Resources for Visa Units
(CT:VISA-1904; 02-06-2024)
(Office of Origin: CA/VO)
9 FAM 601.2-1 Funding for visa units
(CT:VISA-1872; 11-28-2023)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-420 for more information on funding for visa units.
(1) See 7 FAH-1 H-421 for more information on Funds appropriated by Congress and approved for use in the State Department budget
(2) See 7 FAH-1 H-423 for more information on fees collected for services that Congress permits the Department to retain and apply directly to its operations
b. See additional information on the budget cycle in 7 FAH-1 H-431, and details on the roles of the Consular Package, Mission Resource Request, and Consular Financial Operating Plans in 7 FAH-1 H-432, 7 FAH-1 H-433 and 7 FAH-1 H-434 respectively. See also 7 FAH-1 H-432.3 on Justifying Resource Needs.
9 FAM 601.2-2 Global Talent Managment in visa units
(CT:VISA-1904; 02-06-2024)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-311 for Global Talent Management (Managing Human Resources) in Visa Units.
b. See 7 FAH-1 H-330 for additional information on consular officers (including Foreign Service Officers, officers on excursion tours, REAs (formerly WAEs), and other TDY personnel) and 7 FAH-1 H-340 for additional information on overseas employees (including Locally Employed staff, employment of family members and members of household, and other consular professionals). See 9 FAM 601.4 for supervision of visa operations.
9 FAM 601.2-3 Equipment and supplies for visa units
(CT:VISA-1904; 02-06-2024)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-464 for additional information on requisitioning procedures, 7 FAH-1 H-465 on safeguarding and emergency destruction of controlled equipment and supplies, and 7 FAH-1 H-463 on general equipment maintenance. The use of standard forms and records is addressed in 7 FAH-1 H-466.
b. Care of Visa Printers and Quality Assurance Scanners:
(1) Printer Maintenance: Regular care and the cleaning and maintenance of the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) printers are crucial to their proper functioning, particularly keeping the paper path, trays, and printer area workspace clean of adhesive, dust, and debris. You should perform such cleaning daily if your post issues more than 30 visas per day. Weekly cleaning is adequate for posts with a lower volume of issuances. Proper cleaning of the printers, including the feed rollers and internal paper path, is the responsibility of each individual post, either through in-house servicing or post-funded outside servicing.
(2) Quality Assurance Readers: The QA reader (scanner) is a delicate and expensive part of the MRV equipment. CA/VO urges posts to carefully follow all cleaning and maintenance instructions furnished with the reader.
c. Care and Storage of MRV Foils:
(1) Storage of MRV Foils: The Accountable Consular Officer (ACO) at post should inspect new MRV foils for defects immediately upon their receipt. You should store foils in a secured area with normal temperature and humidity. Refer problems regarding the foils promptly to the General Services Division (CA/EX/GSD). See 7 FAH-1 H-650, Standard Operating Procedures for Safeguarding and Accounting Controlled Consular Items at Overseas Posts.
(2) Defective Lincoln Foils: In the event you identify a defective Lincoln foil and assuming the visa recipient did not precipitate the problem, you should issue a replacement MRV with no new application fee or interview required. The original expiration date of the defective visa should be displayed on the newly issued MRV, as this is simply a replacement of a defective product. The ACO must maintain accountability for replacement visa foils at the end of day. See 7 FAH-1 H-652.2 for The Accountable Items (AI) Systems Module.
(3) Destroying Spoiled or Invalid Machine Readable Visa (MRV) Foils: You should destroy at post spoiled or invalid MRV foils, maintaining proper accountability in the Accountable Items (AI) module of the NIV system. The ACO must personally supervise the destruction of controlled consular items, including NIV foils, and must document that destruction in AI. Another consular officer must certify witnessing the destruction of accountable items in AI. You can find further information about the proper handling of accountable items in 7 FAH-1 H-650, Standard Operating Procedures for Safeguarding and Accounting Controlled Consular Items at Overseas Posts. You may destroy accountable items through shredding, disintegration, or burning, or whatever means post uses for the destruction of classified material. Instances of not being able to destroy spoiled or invalid MRV foils at post, and/or not being able to document destruction in AI, should be incredibly rare. Contact CA/VO for guidance in such instances.
d. Visa Systems: See 9 FAM 604.1 for information on visa-related systems and post actions during system failures.
9 fam 601.2-4 consular space for visa operations
(CT:VISA-1671; 12-15-2022)
a. See 7 FAH-1 H-282 on evaluating consular section space and 7 FAH-1 H-283 on maximizing space and layout.
b. See 7 FAH-1 H-285 on renovation, expansion and moves.
c. See 7 FAH-1 H-284 on security and public access controls.
d. See 7 FAH-1 H-286 on maintenance of consular sections.
e. See 7 FAH-1 H-644 for additional details on security and access controls in consular sections.