SUPPORTING
STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
Choice of
Address and Agent
(DS-3032, OMB # 1405-0126)
All immigration visa petitions approved by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the United States are sent to the National Visa Center (NVC). The cases are processed by NVC and held until a visa number is available and/or the case is current for processing. If the petition is active, NVC will send the principal applicant the Agent Choice Letter and Form DS-3032, Choice of Address and Agent. Form DS-3032 permits the principal applicant to choose an agent to receive mailings from NVC and assist in the paperwork or paying required fees. The applicant is not required to choose an agent and may have all mailings sent to an address abroad. The applicant’s file will be held at NVC until the signed form is returned. If the form is not returned to NVC within one year, NVC will begin the case termination process.
As noted above, principal applicants for immigrant visas complete DS-3032. The form allows the applicant to designate an agent in the United States to assist in the immigration process. The applicant can elect not to designate an agent and have all information sent to an address abroad. The applicant can also indicate that he or she no longer wishes to apply for an immigrant visa or that he or she has already legally immigrated to the US and does not need to apply for an immigrant visa. The completion of the form is essential in determining what, if any, further action NVC needs to take regarding the application for admission.
Form DS-3032 is mailed to the principal applicant once the petition has been approved by DHS and NVC has determined that the case is current and active for processing. The applicant submits the form to NVC via the mail only upon the request of NVC to do so. The Department is currently designing an electronic application system for immigrant visa applications that will allow electronic submission and eliminate paper forms. The Choice of Address and Agent Form will be piloted as part of the Consular Electronic Application Center's Immigrant Visa portion in the near future.
The information collected from the applicant is not otherwise available. The information collected is necessary in determining what further action is necessary concerning the application for admission.
5. This information collection does not impact small business or small entities.
6. NVC would be unable to efficiently process immigrant visa applications without utilizing this information collection. The information collected on this form is not otherwise available and cannot be conducted with less frequently.
7. No such special circumstances exist.
8. The Department of State (Office of Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs) has solicited public comments on this collection via Public Notice published in the Federal Register. No comments were received.
9. Respondents to this information collection receive no payment or gift.
10. Although no assurances of confidentiality are expressly stated on the form, in accordance with Section 222(f) of the INA (Attachment 1), information obtained from applicants in the nonimmigrant visa process is considered confidential and is to be used only for the formulation, amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigration, nationality, and other laws of the United States.
11. No information of a sensitive nature is collected on this form.
12. Approximately 330,000 respondents will complete this form each year. Each applicant, whether issued or refused a visa, fills out this form. The form requires approximately 10 minutes of time to complete; no special research on the respondent’s part is required. The annual hour burden to respondents is estimated to be 55,000 hours (330,000 x 10 minutes = 55,000 hours).
13. There is no cost burden to the applicant associated with this information collection.
14. The annualized cost burden to the federal government associated with this information collection is $386,000. The information collection is processed by a contractor who performs this function as part of its work under a competitive fixed-unit-price contract to administer the National Visa Center. The contractor is paid approximately $386,000 annually to process the completed Form DS-3032s.
15. There is no program change associated with this information collection.
16. A quantitative summary of all Department of State visa activities is published in the annual Report on the Visa Office.
17. The Department will display the OMB expiration date for this form.
18. The Department is not seeking any exceptions to the certification requirement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
Attachment 1: INA § 222(f)
(f) The records of the Department of State and of diplomatic and consular offices of the United States pertaining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States shall be considered confidential and shall be used only for the formulation, amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigration, nationality, and other laws of the United States, except that—
(1) in the discretion of the Secretary of State certified copies of such records may be made available to a court which certifies that the information contained in such records is needed by the court in the interest of the ends of justice in a case pending before the court.
(2) the Secretary of State, in the Secretary's discretion and on the basis of reciprocity, may provide to a foreign government information in the Department of State's computerized visa lookout database and, when necessary and appropriate, other records covered by this section related to information in the database—
(A) with regard to individual aliens, at any time on a case-by-case basis for the purpose of preventing, investigating, or punishing acts that would constitute a crime in the United States, including, but not limited to, terrorism or trafficking in controlled substances, persons, or illicit weapons; or
(B) with regard to any or all aliens in the database, pursuant to such conditions as the Secretary of State shall establish in an agreement with the foreign government in which that government agrees to use such information and records for the purposes described in subparagraph (A) or to deny visas to persons who would be inadmissible to the United States
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR |
| Author | USDOS |
| Last Modified By | ciupekra |
| File Modified | 2009-11-17 |
| File Created | 2009-11-17 |