US embassy cable - 03MAPUTO1652

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MAPUTO 001652 
 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR AF/EX, CA/EX, AF/S, OIG/ISP, M/FSI/SPAS, CA/VO, 
CA/FPP, CA/OCS 
JOHANNESBURG FOR RCO BACA 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CMGT, CVIS, CASC, KFRD, ASIG, AFSI, MZ 
SUBJECT: CONSULAR NARRATIVE FOR MOZAMBIQUE 
 
REF: STATE 306486 
 
The following are Embassy Maputo's responses to the 
questions posed in REFTEL. 
A)Consular Section Chief: James H. Potts 
ETD: 08/04 (to Pol/Econ section) 
Telephone: 258 1 492797, ext 3434 
Email: pottsjh@state.gov 
Deputy Section Consular Chief: none 
Back-up Consular Officer: Elizabeth E. Jaffee 
Email: jaffeeee@state.gov 
Consular Section Fax number: 258 1 490448 
IVG:887 
B) Do you have sufficient staff to meet consular MPP 
objectives? 
Yes. The Consular Section currently consists of one Vice 
Consul, one Foreign Service National and one part-time 
Consular Assistant. Back-up Consular Officers at post and 
the Regional Consular Officer in Johannesburg provide 
critical advice and backstopping assistance. This is 
adequate staffing to meet our objectives. 
C) Do you have sufficient space to meet consular MPP 
objectives? 
Space is inadequate. We can still meet MPP objectives, but 
in a less-than-efficient manner. There is only one window 
for all NIV, ACS and cashier functions, causing delays in 
processing visas and providing services to American 
citizens. In addition, the copy machine, desks, sight lines 
and fire escape lanes are less than adequate because there 
is no other feasible way to situate them within the confines 
of the office space. 
In 2002, Post made an OBO request for a second consular 
window in recent years. This year, however, we are 
discontinuing that request because it does not appear 
structurally feasible within the confines of our current 
building. We are not currently considering relocation of 
the Consular section to another office space. Post is in 
the process of locating sites for a new Embassy, in which 
the Consular section would be larger than it is at present. 
D) Describe any management practices that post has 
instituted in the past year. Are these management practices 
effective? Also, please list any management practices that 
have been discontinued in the past year, citing reasons for 
their termination. 
Post has continued our basic management practices. NIV 
interviews take place by appointment every Tuesday and 
Thursday morning. The Consular FSN conducts the screening 
process while the Consular Assistant enters data; the Vice 
Consul conducts interviews later in the morning. Our 
appointment, fee collection, and record keeping systems work 
well. We maintain an on-site MRV fee collection system, and 
are not planning an off-site move at this time. We do not 
use a call center, given our relatively low NIV application 
rate. 
We carry out a full range of American Citizen Services. One 
small change in ACS: we are now providing additional 
passport pages by mail, waiving personal appearances for 
American citizens known to the Embassy. This system has 
been adopted since many Amcits in country live far from 
Maputo, transportation is expensive, and DHL/Fed Ex services 
are increasingly available and safe. 
E) Please advise whether and why post might benefit from a 
Consular Management Assistance Team (CMAT) visit. If a CMAT 
visited you post, please summarize any benefits and what 
steps, if any, could be taken to further enhance the 
productivity of CMAT visits. 
While staff is familiar with basic management practices, a 
CMAT visit would help us troubleshoot specific weaknesses, 
such as control of older inventory. We could also learn more 
about new Department initiatives, such as off-site fee 
collection. Such a visit would be particularly helpful in 
late 2004 when a new Consular Assistant will be hired to 
replace the one leaving June 2004. 
F) Do you have the equipment you need to meet consular MPP 
objectives? 
Basic consular supplies and equipment at post are sufficient 
to meet objectives. 
G) How would you rate your consular section's satisfaction 
with automated consular systems? How do your rate the 
training of post personnel both within the consular section 
and in Management/IM on the use and support of consular 
systems? What types of assistance would you need from the 
next training and refresher teams coming from the consular 
systems division to assist consular system users? Please 
also comment on the quality of assistance provided by the Ca 
Overseas Help Desk. 
Consular section is very unsatisfied with the effectiveness 
and reliability of our automated consular systems, 
particularly the NIV and ACRS applications. We lose several 
work hours per person per week due to recurrent equipment 
failures. Staff is well versed in the use of consular 
systems, although training is always welcome. IM personnel 
in the Embassy do their best to assist but are not able to 
prevent recurring system crashes and other errors. IM 
personnel do not have the comprehensive training required to 
debug consular applications. 
From November 12-24, 2003, a team from the Orkand Group will 
be visiting post, at which time much of our pre-existing 
equipment will be reinstalled, along with several new 
applications. Hopefully this will rectify many of our 
equipment problems. Biometric and photo-digitized passport 
equipment will also be installed. During this visit, we 
will require biometrics training, and we also ask that both 
IM and Consular staff receive system maintenance training. 
H) Some posts have recently begun scanning 2-D barcodes to 
input DS-156 information into consular systems. Please 
comment on post's experience with this program. 
We expect to begin scanning 2-D barcodes after the Orkand 
Team finishes installing equipment this November. Until 
now, post has no experience with the program. 
I) What aspects of your ACS work are the most demanding? 
The American community in Mozambique is spread throughout 
the country in areas where transportation to/from the 
capital is poor, and communication is unreliable. Amcits 
are often difficult to reach, and we would have a difficult 
time responding quickly in case of an actual emergency 
outside Southern Mozambique. 
Thankfully, 2003 has been relatively free of consular 
emergencies. In late 2002, however, there were two 
shootings of Americans in Maputo within a three-week period 
- one of them fatal. Also, many more petty crimes were 
committed against Amcits in Northern and Central Mozambique 
during late 2002/early 2003. Crime levels have fallen since 
then, but complaints against local immigration officials and 
police are still very common. We spend a significant amount 
of staff time intervening with relevant officials in order 
to ensure that Americans are issued proper visas, permits, 
certificates, etc. 
In addition, we have a growing number of pending cases of 
Americans hoping to adopt Mozambican children, all of them 
complicated for various reasons. 
J) Please describe any initiatives post has undertaken to 
better provide assistance for victims of violent crime and 
their impact on your workload. 
In 2003, we have not experienced any reported violent crime 
against American citizens that resulted in serious physical 
injuries or financial destitution. After two Americans were 
shot in Maputo in late 2002, the Ambassador hosted town hall 
meetings to address the concerns of the American community. 
We have since expanded our warden system network and 
communication with police in outlying areas of the country, 
in order to better reach potential victims in those areas. 
DCM, RSO and Consul met with American businesses, schools 
and charitable groups to review counter-terrorism awareness. 
K) What aspects of your NIV work are most demanding? 
Third country nationals - particularly South Asians, Cubans, 
and other Africans - make up a significant portion of our 
NIV caseload, and are generally much more difficult to 
evaluate than Mozambican applicants. 
L) Describe the impact that post-9/11 changes in NIV 
processing, such as special processing requirements, SEVIS, 
etc. have had on your workflow, including the amount of time 
it takes to conduct an interview. 
Perhaps 25% of our applicants require some form of special 
processing. None of these procedures, from SAOs to SEVIS, 
slow down the interview process considerably. The SAO 
process does hinder workflow, however, since response to SAO 
requests is often very slow, usually arriving after the 
applicant's original purpose for travel has already past. 
This obligates us to re-open each case upon arrival of the 
clearance cable, which takes time. 
M) Describe the impact that changes in Personal Appearance 
Waiver (PAW) rules have had on your NIV operations. 
The rule changes have had a limited effect. In practice, we 
still request personal appearances for all applicants except 
A-1 applicants, most A-2 applicants, and certain G 
applicants known to the Embassy. In particular, we have 
grown stricter about requiring interviews from many A-2 
applicants. This is because nearly anyone vaguely 
associated with the Mozambican government or the United 
Nations can acquire a valid diplomatic note in Mozambique, 
but many of these applicants are not traveling on official 
business and should be subject to examination on 214(b) 
grounds. 
N) For posts that have already implemented collection of two 
index fingerprints for visa applicants, please comment on 
your experience thus far with the program. 
N/A. Biometric installation will take place in late 
November 2003. 
O) What aspects of your IV work are the most demanding? 
Post does not adjudicate immigrant visas but we do accept 
petitions, on average two or three per month. We keep in 
close contact with the IV team in Johannesburg in order to 
ensure that each case is handled effectively. 
P) If applicable, please describe the impact of the DV 
program on your workload. 
N/A 
Q) What percentage of your NIV and IV applicants are third 
country nationals (TCNs)? From what countries are they? Do 
they speak a different language than post's designated 
language? If so, how do you communicate with them. 
20% of NIV applicants in 2003 are from TNCs, up from 14% in 
2002. Significantly, 27% of all B1/B2 applicants are from 
TNCs. The largest numbers of applicants come from India, 
Pakistan, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, and Cuba. Several 
other African countries are also represented, including DR 
Congo, Angola, Cape Verde, and Guinea. All applicants 
except those from Cuba and francophone Africa have a 
respectable command of English. The Cuban applicants 
generally speak Portuguese, and, in any case, the Vice 
Consul also speaks fluent Spanish. In a couple of cases 
this year, we had applicants from Congo/Guinea with 
insufficient Portuguese or English. In these cases, back-up 
Consular Officer Elizabeth Jaffee, who speaks French, 
conducts the interview. 
R) What percentage of your NIV and IV applicants require 
special namecheck processing? 
Approximately 6% of applicants would require special 
processing, almost all of whom hail from Pakistan or Cuba. 
However, the majority of these applicants do not meet the 
214(b) threshold, so no additional processing is requested 
in these cases. 
S) If applicable, discuss how your post has been affected, 
or expects to be affected, by the new passport application 
procedures required under the Overseas Photo-digitized 
passports program (OPDP), which began worldwide deployment 
in September 2003. 
This application will be installed in late November 2003. 
We expect the new technology to help us reduce the timeframe 
from date of application to receipt of passport by up to 5 
days. (Current time frame is 11-20 days.) We also 
anticipate that the new system will result in a slight 
reduction in workload for our FSN and Consular Assistant. 
T) Describe the general level and kind of fraud encountered 
at post in ACS, NIV, IV/DV or other work and activities to 
combat the fraud, including use of investigation resources, 
tracking systems, electronic tools, liaison and information 
sharing. Has post conducted a validation study? If so, 
what was learned from the study? What is the staffing of 
your fraud prevention unit and who manages the unit? Are 
you satisfied with the level of fraud prevention training 
for officers and FSNs? If not, what do you believe you need 
to support your efforts in this area? 
NIV fraud is not a grave problem at post; visa fraud in 
Mozambique tends to be targeted at entering South Africa 
rather than the United States. We have seen some recent 
indications of attempted NIV fraud among the Pakistani and 
Indian communities, however. On a related note, we see many 
third-country national NIV applicants who have entered 
Mozambique on visas that appear fraudulent. (The Mozambican 
consulate in Karachi has been recently charged with selling 
visas to Mozambique, reinforcing our suspicions.) We do not 
see a high incidence of fraudulent birth certificates, 
marriage certificates, etc. The false documents that we do 
see tend to be so poorly made that they do not indicate any 
organized fraud attempt. 
Consular section investigates fraud by maintaining relations 
with government officials, journalists, and consular 
officials from other embassies. Also, the Consular 
Assistant conducts a validation study in which he makes 
phone calls each month to approved NIV applicants who we 
deem medium-low risk 214(b) cases, upon their scheduled 
return to Mozambique. From this system, we have been able 
to better identify NIV fraud patterns with regard to 
particular countries and organizations. 
We are generally satisfied with our level of fraud 
prevention training. We could, however, use additional 
assistance with regard to investigation resources and 
tracking systems. 
U) Describe country conditions that affect your ability to 
provide consular services (infrastructure, fraud, political 
setting, etc.). 
The size of the country and the lack of adequate 
infrastructure (communications and roads) outside of the 
capital are challenges to providing emergency and non- 
emergency services to American citizens. The Consular 
Section is frequently asked to intervene with local 
government agencies to help Americans obtain necessary 
documentation (e.g., residency permits, drivers licenses). 
The police force is poorly paid and equipped, and complaints 
against corrupt police, immigration, and customs officials 
are particularly common among Americans in Northern and 
Central Mozambique. 
V) Describe any other issue not raised in the preceding 
questions that you believe to be significant to the consular 
section's effectiveness in handling its responsibilities. 
None. 
LA LIME