[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 201 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64134-64135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26261]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[AAG/A Order No. 290-2002]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

    Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 
552a), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of 
Justice (DOJ), proposes to remove an existing system of records, 
entitled Secondary Verification Automated Log (SVAL), last published 
October 10, 1995 (60 FR 52699) and replace it with a new system of 
records for which no public notice consistent with the provisions of 5 
U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) has been published. This new system of records is 
entitled:
    The Verification Information System (VIS), JUSTICE/INS-035.
    Therefore, on the effective date of the new system, named above, 
the SVAL system notice will be removed from the DOJ inventory of 
Privacy Act systems of records.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (11), the public is 
given a 30-day period in which to comment on the new routine uses. The 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has oversight 
responsibility under the Act, requires a 40-day period in which to 
conclude its review of the system. Therefore, please submit any 
comments by November 18, 2002. The public, OMB, and the Congress are 
invited to submit any comments to Mary Cahill, Management Analyst, 
Management and Planning Staff, Justice Management Division, Department 
of Justice, Washington, DC 20530 (Room 1400, National Place Building).
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), the Department has provided a 
report to OMB and the Congress.

    Dated: October 4, 2002.
Robert F. Diegelman,
Acting Assistant Attorney General for Administration.
JUSTICE/INS-035

SYSTEM NAME:
    Verification Information System (VIS).

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Headquarters, Regional, District, and suboffices of the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service (INS) in the United States--addresses can be 
located on the INS webpage: www.INS.gov and as detailed in JUSTICE/INS-
999, last published in the Federal Register on April 13, 1999 (64 FR 
18052).

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    Immigrants and naturalized U.S. citizens applying for federal, 
state, and local public benefits for whom INS receives a Form G-845, 
Document Verification Request, or an automated verification request 
submitted by federal, state, and local public benefit issuing agencies; 
and immigrant employees of employers who participate in one of INS' 
Employment Verification Pilot Programs.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS:
    8 U.S.C. 1255a, 8 U.S.C. 1324a, 8 U.S.C. 1360 and 42 U.S.C. 1320b-
7.

PURPOSE(S):
    This system of records is used to provide immigration status 
information to federal, state, and local government agencies for 
immigrants and naturalized U.S. citizens applying for federal, state, 
and local public benefits. It is also used to provide employment 
authorization information to employers participating in an employment 
verification pilot program. The VIS expands the Systematic Alien 
Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program's current electronic 
primary verification process which utilizes the Alien Status 
Verification Index (ASVI) database (JUSTICE/INS-009, last published 
September 7, 2001, 66 FR 46815) to include two additional systems: (1) 
The Status Verification System (SVS); and (2) the Management Reporting 
System (MRS). External users access ASVI to electronically verify 
immigration status and employment authorization. In the instances when 
the verification cannot be confirmed by ASVI, an electronic 
transmission of the verification request is sent by ASVI to SVS to an 
INS field office for processing record manual agency verification 
requests (Forms G-845) submitted to INS field offices when the agency 
does not have access to an automated secondary verification method or 
electronic access is not feasible. In cases where the employer 
verification process requires the immigrant employee to contact INS, 
SVS records these transactions. The SVS also includes a workload 
traffic management capability that moves and records the location of 
verification requests transmitted by external users to INS field 
offices servicewide. The SVS also captures status and employment 
verification statistics and transmits these statistics electronically 
to MRS. The MRS is an automated system used by INS management to 
produce statistical reports and information on immigration status and 
employment authorization verification requests.
    The purpose of the system is to meet both current and future 
immigration status and employment authorization verification needs. The 
VIS provides the opportunity to reduce the submission of the paper 
Forms G-845 and reduces the amount of time necessary to provide 
immigration status and employment authorization information. The VIS 
will be used by current participants of the SAVE Program, the 
Employment Verification Pilots, and future customers. The VIS extends 
the automation of the verification process from the initial 
verification through the ASVI database through any verification that 
may be required with INS field offices and records and captures 
statistical information associated with the verification process.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    Some agency users submit requests to INS on Form G-845 for agency 
manual verification. These records contain the following data: Alien 
Registration Number (A-Number), alien name, nationality, date of birth, 
and name, address, telephone number, and contact person of the 
submitting agency. INS will complete Section B of Form G-845 with 
immigration status information and return it to the benefit issuing 
agency. However, identical data, together with a unique verification 
number and Form G-845 disposition data, will be recorded and maintained

[[Page 64135]]

by INS in the VIS database as a record of manual verification made by 
the benefit issuing agency.
    Agency automated users submit their verification requests to INS 
electronically and these records contain the following data: A-Number, 
alien name, date of birth, INS document type, INS document expiration 
date, name of the submitting agency and immigration status information, 
as well as a unique verification number and disposition data, and will 
be maintained by INS in the VIS database as a record of verification 
made by the benefit issuing agency.
    Employers also submit their verification requests to INS 
electronically and these records contain the following data: A-Number, 
alien name, date of birth, social security number, date of hire, 
claimed citizenship status, INS document type, INS document expiration 
date, name of the submitting employer and employment authorization 
information, as well as a unique verification number and disposition 
data, and will be maintained by INS in the VIS database as a record of 
verification made by the employer.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    Relevant information contained in this system of records may be 
disclosed to the following:
    A. To a federal, state, tribal, or local government agency, or to a 
contractor acting on its behalf, to the extent that such disclosure is 
necessary to enable these agencies to make decisions concerning: (1) 
Determination of eligibility for a federal, state, or local public 
benefit; or (2) issuance of a license or grant. Such access may be via 
a system in which the recipient performs its own automated verification 
of the requisite information for deciding any of the above. Records may 
also be disclosed to these agencies, or contractors operating on their 
behalf, for use in computer matching programs for the purpose of 
verifying an applicant's immigration status for the purpose of making 
benefit eligibility determinations.
    B. To employers participating in Employment Verification Pilot 
Programs for verifying the employment authorization of immigrant 
employees to work in the United States. Employers are assigned secure 
access codes, user IDs, and passwords, and have access through personal 
computers with a modem.
    C. To other federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies 
seeking to verify or determine the citizenship or immigration status of 
any individual within the jurisdiction of the INS as authorized or 
required by law. The INS will assign access codes and passwords for 
remote access through secure methods to agencies to perform their own 
automated verification.
    D. To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, students, and 
others performing or working on a contract, service, grant, cooperative 
agreement, or other assignment for the Federal Government, when 
necessary to accomplish an agency function related to this system of 
records.
    E. To the news media and the public pursuant to 28 CFR 50.2 unless 
it is determined that release of the specific information in the 
context of a particular case would constitute an unwarranted invasion 
of personal privacy.
    F. To a Member of Congress or staff acting upon the Member's behalf 
when the Member or staff requests the information on behalf of and at 
the request of the individual who is the subject of the record.
    G. To the General Services Administration and the National Archives 
and Records Administration in records management inspections conducted 
under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    H. Pursuant to subsection (b)(3) of the Privacy Act, the Department 
of Justice may disclose relevant and necessary information to a former 
employee of the Department for purposes of: Responding to an official 
inquiry by a federal, state, or local government entity or professional 
licensing authority, in accordance with applicable Department 
regulations; or facilitating communications with a former employee that 
may be necessary for personnel-related or other official purposes where 
the Department requires information and/or consultation assistance from 
the former employee regarding a matter within that person's former area 
of responsibility.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Data is stored on magnetic disk and tape.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Agency records are retrieved by verification number, A-Number, or 
name of the applicant, or by the submitting agency name. Employer 
records are retrieved by verification number, A-Number, or Social 
Security Number of the employee, or by the submitting company name.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Records are safeguarded in accordance with the Department of 
Justice Orders governing security of automated records and Privacy Act 
systems of records. Access is controlled through user identification 
and discrete password functions to assure that accessibility is 
limited.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Completed verifications are archived to a storage disk monthly and 
destroyed five (5) years after the last month contained on the disk.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    The Servicewide system manager is the Assistant Commissioner, 
Office of Records, Immigration and Naturalization Service, 425 I Street 
NW., Fourth Floor, Union Labor Life Building, Washington, DC 20536.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Address your inquiries about the system in writing to the system 
manager identified above.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    In all cases, requests for access to a record in this system shall 
be in writing. If a request for access is made by mail, the envelope 
and letter should be clearly marked ``Privacy Act Request.'' The 
requester shall include the name, date and place of birth of the person 
whose record is sought and, if known, the A-Number. The requester shall 
also provide a return address for transmitting the information.

CONTESTING RECORDS PROCEDURES:
    Any individual desiring to contest or amend information maintained 
in the system should direct his or her request to the System Manager or 
the INS office that completed the verification request. The request 
should clearly state what information is being contested, the reasons 
for contesting it, and the proposed amendment to the information.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Form G-845, Request for Document Verification (furnished by benefit 
issuing agencies) and INS immigration status records.

SYSTEMS EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT:
    None.
[FR Doc. 02-26261 Filed 10-16-02; 8:45 am]
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