Mantis 2008 (1 of 2): More Workload, More Waiting in

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 000686

STATE FOR CA/VO/L/C, EAP/CM, EEB/CBA, EEB/ESC, ISN/CB, L, OES
STATE PASS NASA/OFFICE OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS FOR A/S O'BRIEN
TOKYO FOR NASA ATTACHE TILMAN

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CMGT CVIS ETTC OEXC ECON ENRG EINV TRGY KNNP KSCA
CH

SUBJECT: Mantis 2008 (1 of 2): More Workload, More Waiting in
Beijing

REF: A) 08 Beijing 0016; B) State 021417; C) 08 BAGHDAD 3537, 08
DHAKA 1201, 08 ABU DHABI 1356, 08 JAKARTA 2173, 08 RIYADH 1747,08
AIT TAIPEI 1688; D) State 7490; E) CG Donahue 12 March 2009 email

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NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION

This is an action request. See paragraphs 12.


1. Summary: This cable summarizes Beijing's 2008 Mantis Security
Advisory Opinion (SAO) review. In 2008, overall SAO Mantis volume
increased by 10 percent, and wait times quadrupled to 16 weeks for
SAO clearance. End Summary.

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2008 in Review: By the Numbers
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2. (SBU) In calendar year 2007, Beijing processed 20,120 total
SAOs, of which 11,310 Mantis SAOs. In calendar year 2008, Beijing
processed 12,562 Mantis SAO cases, an increase of 10% over the
previous year. In 2008, 62 percent of Beijing's SAO volume was
Mantis SAOs. Post annually reports on Mantis trends for the year
prior (Ref A).


3. (SBU) According to CCD records, in calendar year 2008, Beijing
received 77 "Objection" responses from the Department citing INA
section 212(a)3A, compared with 54 in 2007 and 30 in 2006. These
refusals represent .7 percent of all Mantis cases. Of refusals in
2008, 37 were B1/B2 travelers, 33 were J1 scholars, 5 were F1
students, and 2 were I visas.

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2008 and Beyond: Post Efforts / Resources
--------------


4. (SBU) Beijing NIV unit's biggest challenge continues to be the
facilitation of SAOs. In 2008, Mantis SAO growth outpaced that of
overall applicant increases. As reported in Beijing's 2008 Consular
Workload Statistics Summary, Post dedicates 5 Entry Level Officers
(ELOs),6 Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs),and 4 Eligible Family
Members (EFMs) to support the SAO portfolio. 2008 and 2009 have
brought unique challenges. Historically, SAO processing times have
averaged 3-4 weeks; however, current processing times have stretched
to four months for B1/B2 applicants. This fluctuation negatively
impacted our customers in 2008, as thousands of business people,
government officials, and students missed their travel dates. NIV
works endlessly through radio messages, web chats, and our website
to advise the public to apply early. During summer 2008 applicant
volume peaks, our Consular Information Unit (CIU) received an
average of 50 inquiries per day from applicants subject to SAOs on
the status of their visa application, an increase of 100 percent
over 2007. In addition, visa adjudicating officers spent vast
amounts of valuable interview time educating the public and calming
irate applicants who do not understand why they cannot travel
despite applying months in advance.


5. (SBU) Starting in May 2009, Beijing will again open early summer

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interview slots to graduate students who may require administrative
processing. We will continue to indicate in the Mantis prompt line
if an applicant is a student or scholar with strict program start
dates. Post values recent feedback from the Department on Mantis
SAO reform, and appreciates clearing partner commitment to clear
students and scholars cases within 30 days of receipt of SAO
requests (Ref B).


6. (SBU) Post will continue to process and submit a vast majority
of all SAO requests to Washington within one day of completion of
the application, and notes that the current lack of predictability
in the process creates uncertainty for applicants, adjudicating
officers and interested parties. When posts cannot predict how long
administrative processing will take, we may submit cases that have
no realistic chance of clearing in time for travel.

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2008 Special Projects
--------------


7. (SBU) In February 2008, Beijing held a country-wide SAO
conference, and greatly appreciated the attendance by former CA/VO
Office Director Tim Smith. In October of 2008, Beijing participated
in a Digital Video Conference (DVC) with NIV sections in China,
Russia, Israel, Taiwan, and India, the largest source countries for
Mantis SAO applicants. Sharing of best practices benefitted all
participants, and Beijing appreciated senior consular leadership
participation in the event. Post appreciated reftels (Ref C) from
other posts experiencing frustrating processing delays.


8. (SBU) In December 2008, Beijing submitted for CA consideration a
detailed memo on possible resolutions to current negative SAO
situation, and appreciates Department consideration of our suggested
remedies.


9. (SBU) Post appreciated briefings by DAS David Donahue during his
February 2009 China visit on possible liberalizations in the visa
validity for Mantis-subject applicants, and Beijing anticipates this
will reduce volume in repeat SAOs.


10. (SBU) Beijing maintains an "Entities of Interest" list that in
2008 was scrubbed and updated to reflect changes in the Chinese
military-industrial complex and updated TAL.


11. (SBU) Post recognizes the limited resources available in 2008
to the Department to process these increases in SAO demand, and the
necessity of clearance through other agencies whose processes do not
fall within Department authority. We also would like to note with
gratitude the tireless work of the CA/VO/L/C Mantis unit,
particularly Eric Knechtges and Colette Lankford, in pursuing and
processing an unprecedented number of clearances in 2008. Further,
Post thanks the Department for guidance contained in Ref D.

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12. Action Requests
--------------


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A. Beijing requests more detailed and frequent guidance from CA/VO
on the process and wait times of SAO approvals, including updated
guidance on post check eligibility and information requested of
applicants now that Mantis B1/B2 applicant receive 12 month,
multiple entry visas.


B. Post also notes a significant increase in requests for more
information on cases submitted for an SAO from the Department (at
times several months) after the initial SAO is submitted. Post
always includes all standard supporting documents in our SAOs, and
we have noticed from "needs info" responses increased requests for
information not readily available to the applicant, creating a
time-consuming chain of communication from the Department to us to
the applicant to the U.S. inviter, back to the applicant, back to
us, and back to the Department. We request feedback on ways to
reduce these time consuming requests.


C. (SBU) Post requests increased feedback and communications on
refusals from ISN and CA/VO/L/C to enable post to make better
decisions on which cases should be submitted for Mantis SAOs.


D. (SBU) Post requests updated public language from the Department
on SAO processing changes so that we can disseminate more
transparent communications to all parties, including to applicants
themselves and for use in embassy-wide conversations/meetings (Ref
E). Multiple student blog sites in China are dedicated to tracking
the progress of SAO applicants and include detailed information on
technical research plans of applicants. A carefully crafted set of
talking points should be used in communicating to scientific and
technical background applicants. We request language be revised and
cleared for public use at the soonest date.


E. (SBU) We request CA/VO and ISN support and attend another annual
Mantis SAO Conference in Beijing in spring 2009.


F. (SBU) Cooperation across Mantis posts should continue in 2009,
and Beijing invites suggestions from all addressees on 2009 Mantis
SAO Conference agenda items to further cooperation in 2009.


G. (SBU) Post also requests the creation of a new statistical
report in CCD that will allow Post to search by visa class, date,
SAO type and status.

Piccuta