EMBASSY TUNIS PREPARES NIV APPLICANTS FOR NEW EVAF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 002702 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (M.HARRIS),TRIPOLI FOR CONOFF, CAIRO FOR RCO (HICKEY) E.O. 12958: NA TAGS: CVIS CMGT SOCI LY TS SUBJECT: EMBASSY TUNIS PREPARES NIV APPLICANTS FOR NEW EVAF REGULATIONS Ref: STATE 141880 ¶1. SUMMARY: For the last two months, post consular and public affairs sections have been engaged in a campaign to increase public awareness about the new EVAF requirements. Through press releases and a roundtable discussion, liaison with the host government, and by using posters and public speaking engagements, post was able to coordinate a series of outreach efforts aimed at minimizing potential problems from the November 1 policy change. Preliminary results indicate that these efforts have increased awareness and EVAF usage among our applicant pool. However, post anticipates some minor difficulties as our applicant pool (which includes persons residing in Tunisia and Libya) becomes accustomed to exclusive use of electronic forms. END SUMMARY ¶2. In preparation for the move to the EVAF requirement, Embassy Tunis reached out to government officials, media outlets, students and the general public. Beginning September 1, Conoffs took the following actions. ¶3. Government Authorities: - Post sent a Diplomatic Note to the Tunisian MFA to inform them of the change in policy. - On October 11, the MFA requested a meeting to discuss the EVAF. The meeting was attended by two Deputy Directors of Protocol, the Director of Protocol, the Director of Consular Affairs and the Deputy Director of Consular Affairs. The MFA's main concerns about providing detailed information on high level officials and how to fill out the EVAF were readily assuaged by Conoffs, who explained that the form and process remain the same. - Visa Chief sent out letters to other consuls in Tunis asking them to help make their colleagues and contacts aware of the new regulations. - Embassy Tunis contacted Embassy Tripoli Conoff and PAO to establish a collaborative effort in spreading the word to our wider client pool. (Tunis handles Libyan NIV applicants, except for A and G visas. Libyan applicants make up more than one third of post's NIV workload.) Embassy Tripoli reported that they sent diplomatic notes and inquiries to the GOL, asking permission to run EVAF information in local newspapers. They have yet to receive a response and are relying on word of mouth and their website to get the word out. ¶4. Media: - During the last week of September, Embassy Tunis sent out a press release in English, Arabic and French detailing the use of the EVAF. The communique was picked up by the majority of local daily and weekly Arabic and French newspapers. - On October 18, the Section Chief and Conoffs held a roundtable in French and Arabic with local journalists at the Embassy. They were shown a presentation on how the EVAF works, and were then brought to the consular section and shown the barcode scanners and data entry stations where visa applications are processed. This event and the EVAF requirement were widely reported in the local Arabic and French press over the following days. ¶5. Students and General Public: - Conoffs spoke at multiple events to potential student visa applicants about EVAF procedures. Venues included the American Cooperative School of Tunis, the Faculte de Droit et des Sciences Economiques et Politiques de Sousse, the National Engineering School of Monastir, the Faculte des Sciences de Monastir and the Institut Superieur d'Informatique et de Mathematiques de Monastir. - Embassy Tunis contacted the head of the Federation of Tunisian Travel Agencies and requested his help in passing along information on the EVAF to travel agencies and their customers. - Conoff placed posters in English, French and Arabic highlighting the upcoming move to EVAF in several public access areas around the Embassy. - By October 2, all paper copies of form DS-156 were removed from the Embassy public areas, and staff urged applicants to begin using the EVAF in order to ease applicants into the process and to facilitate word of mouth transmission about the new procedure. - On October 6, Conoff and LES visited local internet cafes and compiled a list of neighborhood sources of internet access for applicants who arrive at the consular section without an EVAF already prepared. ¶6. COMMENT: Embassy Tunis has made proactive efforts to prepare our applicant pool for November 1, and is confident that our outreach TUNIS 00002702 002 OF 002 will result in a smoother transition to the EVAF. EVAF usage has already increased well before the cutoff date. Two months ago about 19% of applicants used EVAF, a month ago it grew to 38%, and on October 19 63% of our applicants used the EVAF. While some applicants, such as officials at the African Development Bank and Libyan businessmen, have been familiar with the EVAF for a while, and Embassy Tunis has had information about the form on our website for quite some time, Tunisians were generally unaware of this format of the DS-156. Due to this, and because it is estimated that only about 8% of Tunisians have internet access, we believe we will see-- despite our efforts-- some confusion and distress on the other side of the window come November 1. END COMMENT. BALLARD