SUMMARY

Mohamed Atta January 2001 entry.

Time line.
• June 3, 2000. Admitted as a B2 tourist at Newark arriving from Czechoslovakia.
• July 7, 2000. Begins training at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida.
• September 19, 2000. Files an INS 1-539 to change his status from B2 tourist to
Ml vocational student at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida. Note: the
application's handwritten addendum on the back, describing the financing-of his
schooling, reads as follows:
"My family is supporting me financially for all my living and training
expenses. I receive money transfers regularly on my bank account.
MOHAMED ATTA."
• December 2, 2000. Permitted length of stay expires.
• December 19, 2000. Passes his commercial pilot test, scoring 90.
• January 4, 2001. Departs the U.S. Pending change of status application now
abandoned under immigration rules.
• January 10, 2001. Seeks admission at Miami International Airport from Madrid.
Has a B2 tourist visa yet presents school paperwork from Huffman Aviation,
claiming to have adjusted status to an Ml vocational student still attending flight
school.
• The primary inspection report reads: "PAX (passenger) turned in [an 1-20 form]
but has had a response, meanwhile he's attending flight training school. Already
was in school for 5/6 months, please verify."
• The secondary inspection report reads: "SUBJ applied for M-l. I.S. Adjusted
status. No overstay/No removal grounds found." The secondary inspector
conducts a half hour interview, which he does not recall. Atta is admitted.

Analysis.
• Atta's inspection reports indicate he was attempting to re-enter the U.S. as a
vocational student with a tourist visa.
• Atta claims to have adjusted status. He had not. A check in the benefits
adjudication database, CLAIMS, should have verified the application as still
pending.
• Atta was an overstay by about a month. This information was likely unavailable
to inspectors, as there was no real time entry-exit system in place.
• Atta claims to still be in flight school. A student tracking system, if in place,
could have verified that he had already completed full time schooling at Huffman.
• Atta should have presented an Ml vocational visa: ttrthe inspector forcontinued
full time flight training. He did not. Atta did not indicate there was an emergency
reason why he did not have a Ml visa, so option of a 30 day deferred inspection
was not an available.
• Atta should have been denied entry under 8 U.S.C. 237...

Recommendation.
• Request Melendez-Perez state for the record, under the facts provided above (he
has previously reviewed them), whether he would have admitted Atta.
9/11 Commission. JKR. 1/23/04
 SUMMARY
Marwan Al Shehhi January 2001 entry.

Time line.
• May 29, 2000. Admitted as a B2 tourist at Newark arriving from Brussels,
(although he had a Bl business visa).
• Early July, 2000. Begins training at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida.
• September 22, 2000. Files an INS 1-539 to change his status from B2 tourist/Bl
business to Ml vocational student at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida. His
bank account statement and residential lease paperwork are duplicates of Atta's,
and his handwritten addendum regarding financial support also reads Kkr Atta's.
• November 28, 2000. Permitted length of stay expires.
• December 19, 2000. Passes his commercial pilot test, scoring 85.
• January 11, 2001. Departs the U.S. Pending change of status application now
abandoned under immigration rules.
• January 18, 2001. Seeks admission at JFK International Airport. Has a Bl
business visa but mentions attendance at flight school. The primary inspection
report reads: "SUBJ left one week ago after entry in May. Has extension and now
returning for a few more months." Secondary inspection reads "was in US
gaining flight hours to become a pilot. Admitted for four months."
Analysis.
• Al Shehhi's inspection reports indicate he was attempting to re-enter the U.S.
as a vocational student with a business visa. (Language is more ambiguous on
Al Shehhi's inspectiorrreports.)
• Al Shehhi claims to have an "extension". He did not. A check in the benefits
adjudication database, CLAIMS, should have verified the status of both
applications.
• Atta claims to still be in flight school. (It is less clear for Al Shehhi.). A
student tracking system, if in place, could have verified that both had already
completed schooKng at Huffman.
• Both should have had Ml vocational visas, which they did not, for continued
full time flight training. Neither did. (Itis less clear this was Al Shehhi's
claim. Al Shehhi's secondary report says he is "gaining flight hours to become
a pilot". This may mean he was claiming "incidentally" engaging in a "short"
course of study while in the U.S..)
• Al Shehhi appears to claim student status holding a business visa, and if this was
the case, he too should have been denied entry. However, the INS Inspector's
Field Manual gave a pass to a tourist "incidentally" engaging in a "short" course
of study while in the U.S. This option was/was not available to a Bl visa holder.

• Team 5 needs to do further scrubbing on the Al Shehhi January 2001 entry, to

determine the extent the Bl business visa, as opposed to B2 tourist visa, may have
had on his adjudication.
o SUMMARY FOR OF ATTA AND AL SHEHHI January 2001
admissions. Atta, the pilot of AA#11, first came into the US in June
2000 as a tourist visitor via Newark, NJ. The inspector admitted Atta
until December 2, 2000, but Atta did not leave until early January
2001, thereby making him an overstay. Atta began training at
Huffman Aviation on July 7, 2000 and passed his commercial pilot test
on December 19, 2000. It was not until Sept. 19, 2000, that Atta filed
an 1-539 to change his status to an M-1 student at Huffman Aviation in
Venice Florida, thereby violating the terms of his stay by attending
school full time prior to applying to change his status. Interestingly,
Atta's application was handwritten on the back, with a note describing
how he planned to financially support himself if not employed:
"My family is supporting me financially for all my living and
training expenses. I receive money transfers regularly on my
bank account.
MOHAMED ATTA." Slide of application here.

While Atta's INS application was pending, he left the US, which
technically meant he had abandoned his application. When Atta
departed January 4, 2001 and then returned again to Miami
International Airport on January 10 as a tourist again, he was pulled
into secondary inspection upon arrival, for he had some limited school
papers with him. The inspector conducted a half hour interview,
which he does not recall. The primary inspection report reads: "PAX
(passenger) turned in [an 1-20 form] but has had a response,
meanwhile he's attending flight training school. Already was in
school for 5/6 months, please verify." Secondary Inspection results
read: SUBJ applied for M-1. I.S. Adjusted status. No overstay/No
removal grounds found." At the time, while the law found Atta in
violation of immigration law as an overstay, in his visa status, and
under the terms of the pending application, the INS Inspector's Field
Manual gave a pass to a tourist "incidentally" engaging in a "short"
course of study while in the US. In other words, as long as Atta could
talk himself through the interview, he'd be given a pass. Without an
entry-exit system in place to show that Atta was an overstay, and
without a student tracking system in place to verify that Atta was lying
about the status of his studies (he said he was still attending school
when he already had his commercial pilot license), the inspector could
only check the status of the benefits application, which, if the
application database was checked, would indicate it the application
still pending, not as described by Atta as "adjusted". Under those
circumstances, Atta was able to convince the inspector his continuing
student status was legitimate. Eventually, Atta did receive his change
of status to a vocational student in the summer of 2001. Atta left again
on July 7, 2001, returning on July 19 to learn that his vocational
student status had been approved through October 2001. As far as his
immigration status, Atta was, in reality, home free.
 SUMMARY
Atta and AI Shehhi January 2001 entries.

Mohamed Atta.
• June 3, 2000. Admitted as a B2 tourist at Newark arriving from Czechoslovakia.
• July 7, 2000. Begins training at Huffinan Aviation in Venice, Florida.
• September 19, 2000. Files an INS 1-539 to change his status from B2 tourist to
Ml vocational student at Huffinan Aviation in Venice, Florida. Note: the
application's handwritten addendum on the back, describing the financing of his
schooling, reads as follows:
"My family is supporting me financially for all my living and training
expenses. I receive money transfers regularly on my bank account.
MOHAMED ATTA."
• December 2,2000. Permitted length of stay expires.
• December 19, 2000. Passes his commercial pilot test, scoring 90.
• January 4, 2001. Departs the U.S. Pending change of status application now
abandoned under immigration rules.
• January 10,2001. Seeks admission at Miami International Airport from Madrid.
Has a B2 tourist visa yet presents school paperwork from Huffinan Aviation,
claiming to have adjusted status to an Ml vocational student still attending flight
school. The primary inspection report reads: "PAX (passenger) turned in [an 1-20
form] but has had a response, meanwhile he's attending flight training school.
Already was in school for 5/6 months, please verify." Secondary Inspection
results read: "SUBJ applied for M-l. I.S. Adjusted status. No overstay/No
removal grounds found." The secondary inspector conducts a half hour interview,
which he does not recall. Atta is admitted.

Marwan Al Shehhi.
• May 29, 2000. Admitted as a B2 tourist at Newark arriving from Brussels
(although he had a Bl business visa).
• Early July, 2000. Begins training at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida.
• September 22, 2000. Files an INS 1-539 to change his status from B2 tourist/Bl
business to Ml vocational student at Huffman-Aviation in Venice, Florida. His
bank account statement and residential lease paperwork are duplicates of Atta's,
and his handwritten addendum regarding financial support also reads like Atta's.
• November 28,2000. Permitted length of stay expires.
• December 19^2000^ Passes his commercial pilot test, scoring 85.
• January 11,2001. Departs the U. S. Pending change of status application now
abandoned under immigration rules.
• January 18, 2001. Seeks admission at JFK International Airport. Has a Bl
business visa but mentions attendance at flight school. The primary inspection
report reads: "SUBJ left one week ago after entry in May. Has extension and now
returning for a few more months." Secondary inspection reads "was in US
gaining flight hours to become a pilot. Admitted for four months."
Analysis.
• Atta's inspection reports indicate he was attempting to re-enter the U.S. as a
vocational student with a tourist visa.
• Al Shehhi's inspection reports indicate he was attempting to re-enter the U.S.
as a vocational student with a business visa. (Language is more ambiguous on
Al Shehhi's inspection reports.)
• Both claimed they had adjusted status. Al Shehhi's report uses the word
"extension". Neither had. A check in the benefits adjudication database,
CLAIMS, should have verified the status of both applications.
• Both were overstays. This information was likely unavailable to inspectors,
as there was no real time entry-exit system in place.
• Both said they were still in flight school. (It is less clear for Al Shehhi.). A
student tracking system, if in place, could have verified that both had already
completed schooling at Huffman.
• Both should have had Ml vocational visas, which they did not, for continued
full time flight training. Neither did. (It is less clear this was Al Shehhi's
claim.)
• For Atta's claim as student but holding a tourist visa, he should have been
denied entry.
• Atta did not indicate there was an emergency reason why he did not have a
Ml visa, so option of a 30 day deferred inspection was not likely available to
the inspector.
• Al Shehhi appears to claim student status holding a, business visa, and if this
was the case, he too should have been denied entry. However, the INS
Inspector's Field Manual gave a pass to a tourist "incidentally" engaging in a
"short" course of study while in the U.S. This option was/was not available to
aBl visa holder.