Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05VILNIUS1242
2005-11-25 13:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Vilnius
Cable title:  

LITHUANIA'S VISA WAIVER ROADMAP: COOPERATION AND

Tags:  CMGT CVIS KFRD CASC LH 
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UNCLAS VILNIUS 001242 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NB, CA/P - DHEIEN AND JWECHSLER
ALSO FOR CA/VO/F/P - EPATTERSON AND CKAGARISE
FRANKFURT FOR RSC - RCO RBROWN
COPENHAGEN FOR DHS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CMGT CVIS KFRD CASC LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA'S VISA WAIVER ROADMAP: COOPERATION AND
REPORTING LOST/STOLEN PASSPORTS

REFS: A) VILNIUS 1226 (NOTAL),B) STATE 208035 (NOTAL),C)
VILNIUS 0767 (NOTAL),D) VILNIUS 0718 (NOTAL),E) 04 STATE
114932

UNCLAS VILNIUS 001242

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NB, CA/P - DHEIEN AND JWECHSLER
ALSO FOR CA/VO/F/P - EPATTERSON AND CKAGARISE
FRANKFURT FOR RSC - RCO RBROWN
COPENHAGEN FOR DHS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CMGT CVIS KFRD CASC LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA'S VISA WAIVER ROADMAP: COOPERATION AND
REPORTING LOST/STOLEN PASSPORTS

REFS: A) VILNIUS 1226 (NOTAL),B) STATE 208035 (NOTAL),C)
VILNIUS 0767 (NOTAL),D) VILNIUS 0718 (NOTAL),E) 04 STATE
114932


1. This is an action request--see paragraphs 5 and 6.


2. Post has held more than a dozen informal meetings on Visa
Waiver Roadmap (VWR) issues since the last two formal
Consular Working Group meetings in July (refs C and D).
Post and the MFA have also made significant progress on
joint VWR public outreach (refs A and B). Other cooperative
efforts included a training/familiarization visit by post
fraud prevention staff and regional consular officer to the
Border Police forensic document lab and Border Police
operations at Vilnius airport on October 17. Post was also
invited along with other diplomatic representatives to a
November 4 briefing on current trends in counterfeit
Lithuanian identity documents.


3. The Lithuanians view their November 7-9 MFA delegation
visit to Washington (ref B) as a successful opportunity to
showcase their VWR efforts, and hope to build on their
positive results to date. The MFA is particularly pleased
that they were able to obtain last-minute appointments with
the Bureau of Consular Affairs and with the Department of
Homeland Security focusing on their work with biometric
documents.


4. Seeking to fulfill their VWR commitments, the MFA has
requested guidance on the best way to provide data on
lost/stolen passports (LSP). Since October 2004, the
Ministry of Interior, which issues passports and tracks LSP
data in Lithuania, has reported through Interpol. While post
has apprised the MFA of the procedure for bulk entry of LSP
data into CLASS outlined in SOP 38 (ref E),the GOL has not
yet provided such data directly to post. The MFA points out
that the GOL has no precedent for reporting this data to a
single government, e.g. the USG, and would therefore have to
establish procedures specifically for this purpose.


5. Action request: Post and MFA seek clarification on
whether such submissions via Interpol would suffice to meet
VWP obligations or if they should also report by another
means.


6. In addition, the MFA has confirmed its request for
consular training assistance (ref B). Our interlocutors
appreciate the prior observation opportunities offered to
them, and would like to have more in-depth experiences.
Specifically, the MFA seeks to (1) observe and absorb the
American consular service mentality and (2) incorporate
applicable concepts and techniques into Lithuanian training.
According to the MFA, the optimal outcome would be for two
or three persons, including one from the GOL Migration
Department, to observe various consular training sessions,
most likely at NFATC, for up to one week.

KELLY