Privacy Act of 1974; USCIS-004 Verification Information System (VIS) System of Records Notice, 75445-75452 [E8-29283]

Agencies

• Office of the Secretary
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 239 (Thursday, December 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75445-75452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29283]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DHS-2008-0089]


Privacy Act of 1974; USCIS-004 Verification Information System 
(VIS) System of Records Notice

AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS.

ACTION: Notice to alter a Privacy Act system of records.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is republishing the 
Privacy Act system of records notice (SORN) for the Verification and 
Information System (VIS) replacing the previously published SORN of 
February 28, 2008 in order to: (1) Cover the expansion of VIS to 
collect and verify

[[Page 75446]]

United States (U.S.) Passports and Passport Cards from E-Verify users, 
(2) describe the expansion of the scope of the Systematic Alien 
Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) to include verification of 
citizenship and immigration status for any DHS lawful purpose, not just 
for government benefit granting purposes as described in previous PIAs, 
(3) cover the expansion of VIS to collect applications from victims of 
identity theft who would like to lock their Social Security Number 
(SSN) from further use in E-Verify, and (4) describe the expansion of 
the scope of E-Verify to indicate that it is no longer solely voluntary 
in some cases and no longer solely for new employees. These changes are 
more thoroughly spelled out in an accompanying Privacy Impact 
Assessment (PIA) which can be found on the DHS Privacy Web site (http:/
/www.dhs.gov/privacy).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before January 12, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number DHS-
2008-0089 by one of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-866-466-5370.
     Mail: Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Department 
of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
     Instructions: All submissions received must include the 
agency name and docket number for this system of records notice. All 
comments received will be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
     Docket: For access to the docket to read background 
documents or comments received go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on the 
program please contact: Claire Stapleton, Privacy Branch Chief, 
Verification Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 
Department of Homeland Security, 470 L'Enfant Plaza East, SW., Suite 
8204, Washington, DC 20529. For privacy issues please contact: Hugo 
Teufel III (703-235-0780), Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. USCIS Verification Information System

    Congress mandated that USCIS establish a system that can be used to 
verify citizenship and immigration status of individuals seeking 
government benefits and establish a system for use by employers to 
determine whether an employee is authorized to work in the United 
States. Authority for having a system for verification of citizenship 
and immigration status of individuals seeking government benefits can 
be found in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), 
Public Law (Pub. L.) 99-603, The Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), Pub. L. 104-193, 110 
Stat. 2168, and in Title IV, Subtitle A, of the Illegal Immigration 
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Public Law 
104-208, 110 Stat. 3009. Authority for having a system establish 
employment eligibility can be found in Title IV, Subtitle A, of the 
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 
(IIRIRA), Public Law 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009. The Basic Pilot Program's 
operation has been repeatedly extended by Congress; See Basic Pilot 
Extension Act, Public Law 107-128 (2002); Basic Pilot Program Extension 
and Expansion Act, Public Law 108-156 (2003); Consolidated Security, 
Disaster Assistance, and Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2009, Public 
Law 110-329 (2008).
    USCIS implemented these mandates through the Systematic Alien 
Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program for government benefits 
and the ``Basic Pilot Program'' for determining whether an employee is 
authorized to work in the United States. The ``Basic Pilot Program'' 
was renamed ``E-Verify.'' ``E-Verify'' will be used in lieu of ``Basic 
Pilot'' for the remainder of this document.
    VIS is the technical infrastructure that enables USCIS to operate 
SAVE and E-Verify. VIS is a nationally accessible database of selected 
immigration status information containing in excess of 100 million 
records. Previously government agencies used information from the SAVE 
program in order to determine whether an individual is eligible for any 
public benefit, license or credential based on individual's citizenship 
or immigration status. This SORN describes expansions to the SAVE 
program. Private employers and government users use E-Verify to confirm 
whether an employee is authorized to work in the United States.
    A necessary corollary to having the ability to determine if an 
individual is authorized to gain government benefits or legal 
employment is the ability to determine if the verification processes 
are being abused or misused: And when appropriate, to seek legal or 
administrative redress against those committing fraud or otherwise 
misusing the verification processes. Consequently, the information in 
VIS is retained and analyzed for ten years, the length of time 
equivalent to the statute of limitations for the most typical types of 
fraud or misuse of this type of system or documents (under 18 U.S.C. 
3291, the statute of limitations for false statements or misuse 
regarding passports, citizenship or naturalization documents), or 
longer if the information is part of an active and ongoing 
investigation.
    VIS is currently comprised of citizenship, immigration and 
employment status information from several DHS systems of records, 
including records contained in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) Treasury Enforcement Communication Systems (TECS) (66 FR 52984), 
Biometric Storage System (BSS) (72 FR 17172), the USCIS Central Index 
System (CIS) (72 FR 1755), the USCIS Computer Linked Application 
Information Management System (CLAIMS 3) (62 FR 11919) and Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor 
Information System (SEVIS) (70 FR 14477). VIS also includes information 
from the Social Security Administration's (SSA) NUMIDENT System (71 FR 
1796).
    This System of Records Notice is replacing the System of Records 
Notice previously published in the Federal Register on February 28, 
2008 (73 FR 10793).

A. SAVE Program

    The SAVE Program, which is supported by VIS, has previously been 
characterized as being limited to immigration and citizenship status 
verification for purposes of eligibility for any public benefit, 
license or credential--the benefit or ``entitlement'' referred to in 
the name of the program: Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements 
(SAVE). However, section 642(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) obligates USCIS to 
respond to inquiries ``by a Federal, State, or local government agency, 
seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of 
any individual within the jurisdiction of the agency for any purpose 
authorized by law''.
    Accordingly, to the extent that a federal, state, or local 
government entity has the legal authority to verify citizenship or 
immigration status, SAVE, as an access method to USCIS systems, is 
authorized to respond to the request. Specifically, in addition to the

[[Page 75447]]

verifications for purposes of granting government benefits, this 
includes verification for purposes of background investigations for 
individuals and cohabitants of the individuals undergoing background 
investigations. Government agencies input biographic information into 
VIS for status determinations. If VIS has a record pertaining to the 
individual, the government agency will receive limited biographic 
information on the citizenship and immigration status of the 
individual. If VIS does not have a record pertaining to the individual, 
VIS automatically notifies a USCIS employee. The USCIS employee then 
conducts a manual search of other DHS databases to determine whether 
there is any other information pertaining to that individual that would 
provide verification of citizenship and immigration status. If the 
USCIS employee finds additional relevant information, citizenship and 
immigration status data is provided to the requesting government agency 
user through VIS. The USCIS employee will also update the appropriate 
record in the USCIS CIS database. The REAL ID Act of 2005, Public Law 
109-13, 119 Stat. 231, 302 (2005) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 30301 note) 
required all state Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to routinely 
utilize the USCIS SAVE program to verify the legal immigration status 
of applicants for driver's licenses and identification cards. The Act 
originally set a deadline of May 11, 2008 for states to begin such 
verifications, but that deadline has been extended by Congress.

B. E-Verify

    VIS also supports the E-Verify Program, a free program allowing 
participating employers to verify the employment eligibility of their 
employees. The program is a collaboration between the SSA and USCIS.
    After an individual is hired by an employer participating in E-
Verify and the individual completes the Employment Eligibility 
Verification Form I-9, the employer inputs information from sections 1 
and 2 of the Form I-9 into the E-Verify portion of VIS. This query is 
first sent from VIS to SSA to verify Social Security information. If 
SSA cannot verify the employee's social security information, SSA will 
send a SSA Tentative Non-Confirmation (TNC) response to VIS, which in 
turn will notify the employer of SSA's inability to automatically 
verify the information provided by employee. The employer is then 
required to provide information to the employee about the employee's 
option to contest and the contact information for the SSA office in 
order to clear up the mismatch and resolve any issues.
    If SSA is able to verify the employee information and the 
individual is a non-U.S. citizen, the VIS system continues the process 
by comparing the non-U.S. citizen's information with USCIS records to 
verify employment authorization. For any participating employer whose 
non-U.S. citizen employees present an I-551 or I-766 card for their 
Form I-9 documentation and whose information is successfully verified 
by SSA and USCIS, the employer will be able to use the USCIS photo tool 
to compare the photographs on the documents presented by the employee 
with the photographs and stored in the BSS system of records, if 
available. If VIS is able to return a photograph, the employer will 
then compare the photograph made available by the VIS photo tool and 
determine if it matches the photograph on the document presented by the 
employee. If the employer determines the photos do not match or if the 
employer cannot make a determination whether there is a photo match, 
the employer is then required to provide information to the employee 
about how the employee may contact USCIS to resolve any issues.
    After the process of verifying the employment authorization 
concludes, regardless of whether or not the photo tool has been 
utilized, USCIS (through VIS) provides the employer with a case 
verification number and the disposition of whether an employee has been 
verified to be authorized to work. If a mismatch of information occurs 
with DHS, VIS automatically notifies an USCIS employee, who then 
conducts a manual search of other DHS databases to determine whether 
there is any other information pertaining to that individual that would 
help to establish employment authorization. If the USCIS employee 
cannot determine the person's work authorization, VIS sends a ``DHS 
Tentative Non-Confirmation'' (TNC) response notifying the employer that 
the employee has the option to contact USCIS in order to clarify the 
information discrepancy. DHS TNCs are issued when the USCIS employee is 
unable to determine the person's work authorization based on DHS 
immigration-related records. The employer may not terminate or take any 
adverse employment action against the employee on the basis of either a 
DHS or SSA TNC while the issue is being further investigated. If a 
Final Non-Confirmation (FNC) response is issued, the employer may 
terminate the employee or they may choose to retain the employee as 
long as the employer notifies DHS that it intends to do so, subject to 
potential penalties if the employee is subsequently found to be an 
unauthorized alien. If the employer does not choose to retain the 
employee after receiving a Final Non-Confirmation response it is not 
required to notify DHS.
    Performing a verification query through the E-Verify system is only 
permissible after an offer of employment has been extended to an 
employee. The earliest the employer may initiate a query is after an 
individual accepts an offer of employment and after the employee and 
employer complete the Form I-9. For new employees, the employer must 
initiate the query no later than the end of the third business day 
after the new hire's actual start date. Under the terms governing 
employers' participation in E-Verify, the system cannot be used to pre-
screen job applicants or to re-screen individuals whose work 
eligibility has already been confirmed by the employer through E-
Verify.

C. Changes to VIS SORN

    This SORN is being published to: (1) Cover the expansion of VIS to 
collect and verify information from U.S. Passports and Passport Cards 
from E-Verify users; (2) describe the expansion of the scope of SAVE to 
include verification of citizenship and immigration status for any DHS 
lawful purpose, not just for government benefit granting purposes as 
described in previous PIAs; (3) cover the expansion of VIS to collect 
applications from victims of identity theft who would like to lock 
their SSN from further use in E-Verify; and (4) describe the expansion 
of the scope of E-Verify to indicate that it is no longer solely 
voluntary in some cases and no longer solely for new employees in 
certain cases.

Expansion of VIS To Collect and Verify United States Passports and 
Passport Cards

    E-Verify is used to determine whether an individual is authorized 
to work in the U.S. An employer who participates in E-Verify uses the 
information that they have previously collected for the Form I-9 
process. Thus a U.S. citizen may present a Passport or Passport Card 
for purposes of proof of employment authorization for the Form I-9. The 
Passport Card is a new identity document issued by the Department of 
State (DOS) that will act as a passport in limited circumstances and 
will be acceptable for use in place of a U.S. passport for Form I-9 and 
E-Verify purposes. The information contained on

[[Page 75448]]

the Passport Card is the same information in the passport other than 
the document identification number. It is possible to have a U.S. 
Passport and a Passport Card. The numbers on the two documents would 
not be the same. The U.S. Passport and the Passport Card can both be 
used to establish identity and work authorization for Form I-9 
purposes. Currently, an E-Verify employer captures the passport 
information (if presented as a List A document) from an employee; 
however, prior to this update the VIS system neither captured nor 
confirmed the passport number against government-held data.
    Regardless of the identity document presented to the employer for 
the Form I-9, the VIS system requires an employee's Social Security 
Number (SSN) to verify employment eligibility. With this update, if an 
employee presents a U.S. Passport or Passport Card, VIS will initially 
check the employee's identity information, including Name, Date of 
Birth, citizenship status, and SSN, against the Social Security 
Administration (SSA) database; however, if the Social Security 
Administration (SSA) cannot verify the employee's citizenship status 
information, then VIS will verify the employee's Passport or Passport 
Card data against DOS data using an existing interface with Customs and 
Border Protection's (CBP) Treasury Enforcement Communications System 
(TECS). It may not be possible to determine an employee's work 
authorization solely through a query to the SSA database, for example, 
because SSA may not have been informed that an immigrant has become a 
U.S. citizen. Previously, such an inability to verify would have 
resulted in requiring the employee to visit an SSA Field Office and 
clarify citizenship status with the SSA. If the SSN is verified, VIS 
will verify the Passport number or Passport Card number so that an 
employer can have the capability to visually compare the photograph 
that appears on a Passport or Passport Card with the photograph that 
DOS has on file. E-Verify provides access to this information through 
the Photo Screening Tool which is described in the PIA published 
September 4, 2007. VIS will not retain a copy of the photograph as 
provided from the DOS data, merely a link that can be followed to 
retrieve the photograph in TECS should it need to be validated later. 
However, VIS may retain a hard copy of the photograph when an initial 
verification cannot be done by the employer and a secondary 
verification has to be done by the Verification Division Status 
Verifiers. This is the same procedure followed for other documents 
where the initial verification cannot be done by the employer.

Expansion of SAVE for Verification of Citizenship and Immigration 
Status

    SAVE has previously been characterized as being limited to 
immigration and citizenship status verification for purposes of 
eligibility for any public benefit, license or credential--the benefit 
or ``entitlement'' is referred to in the name of the program Systematic 
Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE). However, section 642(c) of 
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 
(IIRIRA) obligates USCIS to respond to inquiries ``by a Federal, State, 
or local government agency, seeking to verify or ascertain the 
citizenship or immigration status of any individual within the 
jurisdiction of the agency for any purpose authorized by law.''
    Accordingly, to the extent that a federal, state, or local 
government entity has the legal authority to verify citizenship or 
immigration status, SAVE, as an access method to USCIS systems, is 
authorized to respond to the request. Specifically, in addition to the 
verifications for purposes of granting government benefits, this 
includes verification for purposes of legally mandated background 
investigations. These legally mandated background investigations might 
be conducted by the OPM or other government entities where 
determination of immigration status is relevant to the reason for 
conducting the investigation, such as for Federal personnel security 
clearances or staff in sensitive critical infrastructure facilities in 
the private sector. For certain security clearances OPM may verify not 
only the individuals who are the subject of the background 
investigations, but also their family members and cohabitants 
(associated individuals) based on information the SAVE applicant 
provides to OPM. The associated individuals who are being verified 
through SAVE will only have notice of the verification by means of this 
SORN and accompanying PIA.

Expansion of VIS To Collect Application Information From Those Who 
Choose To Lock Their SSN From Further Use in E-Verify

    JobLock is one part of an on-going effort by the Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS) to fight identity theft. This particular effort 
is targeted at victims of identity theft that have filed both a police 
report and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission regarding 
identity theft that has been perpetrated against them. These victims 
will be given the opportunity to apply to USCIS to have their social 
security number (SSN) locked from further use in E-Verify. The 
application will be accessible through USCIS's E-filing system, and 
applicants will provide information to USCIS that will be validated 
against Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Database. 
The applicant is also required to provide USCIS with a copy of the 
police report issued by their local police jurisdiction. Once a JobLock 
application has been validated by a USCIS employee, a database table 
within VIS of locked SSNs (JobLock Table) will be populated, which will 
contain the SSN, the JobLock application information, and account 
information necessary to unlock the SSN (i.e. challenge questions and 
answers.)
    Regardless of the identity document presented to the employer for 
the Form I-9, the VIS system requires an employee's SSN to verify 
employment eligibility. After the query information (name, date of 
birth, citizenship status, and SSN) has been verified by SSA, the 
system will check against the JobLock Table to verify whether the SSN 
has been locked from further use in E-Verify. If the SSN is not found 
in the JobLock Table, the query will be processed in the same manner it 
has been in the past. If the SSN queried upon is found in the JobLock 
Table, a DHS tentative non-confirmation would be issued by the system 
and the employee would be directed to contact a USCIS employee. The 
locking of an SSN will prevent an identity thief from using it to 
establish employment eligibility with E-Verify.

Change in the Scope of E-Verify

    E-Verify, including its original iteration as Basic Pilot, has 
operated to date as a program for employers to verify employment 
eligibility of their new employees. Employers have not been permitted 
to verify the employment eligibility of existing employees. Recently, 
several state and Federal laws have required employer participation in 
the program for new hires in various circumstances. These laws range 
from some states requiring that all employers in that state participate 
in E-Verify, to other states requiring the state contractor workforce 
or government employers to participate. In addition, the Federal 
government requires that all newly-hired Federal employees be verified 
through E-Verify, and has adopted a federal procurement policy of 
contracting only with

[[Page 75449]]

employers that agree to use E-Verify to verify the work authorization 
of their new employees as well as all employees assigned to work on 
federal contracts. As a result, the population of E-Verify users has 
expanded, and will continue to expand. E-Verify will also begin to be 
used for some employers' existing workforce in addition to newly hired 
employees.

II. The Privacy Act

    The Privacy Act embodies fair information principles in a statutory 
framework governing the means by which the United States Government 
collects, maintains, uses and disseminates personally identifiable 
information. The Privacy Act applies to information that is maintained 
in a ``system of records.'' A ``system of records'' is a group of any 
records under the control of an agency from which information is 
retrieved by the name of an individual or by some identifying number, 
symbol, or other particular assigned to an individual.
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish in the Federal 
Register a description denoting the type and character of each system 
of records that the agency maintains, and the routine uses that are 
contained in each system to make agency recordkeeping practices 
transparent, to notify individuals reading the uses to which personally 
identifiable information is put, and to assist the individual to more 
easily find such files within the agency.

III. Privacy Impact Assessments

    DHS is publishing a PIA update to coincide with this SORN. This 
SORN reflects many of the changes that are discussed in this PIA.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(r), a report on this system has 
been sent to Congress and to the Office of Management and Budget.
System of Records: DHS/USCIS-004

SYSTEM NAME:
    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Verification Information 
System (VIS).

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The Verification Information System (VIS) database is housed in a 
contractor-owned facility in Meriden, CT. The system is accessible via 
the Internet, Web services, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) batch, 
and through a computer via analog telephone line, and is publicly 
accessible to participants of the SAVE program and the E-Verify 
program, including authorized USCIS personnel, other authorized 
government users, participating employers, and other authorized users.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system contains information on individuals, both U.S. citizens 
and non-U.S. citizens covered by provisions of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act of the United States including but not limited to 
individuals who have been lawfully admitted to the United States, 
individuals who have been granted U.S. citizenship and individuals who 
have applied for other immigration benefits pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1103 
et seq. In addition, it contains information on cohabitants and 
relatives of subjects of SAVE background investigations conducted for 
OPM. This system also contains information on individuals, both U.S. 
citizens and non-U.S. citizens, whose employers have submitted to the 
E-Verify program their identification information. This system also 
contains information on individuals, both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. 
citizens, who have been victims of identity theft and have chosen to 
lock their Social Security number from further use in the E-Verify 
program.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    A. Data originating from the USCIS Central Index System (CIS), 
including the following information about the individual who comes 
before USCIS: Alien Registration Number (A-Number), Name (last, first, 
middle), Date of birth, Date entered United States (entry date), 
Country of birth, Class of Admission code, File Control Office code, 
Social Security Number, Admission Number (I-94 Number), Provision of 
Law code cited for employment authorization, office code where the 
authorization was granted, Date employment authorization decision 
issued, Date employment authorization may begin (start date), Date 
employment authorization expires (expiration date), and Date employment 
authorization was denied (denial date).
    B. Data originating from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS), including the 
following information about the individual: A-Number, Name (last, 
first, middle), Date alien's status was changed (status change date), 
Date of birth, Class of Admission Code, Date admitted until, Country of 
citizenship, Port of entry, Date entered United States (entry date), 
Departure date, I-94 Number, Visa Number, and transaction link to 
passport photographs contained in TECS.
    C. Data originating from the Redesigned Naturalization Automated 
Casework System (RNACS). RNACS is a database that includes information 
from individuals who have filed applications for naturalization, 
citizenship, or to replace naturalization certificates under the 
Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and/or who have submitted 
fee payments with such applications. The naturalization records in the 
RNACS database house information from 1986 to 1996. Information that 
identifies individuals named above, e.g., Name, Address, Date of birth, 
and Alien Registration Number (A-Number). Records in the system may 
also include information such as Date documents were filed or received 
in CIS, Status, Class of admission codes, and Locations of record.
    D. Data originating from the Computer Linked Applications 
Information Management System (CLAIMS 4) including the following 
information about the individual; Name (First, Last), Date of birth, 
Social Security Number, and Naturalization date.
    E. Data originating from the USCIS Biometric Storage System (BSS), 
including: Receipt number, Name (last, first, middle), Date of birth, 
Country of birth, Alien Registration Number (A-Number), Form number, 
for example Form I-551 (Lawful Permanent Resident card) or Form I-766 
(Employment Authorization Document), Expiration date, and Photo.
    F. Data originating from the USCIS Computer Linked Application 
Information Management System (CLAIMS 3), including: Receipt number, 
Name (last, first, middle), Date of birth, Country of birth, Class of 
admission code, Alien Registration Number (A-Number), I-94 number, Date 
entered United States (entry date), and Valid-To Date.
    G. Data originating from the U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Information System 
(SEVIS), including: SEVIS Identification Number (SEVIS ID), Name (last, 
first, middle), Date of birth, Country of birth, Class of admission 
code, I-94 number, Date entered United States (entry date), and Valid-
to Date.
    H. Data originating from the Social Security Administration (SSA), 
including: Confirmation of employment eligibility based on SSA records, 
Tentative non-confirmation of employment eligibility and the underlying 
justification for this decision, and Final non-confirmation of 
employment eligibility.
    I. Information collected from the benefit applicant by a federal, 
state, local or other benefit-issuing agency to facilitate immigration 
status verification

[[Page 75450]]

that may include the following about the benefit applicant: Receipt 
Number, A-Number, I-94 Number, Name (last, first, middle), Date of 
birth, User Case Number, DHS document type, DHS document expiration 
date, SEVIS ID and Visa Number.
    J. Information collected from the benefit-issuing agency about 
users accessing the system to facilitate immigration status 
verification that may include the following about the agency: Agency 
name, Address, Point(s) of Contact, Contact telephone number, Fax 
number, E-mail address, Type of benefit(s) the agency issues (i.e. 
Unemployment Insurance, Educational Assistance, Driver Licensing, 
Social Security Enumeration, etc.).
    K. Information collected from the benefit-issuing agency about the 
Individual Agency User including: Name (last, first, middle), Phone 
Number, Fax Number, E-mail address, User ID for users within the 
Agency.
    L. System-generated response, as a result of the SAVE verification 
process including: Case Verification Number, Entire record in VIS 
database as outlined above, including all information from CIS, SEVIS, 
TECS, and CLAIMS 3 and with the exception of the biometric information 
(photo) from BSS, and Immigration status (e.g. Lawful Permanent 
Resident).
    M. Information collected from the employee by the Employer User to 
facilitate employment eligibility verification may include the 
following about the Individual employee: Receipt Number, Visa Number, 
United States or Foreign Passport number, Passport Card number, Alien 
Registration Number (A-Number), I-94 Number, Name (last, first, middle 
initial, maiden), Social Security Number, Date of birth, Date of hire, 
Claimed citizenship status, Acceptable Form I-9 document type, 
Acceptable Form I-9 Document expiration date, and Passport, Passport 
Card, or visa photo.
    N. Information Collected About the Employer, including: Company 
name, Physical Address, Employer Identification Number, North American 
Industry Classification System code, Federal contracting agency, 
Federal contract identifier, Number of employees, Number of sites, 
Parent company or Corporate company, Name of Contact(s), Phone Number, 
Fax Number, and E-Mail Address.
    O. Information Collected about the Employer User (e.g., Identifying 
users of the system at the Employers), including: Name, Phone Number, 
Fax Number, E-mail address, and User ID.
    P. System-generated response information, resulting from the E-
Verify employment eligibility verification process, including: Case 
Verification Number; VIS generated response: Employment authorized, 
Tentative non-confirmation, Case in continuance, Final non-
confirmation, Employment unauthorized, or DHS No Show; Disposition data 
from the employer includes Resolved Unauthorized/Terminated, Self 
Terminated, Invalid Query, Employee not terminated, Resolved 
Authorized, and Request additional verification, which includes why 
additional verification is requested by the employer user.
    Q. Information collected directly from individuals who have been 
the victim of identity theft who wish to prevent or deter further use 
of stolen identities in E-Verify, including: Police reports, Name, 
Social Security Number, Street address, E-mail address, and Other 
identity authentication information relevant to preventing or deterring 
further use of stolen identities.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS:
    The authority for the maintenance of records in the system is found 
in 8 U.S.C. 1324a, 8 U.S.C. 1360, 42 U.S.C. 1320b-7 and the Immigration 
Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), Public Law (Pub. L.) 99-603, The 
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
(PRWORA), Public Law 104-193, 110 Stat. 2168, Title IV, Subtitle A, of 
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 
(IIRIRA), Public Law 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009, and in Executive Order 
12989, as amended by Executive Order 13465, June 6, 2008.

PURPOSE(S):
    This system of records is used to provide immigration and 
citizenship status information to Federal, State, and local government 
agencies on any individual within the jurisdiction of the requesting 
agency, or on another individual associated with such an individual, 
for any purpose authorized by law. It is also used to provide 
employment authorization information to employers participating in the 
E-Verify Program. This system of records may also be used to monitor 
for the commission of fraud or other illegal activity related to misuse 
of either the SAVE or E-Verify program, including investigating 
duplicate registrations by employers, inappropriate registration by 
individuals posing as employers, verifications that are not performed 
within the required time limits, and cases referred to E-Verify or SAVE 
by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Special Counsel for 
Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC). This system of 
records may also be used for preventing or deterring further use of 
stolen identities in E-Verify.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    In addition to those disclosures generally permitted under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(b) of the Privacy Act, a portion of the records or information 
contained in this system may be disclosed outside DHS as a routine use 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(b)(3) as follows:
    A. To a federal, state, tribal, or local government agency, or to a 
contractor acting on the agency's 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; (2) issuance of a license or grant; (3) 
government-issued credential; or (4) background investigation.
    B. To employers participating in the E-Verify Employment 
Verification Program in order to verify the employment eligibility of 
their employees working in the United States.
    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 requesting agency as 
authorized or required by law.
    D. To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, and others 
performing or working on a contract, service, grant, cooperative 
agreement, or other assignment for the federal government, when 
necessary to accomplish a DHS mission function related to this system 
of records, in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.
    E. To a Congressional office, from the record of an individual in 
response to an inquiry from that Congressional office made at the 
request of the individual to whom the record pertains.
    F. To the National Archives and Records Administration or other 
Federal government agencies pursuant to records management inspections 
being conducted under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906.
    G. To a former employee of the Department for purposes of: (1) 
Responding to an official inquiry by a federal, state, or local 
government entity or professional licensing authority, in accordance 
with applicable Department regulations; or (2) 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

[[Page 75451]]

regarding a matter within that person's former area of responsibility.
    H. To the DOJ, Civil Rights Division, for the purpose of responding 
to matters within the DOJ's jurisdiction to include allegations of 
fraud and/or nationality discrimination.
    I. To appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when: (1) It is 
suspected or confirmed that the security or confidentiality of 
information in the system of records has been compromised; (2) it is 
determined that as a result of the suspected or confirmed compromise 
there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity 
theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of this system or 
other systems or programs (whether maintained by DHS or another agency 
or entity) that rely upon the compromised information; and (3) the 
disclosure is made to such agencies, entities, and persons when 
reasonably necessary to assist in connection with efforts to respond to 
the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy 
such harm.
    J. To the United States Department of Justice (including United 
States Attorney offices) or other federal agency conducting litigation 
or in proceedings before any court, adjudicative or administrative 
body, or to the court or administrative body, when it is necessary to 
the litigation and one of the following is a party to the litigation or 
has an interest in such litigation: (1) DHS; (2) any employee of DHS in 
his or her official capacity; (3) any employee of DHS in his or her 
individual capacity where DOJ or DHS has agreed to represent said 
employee; or (4) the United States or any agency thereof;
    K. To appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, or foreign 
governmental agencies or multilateral governmental organizations 
responsible for investigating or prosecuting the violations of, or for 
enforcing or implementing, a statute, rule, regulation, order, license, 
or treaty where DHS determines that the information would assist in the 
enforcement of civil or criminal laws.
    L. To the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to validate against the 
FTC's Consumer Sentinel Database.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    None.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Data is stored in computer accessible storage media and hardcopy 
format.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Agency records are retrieved by name of applicant or other unique 
identifier to include: verification number, A-Number, I-94 Number, Visa 
Number, SEVIS ID, or by the submitting agency name. Employer records 
are retrieved by verification number, A-Number, I-94 Number, Receipt 
Number, Passport (U.S. or Foreign) number or Social Security Number of 
the employee, or by the submitting company name.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Information in this system is safeguarded in accordance with 
applicable laws and policies, including the DHS information technology 
security policies and the Federal Information Security Management Act 
(FISMA). All records are protected from unauthorized access through 
appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. These 
safeguards include restricting access to authorized personnel on a 
need-to-know basis, using locks, and password protection features. The 
system is also protected through a multi-layer security approach. The 
protective strategies are physical, technical, administrative and 
environmental in nature, which provide access control to sensitive 
data, physical access control to DHS facilities, confidentiality of 
communications, authentication of sending parties, and personnel 
screening to ensure that all personnel with access to data are screened 
through background investigations commensurate with the level of access 
required to perform their duties. Information maintained by DHS 
contractors for this system is also safeguarded in accordance with all 
applicable laws and regulations, including DHS IT security policies and 
FISMA. Access is controlled through user identification and discrete 
password functions to assure that accessibility is limited.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    The following proposal for retention and disposal is being prepared 
to be sent to the National Archives and Records Administration for 
approval. Records collected in the process of establishing immigration 
and citizenship status or employment authorization are stored and 
retained in the VIS Repository for ten (10) years, from the date of the 
completion of the verification unless the records are part of an on-
going investigation in which case they may be retained until completion 
of the investigation. This period is based on the statute of 
limitations for most types of misuse or fraud possible using VIS (under 
18 U.S.C. 3291, the statute of limitations for false statements or 
misuse regarding passports, citizenship or naturalization documents). 
Records related to the prevention or deterrence of identity theft that 
are collected from individuals who voluntarily provide the information 
or that is obtained with the authorization of victims and potential 
victims of identity theft may be stored and retained in the VIS 
repository for the duration of the risk of identity theft, subject to 
the consent of the individual that authorized the collection. Such 
renewed consent shall be sought biannually.
    Once the Web user views the photo, the image is discarded and not 
retained on the Web user's computer. Photocopies mailed to DHS in 
response to a TNC will be maintained as long as necessary to complete 
the verification process, and the duration of the benefit granted, but 
not limited to possible investigation and prosecution of fraud in the 
case of detected photo substitution.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Chief, Verification Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services, 470-490 L'Enfant Plaza East, SW., Suite 8206, Washington, DC 
20024.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    Please address your inquiries about the VIS system in writing to 
the system manager identified above. To determine whether this system 
contains records relating to you, provide a written request containing 
the following information:
    1. Identification of the record system;
    2. Identification of the category and types of records sought; and
    3. The requesting individual's signature and verification of 
identity pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746, which permits statements to be 
made under penalty of perjury. Alternatively, a notarized statement may 
be provided.
    Address inquiries to the system manager at: Chief, Verification 
Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 470-490 L'Enfant 
Plaza East, SW., Suite 8206, Washington, DC 20024, or to the Freedom of 
Information/Privacy Act Office, USCIS, National Records Center, P.O. 
Box 6481010, Lee Summit, MO 64064-8010.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    In order to gain access to one's information stored in the VIS 
database, a request for access must be made in writing and addressed to 
the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act (FOIA/PA) officer at USCIS. 
Individuals who are seeking information pertaining to them

[[Page 75452]]

are directed to clearly mark the envelope and letter ``Privacy Act 
Request.'' Within the text of the request, the subject of the record 
must provide his/her account number and/or the full name, date and 
place of birth, and notarized signature, and any other information 
which may assist in identifying and locating the record, and a return 
address. For convenience, individuals may obtain Form G-639, FOIA/PA 
Request, from the nearest DHS office and used to submit a request for 
access. The procedures for making a request for access to one's records 
can also be found on the USCIS Web site, located at https://
www.uscis.gov.
    An individual who would like to file a FOIA/PA request to view 
their USCIS record may do so by sending the request to the following 
address: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, National Records 
Center, FOIA/PA Office, P.O. Box 648010, Lee's Summit, MO 64064-8010.

CONTESTING RECORDS PROCEDURES:
    Individuals have an opportunity to correct their data by submitting 
a redress request directly to the USCIS Privacy Officer who refers the 
redress request to the USCIS Office of Records. When a redress request 
is made, any appropriate change is added directly to the existing 
records stored in the underlying DHS system of records from which the 
information was obtained. Once the record is updated in the underlying 
DHS system of records, it is downloaded into VIS. If an applicant 
believes their file is incorrect but does not know which information is 
erroneous, the applicant may file a Privacy Act request to access their 
record as detailed in the section titled ``Record access procedures'' 
above.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information contained comes from several sources: (A) Information 
derived from the following DHS systems of records, USCIS's CIS, 
CLAIMS3, CLAIMS4, RNACS, ISRS and/or BSS (when the latter system is 
deployed); CBP's TECS; and ICE's SEVIS, (B) Information derived from 
the SSA, (C) Information collected from agencies and employers about 
individuals seeking government benefits or employment with an employer 
using an employment verification program, (D) Information collected 
from system users at either the agency or the employer used to provide 
account access to the verification program, and (E) Information 
developed by VIS to identify possible issues of misuse or fraud.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

    Dated: December 2, 2008.
Hugo Teufel III,
Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security.
 [FR Doc. E8-29283 Filed 12-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-P