US embassy cable - 05VIENNA2344

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 002344 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR CA:JARZT; CA/PPT FOR MHOLLY; CA/VO/F/P:DLOPES 
DA ROSA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, AU 
SUBJECT: VISA-WAIVER PROGRAM: PASSPORT-RELATED 
REQUIREMENTS FOR VWP TRAVELERS AND PARTICIPATING 
COUNTRIES 
 
REF: STATE 125862 
 
1.  Per Reftel para 9, Post provides the following 
information regarding Austrian Lost and Stolen Passport 
(LASP) reporting procedures.  This information concerns 
current procedures. 
 
2.  QUESTION a.Which office(s) at your post receive 
information on lost and stolen passports? If offices 
other than the consular section receive this info, how is 
it (or is it) passed to the consular section?   ANSWER: 
As in the U.S., there is no legal requirement for 
Austrian citizens to report the loss or theft of 
personalized, issued, passports, therefore post rarely 
receives reports of missing personalized passports.  We 
understand that 8050 personalized passports were reported 
lost or stolen in 2003, but the actual losses could have 
occurred years earlier.  The Austrian Ministry of 
Interior has not lost any blank passports in some years, 
so post has no recent experience with the reporting of 
the loss of blank passports.  Austrian authorities tell 
us all such losses would be reported to INTERPOL.  Our 
MOI contacts would additionally inform the consular 
section directly, but the DHS/ICE office might also 
receive the information, in which case the DHS/ICE staff 
would also enter the data in the lookout system. 
 
3.  QUESTION b. From which entity(ies) do you receive 
this info? If from the government, please specify exactly 
which part of the government. If there is a distinction 
between info on blank and issued passports and the 
country's willingness or mechanism for providing such 
info, please specify. If you get info from other 
diplomatic missions or sources, please specify. 
ANSWER: The consular section would be informed of missing 
blank passports by the Ministry of Interior, which is in 
charge of passport issuances.  In 2006 all passport 
issuance will be centralized in Vienna.  At this time, 
however, passports are issued in passport offices located 
throughout Austria.  There is no requirement to report 
lost or stolen personalized passports, therefore post 
would not learn about them from the Austrian government. 
In the last 24 months we have received no information 
from other diplomatic missions regarding lost or stolen 
passports. 
 
4.  QUESTION c. Currently, how do the governments handle 
lost-stolen passport data reporting internally? Does the 
government have a single point of contact on lost or 
stolen passport issues (or one at two different 
ministries), and if not, why and how do they handle 
reporting?  ANSWER: Again, there is no recent experience 
with this issue.  We would expect that the Ministry of 
Interior would inform the Embassy.  The ministry would 
also inform other relevant divisions within the Ministry, 
such as the gendarmerie. 
 
5.  QUESTION d.  How do you actually receive lost and 
stolen passport data (by phone, fax, email, CD, 
electronic transfer, etc.)?  ANSWER: Again, no blank 
passports have been lost in recent memory, so post has no 
experience on this. 
 
6.  QUESTION e. Which position/suboffice within your 
section has the responsibility for ensuring that data is 
put into CLASS or forwarded to VO/I and FPP? How long 
does it take on average to make CLASS entries or forward 
the info? If present at your post, does DHS enter lost- 
stolen passport data into their system?  ANSWER: This 
very small consular section would most likely have NIV 
staff enter the data with 24 hours.  When we receive 
information on a missing personalized passport the Visa 
Chief or our EFM assistant has entered the data.  DHS/ICE 
informs us they would enter data if they had passport 
numbers. 
 
7.  QUESTION f. Do you get information on recovered 
passports, and how do you usually deal with that? 
ANSWER: We rarely receive any information on recovered 
foreign passports unless the traveler has reported the 
loss to us - in conjunction with a visa application  - 
but has not yet applied for a new visa. 
 
8.  QUESTION g. Anything else we should know about this 
issue?  ANSWER: Most Austrians - about 80 percent - have 
passports.  A loss of 8000 personalized passports a year 
out of a population of 8 million is rather low, but the 
MOI is centralizing passport issuance to enhance the 
security of the Austrian passport. 
 
BROWN