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Job Code: 320087 DOC Number: 151248

DUBAI: Changes to
Procedures Since 9/11
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Review Date: Type review date here

Record of Analysis
Analysis Title Dubai, UAE: Changes to Procedures Since 9/11

Source Interviews conducted at the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, UAE

Richard Olson, Consul General
Donna Visocan, Consular Chief
Bix Aliu, Vice Consul
Dena Ayervais, Vice Consul (part-time)
lisa Royden, Vice Consul (part-time)
Sona Pandya, FSN Consular Staff
(Shane Christensen, Vice Consul, TOY to Liberia)
6 May 2002-8 May 2002
Analysis/Summary General Visa Processing

(Visocan, Aliu, Olson) Prior to 9/11, Dubai utilized a drop-box system for
all GCC nationals (including women and children) and any third country
nationals resident in the UAE who had been to the U.S. in the previous
five years. After 9/11, however, the drop-box system was eliminated, in
coordination with Abu Dhabi's consular section. Everyone must now
apply in person.

(Visocan, Aliu) The volume of NTV applications in Dubai is currently

down by 25-30% from what it was last year. However, the numbers are
beginning to pick up again. UAE nationals are reluctant to apply for visas
because: 1) they do not want to be interviewed; 2) they believe that the
U.S. is no longer granting student visas; 3) they are confused about the
new waiting periods; and 4) they are deterred by strict security checks at
U.S. airports, believing that they will be singled out for discrimination.

(Visocan, Aliu) The applicant pool here is different than that in Abu Dhabi
in that it is much more diverse. The Dubai consulate serves a very large
TCN population, seeing perhaps 50-60 different nationalities per month.
The largest TCN population consists of Indians and Pakistanis, followed
by Egyptians, Jordanians, Yemenis, Filipinos, and Sir Lankans. The
consulate also sees a significant number of Iranian applicants. Dubai is
the State Department's "window on Iran."

(Aliu) Each day in the late afternoon, Ms. Visocan reviews the day's
issuances and refusals.

Refusal Rates

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(Documents, Visocan, Aliu) Dubai's refusal rate for all nationalities for
the period 1 January 2002 to 30 April 2002 is approximately 47%. The
refusal rate for the same period in 2001 was about 41%.

(Documents, Visocan, Aliu) From January to April 2001, there were 975
UAE nationals who applied for visas; they had a refusal rate of 1.5%. From
January to April 2002, there were only approximately 265 UAE nationals
who applied for visas; they showed a refusal rate of 24%.
Workload

(Visocan, Aliu) There are approximately 180 visa applicants who are
interviewed each day. Mr. Aliu stated that the most he himself would
interview in one day is 75 applicants. The number varies depending on
how sticky the case is or if there are lots of Condors. However, Ms.
Visocan noted that during the first two months of 2002, the Dubai consular
officers only had an average of 60-80 applicants coming in each day.
CLASS
(Visocan) Although the CLASS database is not perfect, it has improved
quite a bit as a result of the Department's efforts to clean up the
information it contains. Previously, there had been many FNU entries
(i.e., First Name Unknown) and many records had lacked date of birth
information. Although the system is now better, CLASS still has difficulty
running Arabic names, with the result that consular officers often try
running one name several different ways. However, consular officers here
in Dubai have not seen the same phenomenon of altered place of birth (in
the passports of naturalized UAE citizens) as they have in Abu Dhabi.1
(Olson) Mr. Olson reported that he has not gotten any feedback on the
9/11 hyacker whose visa was issued in Dubai (Marwan al-Shehhi), i.e.,
whether there was any derogatory information on him in CLASS. The
events of 9/11 highlighted CLASS as a line of defense and everyone has
been surprised at how little information is in the database.
(Aliu) Mr. Aliu said that CLASS must be updated with a wide range of
information; otherwise, the information is worthless. It is difficult for the
consular officer to assess the applicants' documentation, e.g., passport,
photos, travel history, without getting a bigger clue on the individual from
CLASS. Consular officers must also make sure that they are
knowledgeable about what information is in CLASS, as this will help them
assess the hits they get. On this note, Mr. Aliu was under the impression
that in order for a CLASS entry to be considered a "hit," it had to be an
exact match with the applicant.2

' The only problem resembling this that they have encountered in Dubai has to do with the Three
Islands Dispute between the UAE and Iran. If an applicant's birthplace was a particular disputed
location (Mogud) on one of these islands, Iranians list place of birth as Iran, while UAE nationals list it
as UAE.
2On the morning of 5/8/02, with GAO observing, Mr. Aliu ran a CLASS check on an applicant. One
record showed an entry with the same last name as the applicant, with the first names being

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(Visocan, Aliu) CLASS is the first line of defense, but is only as good as
the information that is put into it. Consular officers do not start an
interview without conducting a CLASS namecheck. If the system happens
to be down, then they will not conduct any interviews or else they will
simply refuse applicants. Consular officers are no longer allowed to issue
visas using the CLASS back-up system. However, there are few problems
with CLASS being down.
(Ayervais) Ms. Ayervais primarily handles Lranian visa applicants. Her
complaint centered on the fact that much of the information in CLASS on
Iranians is outdated. In March 2000, the U.S. government relaxed
sanctions against Iran in four major areas (including caviar, fruits and
carpets). Within the past year, the U.S. government has also relaxed some
agricultural sanctions. Any person with a sanctions hit is entered in
CLASS as a PSA and many P3A records have not been updated since the
relaxing of sanctions. Ms. Ayervais felt that having to deal with such
outdated sanctions hits prevented her from focusing as well on serious
security threats. In addition, there were many Iranian in the early 1990's
who were in the U.S. as diplomats or students. These persons are still
flagged in the CLASS system. When Ms. Ayervais reviews the record by
contacting INS, she may find that the file is closed but nobody updated
CLASS. In Ms. Ayervais' opinion, having to examine the reasons for these
hits detracts from her ability to do her job properly.
(Ayervais, observation) Ms. Ayervais also noted that Iranians often
become very upset and emotional when they are denied visas. She said
that some Iranians will begin crying in front of her, while others will argue
V with her. During our observation of interviews, we noticed Ms. Ayervais
simply walking away from the interview window, after explaining the
denial, and ignoring the applicant. The applicant would eventually leave
and Ms. Ayervais could return to the window and call up the next
applicant for an interview
"DS-157
(Aliu) Mr. Abu noted that the DS-157 contains useful information for
filling out the Condor cable. He suggested, however, that the DS-157
include a question on where and when the applicant had been issued
previous U.S. visas and what their port of entry into the U.S. had been. He
himself uses the DS-157 for the applicant's previous travel history.
Condors & SAOs
(Visocan, Aliu, Olson) Although Dubai is rigorously following the post-
9/11 security procedures, consular officers do not feel that they can
comment on the utility of the new procedures for screening out terrorists.
This is simply because Dubai hardly ever hears back from Washington on
any of the Condors it sends in. Dubai has only received one response,
which came in recently. This was a "Visa 7," telling them to place a hold
on the visa application. Mr. Aliu said that, although the new procedures

Muhammed and Mohammed. No date of birth was given. Mr. Aliu felt that the applicant was not the
same person listed in CLASS because the biographical data was not exactly the same.

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are an added burden (applying to those who would have been drop-box
cases prior to 9/11), he feels safer knowing that agencies in Washington
check to make sure that it's safe to issue these visas. Mr. Olson echoed
this, saying that although they hear many complaints about the new
security requirements, e.g., from U.S. businessmen or U.S. medical
facilities, the Dubai consulate believes that the procedures are workable
and worthwhile as long as Washington is following through at its end.
(Aliu) Mr. Aliu stated that for those applicants with a "00" hit, he would
not send in an SAO since he was probably just going to refuse them
anyway. Once he sees that the person has a "00" hit, Mr. Aliu said that he
screens that applicant harder. He would only send in an SAO on that
applicant if he knew that Washington wanted information on him/her.
(Olson, Visocan) Mr. Olson stated that more guidance from State would
be useful, especially in regard to Iranian applicants (who comprise 30% of
Dubai's workload). Dubai would like to get more guidance on categories
of people who we wouldn't want traveling at all. Ms. Visocan said that,
while the technology alert list is a guide for dealing with persons engaged
in sensitive issues, there are uncertainties over what should be considered
legitimate travel to the U.S. For example, should Iranian applicants
engaged in atomic energy or biotechnology matters be brought to the U.S.
to 'be on our side,' or should the Dubai consulate just refuse them on
214(b) grounds?
(Royden, Visocan, Pandya) For Iranian applicants, the Condor SAO has
superseded the Eagle SAO. Dubai now writes Condor, rather than Eagle,
on the SAOs it sends back to Washington. The only Eagles Dubai now
sends are for Iranian women.
(Pandya) Ms. Pandya types up and sends out, with the consular officers'
approval, the Condor cables and other SAOs. She noted that it generally
takes 6-8 weeks to get a response on a Donkey. Ms. Pandya will send
follow-ups as needed to Washington for Donkeys that have not received a
response. There have been only a few negative responses for Donkeys.
(Cables, guidance form) We collected two Visa Donkey cables, dated 12
November 2001 and 13 March 2002, which demonstrate that the Dubai
consulate is sending in SAOs on persons who do not necessarily require
one, "due to heightened security concerns after September 11." In
addition, we collected one form that contains guidance for overlapping
security procedures. Post wrote this up in an attempt to clarify the
overlapping pre- and post-9/11 security requirements.3
Visas Viper Committees
(Zupan) The RSO noted that it is easy for Dubai to hold Visas Viper
meetings because there are only 4 agencies that sit on it, namely, the RSO,

3Example of guidance written by post: "Applicants that fall under guidelines for Visas Donkey and
also Condor, a Donkey Condor cable has to be sent, e.g., for Visas Condor cases that have "00"
CLASS hits or Iranian government employees who are also Condor cases. Dept's response is required
prior to issuance for Donkey Condor cases."

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Consular, Political/Military and Navy Criminal Investigations. The Dubai

Visas Viper Committee has not submitted a large number of entries.
(Visocan, Olson) Although Dubai holds quarterly Visas Viper meetings,
theirs is not an especially active committee. Because there is no publicly
held information for Dubai employees to access (e.g., through newspaper
accounts), they have very few names to feed into Visas Viper.
(Zupan, Olson) In late 2001, around the time that Operation Enduring
Freedom began, a UAE national sprayed machine-gun fire at the Hard
Rock Cafe in Dubai. No one was injured. Although the individual was
acting out for personal reasons, he chose the target because it was
American. Both RSO Zupan and CG Olson mentioned this individual as
someone who had been a recent Visas Viper submission.

Increased Use of 214(b)

(Visocan, Aliu, Royden) Ms. Visocan stated that their interpretation of
214(b) has not been expanded, but that it is simply being applied more
carefully now. Hence, there is a change in philosophy here, similar to the
one in Abu Dhabi. In financial terms, most UAE nationals are very
wealthy. If, however, the consular officer has reason to believe that an
Emirati student will just wander around the U.S. or not take his studies
seriously, then he/she will reconsider the wisdom of granting that student
a visa. Also, there are a few applicants that come from the poorer
emirates that may have known al-Qaeda cells. These applications receive
greater scrutiny. Ms. Royden also said that she has no problem with
refusing applicants on 214(b) grounds if she doesn't feel right about them.4
She will find a reason to use 214(b) if she is uncomfortable about the
applicant. (Mr. Aliu expressed a similar opinion, namely, that you can
always find a reason to refuse under 214(b).) However, Ms. Royden
expressed her opinion that she does not think that 214(b) will prevent
terrorists from coming into the U.S. and does not really know what would.
In her opinion, the best way to keep out terrorists would be to integrate
the databases of State, FBI, and CIA and use them instead of the present
CLASS database.
(Visocan, Aliu) Ms. Visocan and Mr. Aliu stated that they do find that
some applicants, who would have been issued visa through the drop-box
system prior to 9/11, are currently being denied visas. For example,
before 9/11, an applicant would have been issued a visa if he had received
a U.S. visa in the past; this is no longer the case. Now that they are closely
scrutinizing all applicants, they wonder why some of them would ever
have been issued visas.5

' As an example, Ms. Royden said that she'd interviewed a young male Chinese applicant with a
chemical engineering degree. He generally met the visa criteria but she was uncertain about the case
and so denied him. In light of 9/11, she thinks this use of 214(b) is justified and understandable.

sAs an example, Ms. Visocan noted that her predecessor in the Consul position in Dubai had been
issuing visas to any applicant who claimed to be coming to the U.S. to take the CPA exam.

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(Ayervais) Ms. Ayervais commented that because the population of Dubai

is so transient, traditional 214(b) concerns have always been predominant.
As a result, refusal rates for third country nationals (visa UAE citizens)
have remained relatively steady.
(Visocan) Ms. Visocan stated that she is very supportive of the consular
officers on the line going with their gut instinct. Even if the applicant has
all the proper documentation and looks good on paper, a consular officer
should refuse the applicant if they don't feel right about them. Ms.
Visocan stated that a consular officer must look at the totality of an
applicant's circumstances.
(Visocan, Aliu) Mr. Aliu stated that he does not rely on the applicant's
documents during the interview. He wants the applicant to answer the
questions verbally and will refuse to issue a visa if the applicant cannot
properly answer the questions during the interview.6 Mr. Aliu also stated
that sometimes something simply does not feel right during the interview
and, in that case, he will refuse the applicant under 214(b). Very rarely, he
will 221(g) the applicant, but only if it is a clear-cut case where medical or
student documents are needed. Ms. Visocan also stressed that a consular
officer should not rely on the applicant's documentation.
Increased Use of Discretion on Reciprocity
(Visocan, Aliu) Consular officers in Dubai are careful about the
reciprocity they grant to third country nationals. It is very rare for a third
country national to obtain UAE citizenship. Without a job, a TCN is not
permitted to reside in the UAE. Indian and Pakistanis, for example, must
leave the UAE at age 62, unless they have a sponsor. The children of
TCNs cannot remain in the UAE past the age of 21 without having a
sponsor. Given the difficulty in TCNs establishing permanent ties to the
UAE, consular officers are reluctant to issue them visas that are valid for a
longer period of time.
(Aliu) Mr. Aliu stated that he does not agree that UAE nationals should be
given 10-year multiple entry visas, arguing that it is a privilege to come to
the U.S. Such a long period of validity should not be automatic since a lot
can change in 10 years. From the age of 5 up, Mr. Aliu evaluates each
person individually. For example, Mr. Aliu said that he would give a 15-
year old, who was seeking to travel to the U.S. with his parents, a visa
valid for 3 years at the most (rather than the maximum 10 year multiple
entry visa), if he met all the other visa criteria. His reason for doing so
would be that granting a visa for full validity would allow this boy to travel
to the U.S. until the age of 25; Mr. Aliu said that a lot can change in that
boy's life from the age of 15 to 25 that would make him ineligible for a visa
Similarly, if a visa applicant meets all the criteria except for previous
travel, Mr. Aliu said that he might issues him a 1-3 year visa as a sort of

6As an example of this, Mr. Aliu said that he will refuse an applicant who cannot tell him how much
money he has in his bank account.

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test If he returns, he can get a visa for longer validity the next time he
applies.

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