[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 46 (Monday, March 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13694-13696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04737]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 11064]


Notice of OMB Emergency Approval of Information Collection: 
Public Charge Questionnaire

ACTION: Notice of OMB emergency approval of information collection.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approved the 
Department of State's (``Department'')

[[Page 13695]]

submission of an information collection described below, the DS-5540, 
Public Charge Questionnaire (``DS-5540''), following the Department's 
request for emergency processing.

DATES: OMB approved the Department's request on February 20, 2020. This 
procedure was conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct requests for additional 
information regarding the collection listed in this notice to Taylor 
Beaumont, Acting Chief, Legislation and Regulations Division, Visa 
Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State, 600 19th St. 
NW, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 485-8910, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The Department published a ``Notice of 
Intent to Request Emergency Processing of Information Collection: 
Public Charge Questionnaire'' (``DS-5540''), notifying the public of 
the Department's intent to seek emergency processing of the DS-5540 on 
February 12, 2020. 85 FR 8087. Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (``PRA''), and OMB procedures, the Department requested 
approval after emergency processing of the DS-5540. On October 24, 
2019, the Department had published a Notice of Request for Public 
Comment for the DS-5540, initiating a 60-day period for the public to 
submit comments on the information collection 84 FR 5712. The 60-day 
comment period ended on December 23, 2019, and the Department received 
92 comments. On February 12, in the Supporting Statement for the 
Department's request for OMB emergency processing and approval of the 
DS-5540, the Department responded to public comments received during 
the 60-day comment period, as well as comments received pursuant to the 
emergency notice for the separate DS-5541, Immigrant Health Insurance 
Coverage (``DS-5541'') (84 FR 58199) that are pertinent to the DS-5540. 
The health insurance-related questions in the DS-5540 are relevant for 
making a public charge assessment, so the Department is responding to 
public comments to the DS-5541 even though the implementation of 
Presidential Proclamation 9945, whose implementation would have 
necessitated use of the DS-5541, is currently enjoined by federal court 
order. The Department plans to complete the ongoing PRA process for 
three-year approval of the DS-5540 since approval based on emergency 
processing under the PRA is only granted for a maximum of 180 days, 
until August 31, 2020.
     Title of Information Collection: Public Charge 
Questionnaire.
     OMB Control Number: 1405-0234.
     Type of Request: Emergency Processing.
     Originating Office: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Visa 
Office (CA/VO).
     Form Number: DS-5540.
     Respondents: Immigrant visa applicants, including 
diversity visa applicants, with exceptions, and certain nonimmigrant 
visa applicants.
     Estimated Number of Respondents: 397,814.
     Estimated Number of Responses: 397,814.
     Average Time per Response: 4.5 hours.
     Total Estimated Burden Time: 1,790,163 hours.
     Frequency: Once per respondent application.
     Obligation to respond: Required to Obtain or Retain a 
Benefit.

1. Abstract of Proposed Collection

    Aliens who seek a visa, application for admission, or adjustment of 
status must establish that they are not likely at any time after 
admission to become a public charge, unless Congress has expressly 
exempted them from this ground of ineligibility or if the alien 
obtained a waiver. Consular officers will use the completed forms to 
assess whether an alien is more likely than not to become a public 
charge, and is thus ineligible for a visa under section 212(a)(4)(A) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (``INA''), 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(4), and 
22 CFR 40.41. This collection is consistent with the burden of proof on 
aliens under section 291 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1361, to establish that 
they are eligible to receive a visa, including that they are not 
inadmissible under any provision of the INA. This information 
collection is consistent with the statutory requirement in section 
212(a)(4)(B), 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(4)(B), and regulatory requirement in 22 
CFR 40.41, that consular officers must consider an alien's age; health; 
family status; assets, resources, and financial status; and education 
and skills in determining whether a visa applicant is more likely than 
not to become a public charge.
    The DS-5540 collects information relating to the visa applicant's 
age; health; family status; assets, resources, and financial status; 
and education and skills. The DS-5540 will require visa applicants to 
provide information on whether they have received certain specified 
public benefits from a U.S. federal, state, territorial, or local 
government entity.
    Sponsors of immigrant visa applicants must currently provide 
information regarding their ability to financially support the 
sponsored visa applicant on DHS Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, which 
consular officers consider in evaluating whether a visa applicant is 
likely to become a public charge, but which alone is not a sufficient 
basis to evaluate public charge. The I-864 may have some information 
about a visa applicant's assets, although the primary respondent is the 
sponsor, not the sponsored visa applicant. The DS-5540 will be used to 
collect information to assess whether the visa applicant is more likely 
than not to become a public charge, based on the totality of the 
circumstances, as set forth in 22 CFR 40.41.
    Applicants for an immigrant visa, including a diversity visa, will 
be required to complete the DS-5540, except for those individuals who 
are exempt from the public charge ground of inadmissibility. The 
exempted categories of individuals will be specified in the DS-5540 
instructions, including but not limited to visa applicants seeking 
immigrant visas based on qualified service to the U.S. government as an 
interpreter in Afghanistan or Iraq, visas based on a self-petition 
under the Violence Against Women Act, and visas for special immigrant 
juveniles. Additionally, a consular officer may, in his or her 
discretion, require a nonimmigrant visa applicant to complete some or 
all of the DS-5540. A nonimmigrant visa applicant will be required to 
respond to one or more questions from the DS-5540, orally or in 
writing, if the consular officer is unable to determine from other 
applicant-provided documentation whether the visa applicant is more 
likely than not to become a public charge during his or her stay in the 
United States.

2. Ongoing PRA Process

    On October 24, 2019, the Department published a notice in the 
Federal Register to announce that it was seeking OMB approval of the 
DS-5540, and invited public comment for a 60-day period. The 60-day 
comment period ended on December 23, 2019, and the Department received 
92 comments. The Department's responses to those comments are in the 
associated Supporting Statement. Because changed circumstances now 
require the Department to implement its interim final rule on the 
public charge ineligibility ground before it can complete the routine 
process for obtaining approval of an information collection under 5 CFR 
1320.10, the

[[Page 13696]]

Department was granted emergency OMB approval pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.13 
in order for the DS-5540 to be used by consular officers beginning 
12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time February 24, 2020. It was not possible 
to complete 30 days of public comment before February 24, 2020. This 
information collection is intended to align the Department's standards 
with those of DHS, to avoid situations where a consular officer will 
evaluate a visa applicant's circumstances and conclude that the visa 
applicant is not likely at any time to become a public charge, only for 
a DHS officer to evaluate the same individual when he or she seeks 
admission to the United States on the visa and finds the individual 
inadmissible on public charge grounds under the same facts.

3. Methodology

    The DS-5540 will be available online in fillable PDF format. Visa 
applicants will download the completed form and submit the completed 
DS-5540 to the consular officer, or to the Department with other 
documentation in advance of the interview.

Carl C. Risch,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-04737 Filed 3-6-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4710-06-P