Performance Goal Statement: Through September 30, 2015, maintain a 99 percent rate of all passport
applications processed within the targeted timeframe and ensure 80 percent of nonimmigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of the date of application.
Performance Goal Overview
The mission of the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to provide efficient and effective consular services to protect U.S. citizens, ensure U.S. security, facilitate the entry of legitimate foreign travelers, and foster economic growth. Two core functions of this mission are the adjudication of passport and visa applications. Demand for passports and visas are subject to unpredictable factors, and this variability affects workload planning.
Domestically, the State Department supports a significant presence across the country to respond to the consular service needs of the U.S. public. This presence consists of 29 passport agencies and centers and a network of more than 8,000 public offices managed by other federal, state, and local government
agencies/offices designated to accept passport applications. Approximately 126 million U.S. citizens, 38.6 percent of the population, have valid passports; this number has almost doubled in the last decade. In FY 2015, the Department adjudicated 14,596,917 million passport applications, a 9.85 percent increase over FY 2014. An expected surge in passport renewal applications represents a rising challenge to meet our passport-related performance goal. Based on analysis of renewal application trends, passport renewal rates increased by 14.8 percent in FY 2015 and are expected to increase further through FY 2017.
Executive Order 13597 (Establishing Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing Goals and the Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness), issued in January 2012, required the Department of State to increase visa adjudicating capacity in Brazil and China by 40 percent and ensure that 80 percent of nonimmigrant (NIV) applicants worldwide are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of an application. In FY 2015, CA adjudicated more
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than 13 million NIV applications, a 13.5 percent increase from FY 2014, while working through extraordinary increases in visa demand in key countries, including a 50 percent increase in China. Adjudications of NIV applications grew by more than 86 percent from FY 2009 to FY 2015. Even with this growth, in FY 2015, more than 92.5 percent of applicants worldwide, on average, were interviewed within three weeks of submitting their applications, a significant change from 70 percent in early FY 2012.
The “Excellence in Consular Service Delivery” goal provides additional benefits toward the achievement of the Department’s goals. In calendar year (CY) 2014, the Department’s efforts facilitated the travel of 75 million visitors to the United States, who, according to the Department of Commerce’s 2014 United States Travel and Tourism Statistics, spent $220.6 billion, an average of almost $3,000 per visitor. International travel supported an estimated 1.1 million jobs in the United States. In addition to the economic benefits, the visa adjudication process puts the Department on the front line of U.S. border security, as consular staff vet individuals who seek to travel to the United States.
Performance Goal Progress Update
The Department effectively distributed passport applications across the network of passport agencies and centers to ensure that resources were fully employed and customer service timeframes were met. The Department’s analysis of workload ensured timely passport application adjudication in the highest demand months.
The Department continued to exceed the goal of 80 percent of NIV applicants receiving appointments in three weeks or less through actively shifting staff resources toward posts facing workload surges, as well as
implementing efficiencies and process improvements at overseas posts.
Key Indicator: Percent of all passport applications processed within the targeted timeframe, as shown on the Department’s website
FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015
Target 99% 99% 99%
Result 99% 99% 99.7%
Indicator Analysis
To meet passport demand, the Department distributed applications across the network of passport agencies and centers to ensure that resources were fully employed and customer service timeframes were met. The continuous analysis of workload and judicious use of overtime ensured the timely processing of passport applications in the highest demand months, which occur in quarters two and three. The Department is creating a mechanism to process renewal applications online, reducing the level of effort required to issue passport renewals. In FY 2012, the Department successfully launched an online passport card pilot program, testing its
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ability to securely process passport card applications online from U.S. citizens who already had valid passport books. Under the ConsularOne initiative, the Department will use the lessons learned in the pilot to offer improved electronic transactions for passport book and passport card renewals.
Indicator Methodology
Data source: CA generates reports out of its management information system of record in order to determine if we are meeting our customer service expectations posted on travel.state.gov. The reports track the total number of days an application takes to complete, including processing times.
Data quality: There are no known data limitations and the reports are automatically generated based on workload data from passport processing systems. The reports are checked for completeness and compared to prior reports for trend analysis.
Key Indicator: Percent of all applicants interviewed worldwide within three weeks of the date of application (Target = 80 percent per Executive Order 13597)
FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015
Target 80% 80% 80% 80%
Result 80% 90% 94% 92.5%
Indicator Analysis
The demand for NIV appointments can fluctuate both seasonally and on an ad hoc basis, affecting the ability of a consular section at post to maintain three-week appointment availability for 80 percent of visa applicants. The economic, political, or security situation in a given country also has the potential to significantly affect the number of visa applicants. A more robust economy can lead to greater demand for visas, as can political instability. Events beyond the Department’s control, including natural disasters and political upheaval, may also impact the workload of consular sections in a particular country or region. Examples include the closures of Embassies Damascus (2012) and Sanaa (February 2015), as well as the limitation of NIV services in Baghdad (2014).
To meet visa demand, the Department reviews embassy and consulate consular staffing on an annual basis to best align personnel with workload. In addition, the Department implements alternative staffing strategies, such as Limited Non-Career Appointments, to address staffing challenges. Additional efforts include expanding or reconfiguring the physical space in consular sections to increase capacity, upgrading to more modern systems and technology, standardizing many visa application processes via the Global Support Strategy, and
implementing an Interview Waiver Program that allows consular officers to waive in-person interviews for certain renewal applicants who meet all biometric requirements.
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Indicator Methodology
The demand for NIV appointments can fluctuate both seasonally and on an ad hoc basis, affecting the ability of a consular section at post to maintain three-week appointment availability for 80 percent of visa applicants. The economic, political, or security situation in a given country also has the potential to significantly affect the number of visa applicants. A more robust economy can lead to greater demand for visas, as can political
instability. Events beyond the Department’s control, including natural disasters and political upheaval, may also impact the workload of consular sections in a particular country or region. Examples include the closures of Embassies Damascus (2012) and Sanaa (February 2015), as well as the limitation of NIV services in Baghdad (2014).
To meet visa demand, the Department reviews embassy and consulate consular staffing on an annual basis to best align personnel with workload. In addition, the Department implements alternative staffing strategies, such as Limited Non-Career Appointments, to address staffing challenges. Additional efforts include expanding or reconfiguring the physical space in consular sections to increase capacity, upgrading to more modern systems and technology, standardizing many visa application processes via the Global Support Strategy, and
implementing an Interview Waiver Program that allows consular officers to waive in-person interviews for certain renewal applicants who meet all biometric requirements.