MISSION INDIA ENDORSES SHANGHAI REQUEST TO RE-ENABLE ADIS

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000246 SIPDIS CA/FPP FOR JILL NYSTROM CA/CST FOR DOUG HILL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFRD CVIS ASEC CMGT IN SUBJECT: MISSION INDIA ENDORSES SHANGHAI REQUEST TO RE-ENABLE ADIS BATCH CHECK REF: A) 09 SHANGHAI 000361; B) 09 KOLKATA 000188 ¶1. Mission India heartily endorses AmConGen Shanghai's request (ref A) to re-enable two features that were lost in the recent upgrade of the Arrival Departure Information System (ADIS). These features allowed Consular Sections to quickly assess the travel history of large groups of travelers, generating valuable information that empowered adjudicating officers, spotlighted visa abuse, and supported investigations of "fraud packages." In addition to Shanghai's observations, Mission India adds the following reasons for considering the request. ¶2. Foremost, these "batch" features provided time and cost savings to the U.S. Government. The capacity to retrieve the ADIS records of multiple travelers in a single search and export the results to Excel substantially reduced time wasted on data entry, allowing consular officers to focus on analysis and other value-added activities. Because ADIS access is restricted to one or two officers at each post, data entry in ADIS cannot be delegated to Locally Employed Staff or other officers. ¶3. Posts were only beginning to use ADIS batch searches before the recent upgrade, and so the full potential of this technique was not yet realized. Shanghai spearheaded this innovative use of ADIS earlier this year, and Kolkata subsequently adopted and began sharing the technique within India (ref B). An upcoming Mission India conference had planned to include a session on how to maximize batch checks, and Kolkata was working with its CA/FPP liaison to include this technique as a "best practice" for post-level validation studies. As this technique became more widely shared, it is probable that other posts would have discovered other innovative uses of ADIS. ¶4. The batch feature of the earlier version of ADIS allowed posts to conduct frequent and focused assessments of applicants' travel habits, helping to build a nuanced understanding of our applicant pool. As two examples, Kolkata has analyzed package tours associated with specific travel agencies, as well as many sales incentive trips that are common in India. With background data on these specific segments of the applicant pool, adjudicators can tailor their assumptions accordingly. ¶5. In addition to validation studies, Hyderabad used the batch features to support investigations into fraudulent document packages. After mining data seized during the arrest of a local document vendor, Hyderabad identified more than 250 applicants who purchased documents from that vendor. Using the batch features in ADIS, Hyderabad instantly determined which applicants could be called back for follow-up interviews, resulting in the revocation of nearly 100 visas. ¶6. In sum, Mission India echoes the request by Shanghai to restore the batch features in ADIS because they provide an efficient and powerful way to help consular officers make more informed decisions, pinpoint overstays, and investigate visa fraud. ¶7. This cable has been cleared with all posts in Mission India. PAYNE