - have
passports. A loss of 8000 personalized passports a year
out of a population of 8 million is rather low, but the
MOI is centralizing passport issuance to enhance the
security of the Austrian passport.

BROWN