SUPPORTING
STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
Choice of Address and Agent for Immigrant Visa Applicants
OMB Number 1405-0126
DS-3032
JUSTIFICATION
All immigrant visa petitions approved by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 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 in a case involving an application to be filed at a post where Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, is in use, 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 living in the United States who will be authorized to receive mailings from NVC, to assist in the paperwork, and pay the required fees. The designated agent cannot sign required documents for the applicant but can assist. However, the applicant is not required to choose an agent and may have all mailings sent to an address abroad. The applicant’s file is 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. In accordance with Section 222(f) of the INA, information obtained from applicants in the immigrant visa process is considered confidential and is to be used only for the formulation, amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigrant, nationality, and other laws of the United States.
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 United States 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 then mails the form to NVC within one year of receiving the DS-3032. If Form DS-260, Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, is in use at the post where the application is to be filed, the applicant is instructed as part of the application process to use Form DS-261, Choice of Address and Agent, an electronic form, rather than Form DS-3032. The DS-260 and DS-261 are currently in use at seven designated pilot posts. It is the Department’s goal to significantly expand DS-260 and DS-261 pilot usage over the coming months. However, the expansion of the DS-260 and DS-261 will not significantly affect the estimate number of respondents for the DS-3032 over the coming months or years. The DS-260 and DS-261 are still in its pilot phase and applicants will continue to use the DS-3032, if the DS-260 is not in use at applicant’s post.
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 an immigrant visa.
This information collection does not impact small business or small entities.
NVC would be unable to efficiently process immigrant visa applications without utilizing this collected information. The information collected on this form is not otherwise available, and is integral to processing immigrant visa cases in a timely manner. No such special circumstances exist.
There are no special circumstances associated with this collection.
The Department of State (Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs) published a 60-day Notice on the reauthorization of Form DS-3032 in the Federal Register (77 FR 23317, April 18, 2012), as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d). No comments were received. CA/VO meets with student groups, business groups, immigration attorneys, and other interested groups to discuss their opinions and suggestions regarding visas procedures and operations.
In accordance with Section 222(f) of the INA, information obtained from applicants in the immigrant 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.
No payment or gift is provided to respondents.
No information of a sensitive nature is collected on this form.
Approximately 333,000 respondents will complete the DS-3032 each year. Each applicant, whether issued or refused a visa, fills out this form. The form requires approximately 10 minutes of time to complete with no special research required. The annual hour burden to respondents is estimated to be 55,000 hours (330,000 respondents x 10 minutes= 55,000). Based on an average U.S hourly wage of $21, the weighted wage hour cost burden for this collection is $1,617,000 ($4.90 ten minute wage (loaded by 1.4 factor) x 330,000= $1,617,000). Please note that the Department of State did not use the average hourly wage per country as this information is not readily available for every country.
The U.S Department of State does not keep track of international postage rates for the 195 countries that it recognizes. The cost of international rates vary from country to country and also on the type of international shipping applicant choose. Based on an average U.S post cost of forty-six cents (based on Forever forty-six cents stamps), an estimated average postage cost for all applicants submitting the DS-3032, would be $153,180. (333,000 respondents x $0.46) However, in the next collection renewal submission, the Department will publish a Federal Register notice and will request from the public comments on the appropriate international postage rate to use.
The annualized cost burden to the federal government associated with this information collection is $304,504. The information collection is processed by contractors who receive, open and track DS-3032 in the Immigrant Visa Information System (IVIS). The contractors review the DS-3032 for completeness and if the form is complete, they update the IVIS with the agent and the agent’s preferred contact information and send the IV Fee Bill to the Agent. If the DS-3032 is incomplete, the contractors update the IVIS, the principal applicant is notified of the form’s deficiencies, and the DS-3032 is resent to the principal applicant.
There is no program change associated with this information collection.
A
quantitative summary of all Department of State visa activities is
published in the annual Report
on the Visa Office.
The Report of the Visa Office is an annual report providing
statistical information on immigrant and non-immigrant visa
issuances by consular offices, as well as information on the use of
visa numbers in numerically limited categories. The Visa Office
currently has annual reports available from 2000 to 2011. The link
to the site is:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/statistics/statistics_1476.html.
The Department will display the OMB expiration date for this form.
The Department is not seeking any exceptions to the certification requirement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | caworkxp |
| Last Modified By | ciupekra |
| File Modified | 2013-03-28 |
| File Created | 2013-03-27 |