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entitled 'State Department: Wide Range of Emergency Services Provided 
to American Citizens Overseas, but Improved Monitoring Is Needed' which 
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Report to Congressional Requesters: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
GAO: 

September 2009: 

State Department: 

Wide Range of Emergency Services Provided to American Citizens 
Overseas, but Improved Monitoring Is Needed: 

[This report was revised on October 1, 2009, to include the list of 
congressional requesters on page 32].

GAO-09-989: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-09-989, a report to congressional requesters. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

In 2008, the Department of State (State) estimated nearly 5 million 
U.S. citizens lived overseas, and 64 million trips were taken overseas 
by U.S. citizens. Since protecting and serving U.S. citizens abroad are 
among State’s chief priorities, State must be prepared to provide 
emergency assistance to Americans abroad. This report describes (1) 
what services State provides to U.S. citizens who are the victims of 
crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise need emergency services; (2) how 
State is prepared to assist U.S. citizens who are in need of emergency 
services; and (3) how State monitors the assistance it provides to U.S. 
citizens in need of emergency services. 

What GAO Found: 

State provides a number of emergency services to American citizens 
abroad through its network of 267 embassies and consulates in 174 
countries. State’s emergency services cover circumstances including 
deaths, arrests, medical or financial concerns, crime, and missing 
persons’ cases. State provides emergency assistance to Americans at all 
hours, and provides information such as travel warnings to travelers 
and U.S. citizens living overseas through a variety of mechanisms, 
including the department’s embassy and consulate Web sites. However, 
our review of a random sample of posts’ Web sites found that only 14 
percent had emergency phone numbers on the Web sites’ main page. State 
also maintains a warden system to disseminate information from the 
embassy to U.S. citizens living in the country, and can send messages 
directly to Americans who provide contact information to the 
department. 

Figure: Emergency Services Provided by American Citizen Services: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustration and photograph] 

Photograph of an embassy. 

American Citizen Services and Crisis Management: 

Emergencies: 
* Arrest; 
* Death; 
* Medical evacuations; 
* Repatriation; 
* Victims of crime; 
* Welfare and wherabouts. 

Routine services (e.g. notarials, passports, consular record of birth 
abroad, etc.); 

Crisis Management. 

Sources: GAO and State Department; Corel (clip art). 

[End of figure] 

State has trained staff dedicated to providing emergency assistance 
overseas as well as in Washington, D.C. Depending on the size of the 
post, American Citizen Services (ACS) may be provided by multiple 
staff, or a single consular officer serving as the sole provider of all 
consular services including emergency services. Locally engaged staff 
are a key component of posts’ provision of emergency services, as is 
State’s ability to deploy staff where needed when emergencies arise. 
State provides guidance, largely through the Foreign Affairs Manual, 
formal on-the-job training, and other resources to ensure staff are 
able to carry out these services. 

The Bureau of Consular Affairs has a variety of mechanisms to monitor 
its provision of emergency services; however, all of these mechanisms 
have limitations and, as a result, Consular Affairs cannot be assured 
it is allocating its resources effectively. The ACS system, which is 
intended to track emergency services provided by posts, and the 
consular package, which provides post-specific workload information to 
guide consular resource allocations, both contain unreliable data. For 
example, reporting weaknesses and unclear guidance associated with the 
ACS system prevent posts from accurately monitoring and evaluating 
their workload or using the data to make management decisions. Although 
State shifts its consular resources to meet emergency demands, absent 
current and reliable data on the worldwide demand for emergency 
services, Consular Affairs may not make decisions based on a clear 
understanding of the global workload. 

What GAO Recommends: 

To ensure State has accurate, reliable data to monitor and evaluate its 
provision of emergency services worldwide, we recommend the Secretary 
of State direct State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs to (1) provide 
guidance on information to be entered into the ACS system to ensure 
data are consistently captured and reflect workload; and (2) improve 
the reporting function in the ACS system. To ensure American citizens 
can easily find emergency contact information, we recommend the 
Secretary of State (1) require posts’ main Web site pages to include 
emergency contact information; and (2) periodically test the accuracy 
of this information. State agreed with our conclusions and 
recommendations. 

View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-989] or key 
components. For more information, contact Jess Ford at (202) 512-4268 
or fordj@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Background: 

State Provides a Variety of Emergency Services to Americans Abroad: 

State's Ability to Provide Emergency Services Depends on Having Trained 
and Experienced Consular Staff: 

Consular Affairs' Mechanisms to Monitor the Provision of Emergency 
Services Have Limitations: 

Conclusions: 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of State: 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: Bureau of Consular Affairs Organizational Structure: 

Figure 2: Travel and Emergency Services Information Located on State's 
Main Web site: 

Abbreviations: 

ACS: American Citizen Services: 

Consular Affairs: Bureau of Consular Affairs: 

FAM: Foreign Affairs Manual: 

FSI: Foreign Service Institute: 

FSO: Foreign Service officer: 

LES: locally employed staff: 

State: Department of State: 

[End of section] 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

September 24, 2009: 

Congressional Requesters: 

Serving and protecting the nearly 5 million Americans who reside 
overseas as well as the U.S. citizens who take more than 64 million 
trips to foreign countries each year are chief priorities of the 
Department of State (State).[Footnote 1] State's 260-plus embassies and 
consulates around the world have staff dedicated to assisting Americans 
facing emergencies overseas, such as providing death notification to 
the next of kin, or visiting Americans who have been arrested to ensure 
they are being treated humanely and understand the charges against them 
and the country's judicial process. In a high-profile case that took 
place during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the father-in-law of 
a U.S. coach was killed by a Chinese national. In response, the U.S. 
embassy in Beijing aided the victim's family by coordinating assistance 
with Chinese officials and the police, as well as the hospital and 
funeral home; assisting with repatriating the deceased's remains; and 
directing the family to the various services available to victims of 
crime overseas. 

Current State data indicate the number of U.S. citizens traveling, 
working, and studying abroad continues to grow, leading to a growing 
number of Americans who may need U.S. government-provided emergency 
services during their travel. For example, State reported that about 
3,500 American citizens were arrested abroad in 2004, while close to 
6,000 were arrested in 2008. 

This report addresses: (1) what services State provides to U.S. 
citizens who are the victims of crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise 
need emergency services; (2) how State is prepared to assist U.S. 
citizens in need of emergency services; and (3) how State monitors the 
assistance it provides to U.S. citizens in need of emergency services. 

To describe the services State provides to U.S. citizens who receive 
emergency services overseas, we interviewed State officials from the 
Bureau of Consular Affairs (Consular Affairs) and the Office of 
Overseas Citizens Services and reviewed State guidance, specifically 
the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) chapter dealing with Consular 
Protection of U.S. nationals abroad. We also traveled to China, 
Germany, Mexico, Thailand, and South Africa to observe how assistance 
is provided through U.S. embassies and consulates. We reviewed a random 
sample of embassy and consulate Web sites to identify the presence of 
emergency contact information on those sites. To describe how State is 
prepared to assist U.S. citizens in need of emergency services, we 
interviewed Consular Affairs officials regarding the process for 
determining resource allocations to posts that provide services to U.S. 
citizens. We also reviewed the training, guidance, and support provided 
for consular staff, and interviewed Foreign Service officers (FSO) and 
locally employed staff (LES) about the training and resources available 
for American Citizen Services (ACS) related activities. In addition, we 
reviewed guidance and support available to assist staff, such as the 
FAM, post-specific operating procedures, and the duty program; and 
observed FSOs and LES overseas in five countries providing routine and 
emergency services such as visiting prisoners in jail. To assess how 
State monitors emergency assistance to U.S. citizens and how management 
uses this information, we interviewed officials from Consular Affairs 
and FSOs overseas about two consular reporting systems. In addition, we 
reviewed the 2010 Consular Bureau's Strategic Plan, as well as the 
Mission Strategic Plans for four of the five countries we visited. We 
also interviewed all seven Regional Consular Officers who are 
responsible for providing guidance to more than 90 small posts around 
the world, and reviewed 43 of their trip reports, which included 
findings and recommendations regarding the provision of ACS in the 
countries they cover. 

We conducted this performance audit from October 2008 to September 
2009, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit 
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for 
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. Appendix I 
contains a more detailed description of our scope and methodology. 

Background: 

The protection of American citizens overseas, including the provision 
of emergency services, is one of State's primary functions.[Footnote 2] 
Providing these services is the responsibility of Consular Affairs and 
is carried out by embassies and consulates.[Footnote 3] Emergency 
services available to American citizens overseas include dealing with 
arrests, death cases, financial or medical emergencies, welfare and 
whereabouts inquiries, and victims of crimes. 

State also assists victims of terrorism, kidnapping, child abduction, 
and child abuse.[Footnote 4] In addition to providing assistance to 
American citizens in need of emergency services, State also provides 
routine services, including issuing citizenship documentation; 
overseeing federal benefit payments to American citizens living in 
foreign countries; providing information on absentee voting; and 
notarizing documents. These activities are referred to as American 
Citizen Services, or ACS, both in Washington, D.C., and at embassies 
and consulates. Before U.S. citizens can receive assistance, they must 
first provide proof of U.S. citizenship.[Footnote 5] In cases where 
there is uncertainty about citizenship, State regulations indicate that 
consular officers should err on the side of providing services until 
U.S. citizenship can be determined. 

While U.S. citizens may seek assistance from State regarding American 
citizens overseas, the Privacy Act of 1974 limits what written, oral, 
and electronic information State can share about these citizens. 
[Footnote 6] Among the protections the Privacy Act established for 
individuals, subject to certain exceptions, federal agencies, including 
State, are required to seek consent from a U.S. citizen before 
disclosing information held in a system of record regarding that 
person. Only after consent is received may information regarding a U.S. 
citizen be shared with family or friends, as well as other U.S. 
government agencies or private entities.[Footnote 7] Exceptions include 
instances in which State deems that an American citizen's health and 
safety are in jeopardy.[Footnote 8] Within Consular Affairs, the 
directorate of Overseas Citizen Services in Washington, D.C., is 
charged with protecting and providing services to U.S. citizens abroad. 
[Footnote 9] Consular Affairs also has responsibility for several other 
activities, including issuing passports and visas (see fig. 1). 
[Footnote 10] Within the Overseas Citizen Services, the Office of 
American Citizens Services and Crisis Management is responsible for 
providing emergency and routine services to U.S. citizens, and 
assistance during major crises such as the 2006 Lebanon 
evacuation.[Footnote 11] The Office of American Citizens Services and 
Crisis Management is organized according to regional divisions that 
cover Africa; East Asia Pacific; Europe; Near East, South, and Central 
Asia; and the Western Hemisphere. 

Figure 1: Bureau of Consular Affairs Organizational Structure: 

[Refer to PDF for image: illustration] 

Photograph of an Embassy. 

Bureau of Consular Affairs: 
Visa Office; 
Passport Office; 
Office of Policy; 
Overseas Citizen Services; 
* American Citizen Services and Crisis Management: 
- Emergencies: 
* Arrest; 
* Death; 
* Medical evacuations; 
* Repatriation; 
* Victims of crime; 
* Welfare and wherabouts. 

- Routine services (e.g. notarials, passports, consular record of birth 
abroad, etc.); 

- Crisis Management. 

Sources: GAO and State Department; Corel (clip art). 

[End of figure] 

Overseas, emergency services are provided by State's 267 embassies and 
consulates in 174 countries.[Footnote 12] Emergency assistance and some 
basic consular services are also provided by 46 consular agencies, 
which are an extension of existing embassies and consulates and 
generally service locations that are far from a post but where a large 
number of U.S. citizens live or visit.[Footnote 13] For example, Mexico 
has 14 consular agencies in addition to its embassy in Mexico City and 
9 consulates. 

Approximately 5,000 people work in consular sections at posts overseas, 
according to Consular Affairs. Of these consular positions overseas, 
approximately 1,450 are FSOs, 3,000 are LES, and the remaining 550 are 
in other positions. Each post has a consular section that assists 
American citizens with services including routine and emergency 
services, and most consular sections also issue nonimmigrant visas. The 
ACS sections of these posts employ a variety of consular staff--FSOs, 
LES, employed family members, consular associates, consular agents, and 
Regional Consular Officers--to assist American citizens. Each consular 
section must have at least one FSO who provides management and 
oversight to the section and administers certain emergency services 
that only an FSO can provide, such as issuing a passport or a report of 
death.[Footnote 14] LES perform much of the routine and administrative 
services provided by the section, and often assist FSOs with emergency 
services. In addition to FSOs and LES, some posts also employ family 
members and consular associates. Consular agencies are not assigned an 
FSO; rather they are assigned a consular agent, which is a noncareer 
appointee of the Foreign Service, who acts under the supervision and 
direction of the consular officer at the supervisory post. 

The provision of emergency services overseas, as well as the support 
provided by Overseas Citizens Services in Washington, D.C., is funded 
through a mixture of sources including limited direct appropriations 
and various fees collected by State. According to State, for fiscal 
year 2008, Consular Affairs collected revenues exceeding $2 billion of 
which it retained just over $1 billion for its operating costs, with 
the remainder of the funds provided to the Department of the Treasury 
or shared with other bureaus in State.[Footnote 15] The majority of 
funding for Consular Affairs comes from consular service fees, 
specifically Machine Readable Visa fees. These fees are collected and 
retained by Consular Affairs to fund consular operations domestically 
and overseas, and to fund part of the operations of the regional 
bureaus.[Footnote 16] Consular Affairs was unable to provide us the 
amount of funding that specifically supports ACS operations both 
domestically and overseas because ACS costs are integrated into 
Consular Affairs' and the regional bureaus' total costs and not broken 
out separately. 

State Provides a Variety of Emergency Services to Americans Abroad: 

State provides an extensive range of around-the-clock services to 
Americans in need of emergency assistance overseas. State also provides 
emergency information, through several means, to American travelers and 
citizens living abroad on travel and other information of concern, and 
maintains a warden system for disseminating information, which is 
particularly important in countries with poor communications 
infrastructure. 

Types of Emergency Services: 

State provides a variety of services to assist American citizens who 
face emergencies while traveling or living abroad, including assistance 
to citizens involving deaths, arrests, financial and medical 
assistance, accidents and crimes, and inquiries into the welfare and 
whereabouts of citizens. 

* Assistance in death cases: According to State, providing assistance 
for the next of kin of a deceased American citizen abroad is one of the 
most important and difficult tasks for FSOs abroad. Since 2003, State 
has reported more than 48,000 death cases involving Americans abroad, 
[Footnote 17] with more than 4,500 of those deaths attributed to 
nonnatural causes.[Footnote 18] FSOs are required to endeavor to notify 
next of kin of the death of an American citizen abroad as soon as 
possible and issue the report of death.[Footnote 19] State regulations 
and training highlight the need to provide effective service, but also 
to exhibit empathy and understanding for the next of kin, who may be 
unfamiliar with the foreign laws governing death and the disposition of 
remains. State guidance indicates that FSOs should attempt to comply 
with the family's wishes to the extent possible, but must also comply 
with local regulations and laws, as well as U.S. laws, governing the 
identification of remains, the disposition of remains, and autopsies. 
For example, in the event that the death is a result of homicide, 
suicide, or an accident, the host country is responsible for 
investigating the death.[Footnote 20] In addition, posts assist with 
and facilitate the disposition of the deceased's remains, while 
instructions and funds for this activity are the exclusive 
responsibility of the deceased's next of kin or legal representative. 

* Assistance to arrestees: FSOs are charged with helping to maintain 
the legal and human rights of American citizens arrested and detained 
abroad, although American citizens may not be accorded the same rights 
and judicial processes they would receive under the U.S. judicial 
system. According to State data, approximately 25,000 American citizens 
worldwide were arrested overseas from fiscal year 2003 through 2008. 
The host country is generally required to inform a detained U.S. 
citizen of his right to consular notification and to perform such 
notification if requested if it is a party to the Vienna Convention on 
Consular Relations or has a bilateral treaty with the United States. 
For some countries, consular notification is required regardless of the 
U.S. detainee's wishes, and consular officers are typically granted the 
right to visit. Furthermore, State regulations require each post to 
initially visit or contact the citizen as soon as possible following 
consular notification or information about the arrest from another 
source, and visit prisoners after sentencing every 6 months; develop 
information on the judicial process of each country; and maintain an up-
to-date list of attorneys who have indicated a willingness to represent 
American citizens.[Footnote 21] During our visit overseas, we observed 
an FSO and an LES visit incarcerated American citizens on two 
occasions. They asked prisoners about their health, gave them vitamins, 
and asked if they needed assistance from the post. In one instance, a 
prisoner requested a new passport and the officer completed the 
application during the visit. 

* Medical assistance: State may provide medical emergency loans to an 
American citizen in need of emergency medical or dietary assistance if 
the individual is destitute or incarcerated and cannot receive medical 
assistance. For example, in some countries prisoners must pay for 
medical assistance as well as food. According to State, approximately 
5,300 citizens were provided emergency medical and dietary assistance 
loans from fiscal year 2003 through 2008. In addition, in circumstances 
where a citizen is critically injured or ill overseas and a local 
physician determines the citizen is stable for travel, consular 
officers assist families in arranging medical transportation and 
provide information regarding the policies and procedures for 
evacuating a citizen to the United States. State data show that over 
5,000 American citizens received medical evacuations between fiscal 
years 2003 and 2008. For example, at one consulate we observed an FSO 
and an LES assist in the arrangement of a medical transport to the 
United States for a citizen who was injured in a traffic accident. Both 
the FSO and the LES worked with medical and local police officials to 
coordinate the medical transport and settle any demands with the other 
parties involved in the accident. 

* Financial assistance: State provides loans to destitute American 
citizens to return to the United States. Prior to issuing a loan, the 
post is required to make attempts to find other parties, family 
members, or friends who might be willing to pay the costs, including 
transportation and temporary lodging. When no support can be found, the 
post may provide a loan. Until the loan is repaid, the citizen is 
barred from using or renewing his or her passport. From fiscal year 
2003 through 2008, ACS provided approximately $5.5 million in loans for 
over 4,000 cases; approximately 40 percent of the loans were repaid, 
according to State officials.[Footnote 22] In addition, State may also 
facilitate the transfer of funds from a family member or friend to a 
destitute American through an account established at State. The "trust" 
is funded by the family, and State disburses the funds to the 
individual overseas. Unused funds are returned to the family. 

* Assistance to victims of crime: In cases of violent crimes committed 
against an American citizen, State addresses the emergency needs of the 
victim. In addition, FSOs and LES provide information on the country's 
criminal justice system and, in general, ensure that the victim 
receives necessary services while in the country and is provided 
information on assistance that is available after returning to the 
United States. State created the Crime Victims' Assistance Program in 
2000 because the needs of victims involved in serious or violent crimes 
are notably different from other ACS cases; additionally, some states 
have programs to assist these victims once they return. The program 
focuses on assisting victims of serious crimes, including homicide, 
sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, armed robbery, assault, 
and kidnapping. Assistance to a victim is not conditioned on the 
prosecution of a crime or the certainty a crime occurred. 

* Welfare and whereabouts of U.S. citizens: FSOs we met with indicated 
that inquiries regarding the welfare or whereabouts of American 
citizens overseas are the most common emergency assistance provided by 
posts. According to State data, consular officers helped concerned 
families and friends locate over 200,000 American citizens abroad 
annually from fiscal year 2003 through 2008. FSOs and LES will call 
local authorities, including police and immigration, as well as 
airlines, hotels, and hospitals, to locate a citizen. Although FSOs and 
LES may find, contact, and deliver a message to the citizen, the 
officials generally cannot disclose information about that person, even 
to the party that instigated the search, without the citizen's consent 
due to requirements in the Privacy Act. 

Emergency Assistance Provided at All Hours: 

Emergency assistance to American citizens is available and provided by 
posts at any time of day or night. During regular business hours, an 
American citizen can come to the post and request assistance. After 
hours, the duty officer, an embassy official who is on call nights and 
weekends, can be reached by phone, either directly via an emergency 
phone number or through the post's guard station or operator, to handle 
emergencies such as death and arrest cases. Consular Affairs also 
maintains a duty officer in Washington, D.C., to respond to inquiries 
and emergencies both domestically and from posts during nonbusiness 
hours. Additionally, Consular Affairs contracts with a call center in 
Florida that handles both routine information requests and emergency 
calls. Emergency service-related calls are forwarded by the center to 
consular officials in Washington. According to call center data, from 
October through December 2008, 92 percent of the calls were during 
normal business hours and a small portion of these calls related to 
emergency services.[Footnote 23] For example, 2 percent of the calls 
pertained to emergencies abroad, and less than 1 percent pertained to 
locating people abroad. 

Travel and Emergency Information Is Provided by Consular Affairs 
through Several Mechanisms: 

Consular Affairs provides information to travelers and Americans living 
overseas through several of mechanisms. First, Consular Affairs 
provides a variety of information on its consular Web site.[Footnote 
24] Second, posts maintain a warden system, which is used to 
communicate with Americans living overseas. Third, in the event of an 
emergency, posts can directly contact those individuals who registered 
their trip with the post. 

Specifically, the Consular Affairs Web site includes the following 
information: 

* Country-specific information such as the embassy or consulate 
location and phone numbers in the host country, traffic and road safety 
information, health conditions, entry regulations, crime and security 
information, and drug penalties. The country-specific information is 
updated semiannually. 

* Travel alerts that provide information on short-term conditions that 
pose immediate risks. They generally remain in place for 90 days or 
less. 

* Travel warnings that describe long-term conditions that make 
countries unsafe or unstable, and are updated every 6 months. Warnings 
recommend that U.S. citizens defer or reconsider travel to a country. 

* Information for people studying overseas.[Footnote 25] 

Embassies and consulates also maintain a warden system for American 
citizens living overseas. Wardens are typically American citizens who 
have lived in a country or region and have volunteered their 
assistance. They distribute both routine messages, including 
information on absentee voting or income tax information, and emergency 
messages, and might help establish assembly areas and evacuation routes 
if necessary. Although communication has improved with the introduction 
of cell phones, e-mail, and text messaging, State nonetheless continues 
to maintain its warden system to ensure it can communicate with 
American citizens about events or threats that may affect their 
personal security. 

Consular Affairs also provides a mechanism to register one's presence 
overseas. The Internet Based Registration System allows American 
citizens to provide information about their travels.[Footnote 26] If an 
emergency occurs or there is a disaster, and the person has registered 
his or her whereabouts with the post, the post will attempt to contact 
the citizen if it becomes necessary. Registering travel overseas is 
optional and, according to Consular Affairs, most citizens do not 
register. About 1.8 million people have used the online registration 
system since it was launched in July 2004. According to Consular 
Affairs officials, posts are making efforts to increase registrations 
by American citizens. For example, at posts we visited, FSOs 
distributed handouts with registration information to American citizens 
and to travel agencies and hotels that serve American citizens, and 
included registration information on their Web sites. 

Embassy and Consular Emergency Contact Information Could Be Improved: 

While State uses a variety of means, including Web sites, to provide 
information for American citizens in need of emergency assistance, 
emergency contact information is not immediately apparent on many 
embassy or consulate Web sites. State's main Web site has a link on its 
front page, under "Travel," that includes a subdirectory on emergency 
services, which includes emergency phone numbers to call from the 
United States or abroad (see figure 2). 

Figure 2: Travel and Emergency Services Information Located on State's 
Main Web site: 

[See PDF for image: illustration] 

The illustration depicts the following highlighed information from 
State's Main Web site: 

Steps to identify emergency assistance to Americans oveseas: 

1. Click on [hyperlink, http://www.state.gov] and choose “Travel.” 

2. Under “Travel,” select “Emergency services. ” 

Emergency services: 

Emergency Assistance to American Citizens Abroad: How to Contact Us: 

Overseas Citizens Services: Call 1-888-407-4747 (from overseas: 202-501-
4444) for answers related to questions concerning the: 
* Death or injury of an American citizen abroad; 
* Arrest/detention of an American citizen abroad; 
* Victims of crime abroad; 
* American citizens missing abroad. 

Sources: GAO and State Department. 

[End of figure] 

Emergency contact information, however, is not readily available on 
many individual posts' main Web site page, which, according to a senior 
Consular Affairs official, is a best practice posts are encouraged to 
follow. Consular Affairs guidance directs posts to provide the phone 
numbers for ACS during business hours, and indicates that, if the 
number is different for emergency calls during nonbusiness hours, it 
should be identified as an emergency number. Based on a random sample 
of embassy and consulate Web sites,[Footnote 27] we estimate that 14 
percent had the post's phone number on the main page of its Web site. 
[Footnote 28] In addition, none of these Web sites identified the phone 
number as an emergency assistance number. In order to identify the 
emergency contact information, we had to search the post's Web site. 
While all of the posts in our sample had emergency contact information 
posted on the ACS portion of the Web site, Consular Affairs has 
experienced problems in the past with some of the information on the 
ACS sites being outdated or incorrect. In one instance, an agency other 
than State received welfare and whereabouts inquiries from an American 
citizen who found the agency's e-mail address listed on the consulate 
Web site, but the inquiries were not forwarded to the ACS section. 
After the incident, the post removed the agency's e-mail address from 
the Consulate Web site. In another instance, the emergency number for 
the post was correct, but once the post was reached, the emergency 
contact number for the duty officer did not work. In addition to post 
Web sites lacking contact information, some sites also contained 
incorrect information on other topics. For example, two other posts 
listed incorrect information regarding the number of reports of death 
abroad that can be obtained from the post free of charge. 

State's Ability to Provide Emergency Services Depends on Having Trained 
and Experienced Consular Staff: 

State relies on a cadre of trained consular staff to provide assistance 
to U.S. citizens in need of emergency services. Some staff may rotate 
through the ACS section at a larger post, whereas at smaller posts, the 
consular officer may be the sole provider of all consular services, 
including emergency services. LES are a key component of posts' 
provision of emergency services, as is State's ability to move both 
FSOs and LES from post to post when emergencies arise. State provides 
guidance, training, and other resources to ensure staff are able to 
carry out these services. 

A Post's Size, Rotational Policy, and Experience Levels Affect the 
Provision of Emergency Services: 

The size of a post and number of FSOs and LES assigned to the consular 
section affect whether staff specialize in the provision of emergency 
services or rotate among various consular activities. For example, at 
large posts, such as those in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, FSOs 
and LES may specialize within the ACS section working either on 
emergency or routine services. Furthermore, the FSOs and LES may be 
assigned to specific emergency activities, such as making prison 
visits, handling death cases, or managing welfare and whereabouts 
cases. In contrast, at small posts that may have one or two FSOs, the 
FSOs are more likely to be responsible for all consular-related 
activities, such as ACS duties both routine and emergency, and may even 
split time between sections at the post. For example, at one post we 
visited, one of the two FSOs split his time between the consular and 
political sections. 

Larger posts may also have a rotational policy under which entry-level 
FSOs--FSOs on their first or second overseas tour--work in the ACS 
section for only a brief time. Although State does not have an 
established mandatory post rotational schedule or policy, the posts we 
visited typically had FSOs on 6-month rotations, which provided them 
the opportunity to experience all the different facets of the consular 
sections, such as providing ACS services, conducting visa interviews, 
and issuing passports. Both FSOs and LES we interviewed indicated that 
the rotating staff must complete a training period of a few weeks in 
the ACS section before an FSO can perform and provide emergency 
services independently. Senior-level FSOs and Consular Affairs 
officials stated that the rotations are important developmental 
opportunities that provide a comprehensive consular experience for 
entry-level FSOs. 

The experience level of FSOs performing ACS emergency services may 
differ based on the size of the embassy or consulate. Larger posts 
generally have a hierarchy of FSOs, some of whom have extensive 
experience and can guide inexperienced officers. For example, the 
embassy in Berlin has a Minister Counselor who oversees all consular 
services in Germany, an FSO who is also the head of the consular and 
ACS sections, and an entry-level FSO for ACS. Nine of the 12 posts we 
visited had mid-or senior-level ACS FSOs that managed and interacted 
with staff, and we also observed mid-and senior-level FSOs assisting 
American citizens directly. In contrast, smaller posts may only have 
one or two officers with limited Foreign Service experience. For 
example, at many small posts in Africa, the FSOs are on their first or 
second overseas assignment, according to Consular Affairs officials. To 
address the lack of experience, FSOs at these posts receive guidance 
from staff in Washington or from a Regional Consular Officer. Regional 
Consular Officers are assigned to provide support to small posts and 
conduct assessments of a post's consular operations, as well as advise, 
train, and support the post's less-experienced FSOs.[Footnote 29] 

LES Are Integral to Posts' Provision of Emergency Services: 

LES are integral to posts' provision of emergency services, since they 
generally have years of experience assisting American citizens in need 
of emergency services, speak the local language, and understand the 
local culture and political and legal policies. These LES are also 
familiar with State's policies and procedures and, according to 
Consular Affairs officials and FSOs at posts we visited, provide the 
post with institutional knowledge and continuity. In general, the posts 
we visited had LES who had worked in the consular section for years. 
For example, in Berlin, Germany, three of the four LES had worked in 
the ACS section for more than 20 years; in Beijing, China, two LES had 
worked in the ACS section for 8 and 11 years respectively; and in 
Johannesburg, South Africa, the senior LES had worked at the post for 
25 years. 

According to LES at posts we visited, a LES is often the first person 
an American citizen encounters at a post, handling initial discussions 
on issues ranging from welfare and whereabouts to arrests and deaths. 
LES may use their local contacts to check hospitals, police, and hotels 
to address a welfare and whereabouts call, or may assist with prison 
visits, including sending the notification of visit request and 
accompanying the FSO to the prison. According to an FSO, LES also 
conduct much of the administrative work associated with emergency 
services and therefore are often familiar with many of the details 
associated with a case, enabling them to provide continuity concerning 
case information for families and the department in spite of FSO 
departures or rotations to other posts. 

State Has the Flexibility to Move FSOs and LES to ACS in Emergencies: 

Although not all ACS sections have a large number of FSOs and LES, 
Consular Affairs reported that it has the flexibility to move these 
individuals in an emergency. FSOs and LES may be moved from one part of 
the consular section to the ACS section when an emergency necessitates 
more resources, as was confirmed at posts we visited and consistently 
reiterated by Consular Affairs officials. For example, according to the 
Minister Counselor of Consular Affairs in Mexico, in response to a 
hurricane in 2008, two consulates in Mexico reduced nonimmigrant visa 
appointments and moved FSOs and LES within the consular sections to 
respond to an increase in emergency services. FSOs from other posts may 
also be temporarily reassigned to assist another post. For example, 
during the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, the Beijing post 
received FSOs from 10 posts, including Japan, Latvia, and Turkey, 
according to an FSO at the embassy. 

State Provides Guidance and Training to Assist Consular Staff Provide 
Emergency Services: 

To support the provision of emergency services by FSOs and LES posted 
overseas, State provides specific guidance through the FAM, which takes 
into account the flexibility needed to address case-and country- 
specific details, according to Consular Affairs officials.[Footnote 30] 
For example, the FAM provides step-by-step procedures on making death 
notifications, but also recognizes the importance of being familiar 
with the laws and practices of the host country regarding such issues 
as disposition of remains, autopsies, and issuance of death 
certificates, as it is the host country's practices that dictate how a 
death case will be handled. The FAM describes every type of emergency 
service provided by ACS, and outlines what FSOs and LES can and cannot 
do. While the section of the FAM dealing with emergency services is 
over 800 pages long, it is online and searchable. According to Consular 
Affairs officials, the department sends cables notifying posts when 
significant changes to the FAM occur, and State's intranet site also 
has a section dealing with updates to the FAM. 

In addition to the FAM, some posts develop their own tailored guidance, 
such as specific standard operating procedures, which incorporate 
country-specific information, as well as handbooks for the duty 
officers performing emergency assistance (referred to as a duty book). 
The standard operating procedures are based on regulations and FAM 
guidance, but may allow an FSO to find guidance more easily than by 
searching the FAM. For example, the standard operating procedure for 
arrests for the embassy in Beijing indicates which FSOs and LES are 
assigned to these cases; designates the responsibilities for prison 
visits and administrative tasks; describes the notification and 
visitation process, including obtaining a Privacy Act waiver; and 
details other specific administrative requirements. In addition, every 
post is required to develop and maintain a duty book, which is intended 
to contain concise instructions, advice, and references to regulations 
on the types of cases or situations that may arise outside of business 
hours and that the duty officer may not have prior experience 
addressing, since not all duty officers work in the consular section at 
post.[Footnote 31] The duty book also generally contains the phone 
numbers of the ACS FSOs and often indicates that the duty officer 
should call the head of the ACS section or an FSO in the consular 
section if unsure how to handle a situation. Our review of duty books 
from the posts we visited found that all contained instructions on 
calling the head of the ACS section if the duty officer was unsure how 
to respond to a call. 

According to State officials, State also requires that FSOs and LES 
receive training to provide emergency services, which includes both 
mandatory and voluntary training for both FSOs and LES that perform ACS 
duties, provided by the Foreign Service Institute either in the United 
States or abroad.[Footnote 32] For example, prior to an assignment 
abroad, every entry-level FSO is required to attend the mandatory 6- 
week basic consular course, which focuses on all consular services and, 
according to State officials, includes 6 days devoted to the provision 
of ACS emergency services. According to State officials, LES must also 
take certain consular courses such as the consular correspondence 
course on the Laws and Regulations Regarding Overseas Citizens 
Services.[Footnote 33] The course is designed to help LES understand 
the large and complex body of laws and regulations regarding services 
for American citizens overseas. In addition, newly hired consular 
agents are required to attend ACS-related portions of the basic 
consular course at the Foreign Service Institute within 6 months of 
receiving their appointments. State has additional training focused 
primarily on ACS, including a course on Assisting Victims of Crime and 
a workshop on ACS designed for LES. 

Despite the emphasis placed on formal training, the entry-level FSOs we 
spoke with indicated that on-the-job training was the primary means by 
which they learned what is involved in providing emergency services, 
including the associated policies and procedures. For example, 
according to an FSO, although the FAM provides guidance about making a 
death notification to the next of kin, the challenges encountered in 
the situation are difficult to understand until an FSO performs such a 
notification. The FSOs indicated that on-the-job training and shadowing 
of more experienced ACS officers--or, at smaller posts, learning from 
Regional Consular Officers--were the most effective means of ACS 
training. The Regional Consular Officers we met with indicated that 
they also identify and recommend training opportunities for FSOs and 
LES based on needs they identified during their site visits. 

Consular Affairs' Mechanisms to Monitor the Provision of Emergency 
Services Have Limitations: 

The Bureau of Consular Affairs has a variety of mechanisms at the post 
level to monitor its provision of emergency services to U.S. citizens. 
These mechanisms include the ACS system, consular package reports, 
Regional Consular Officer reviews, and consultations between Consular 
Affairs and consular management at posts. However, ACS data in both the 
ACS system and consular package reports are unreliable owing to 
incomplete and inaccurate data case entry by posts. In addition, the 
ACS system has functional problems that hamper producing accurate 
reports. As a result, Consular Affairs and posts have difficulty using 
the ACS system's data to plan workload and make resource allocation 
decisions. Further, Consular Affairs does not have adequate information 
to comprehensively monitor and evaluate its provision of services 
worldwide, and therefore does not know the global demand for its 
services or if it is allocating its resources effectively. 

The ACS System Tracks Emergency Services Provided Overseas and 
Domestically: 

The ACS system is a case management tracking system that is employed 
worldwide and can be accessed by posts and in Washington, D.C.[Footnote 
34] Posts and staff both overseas and in Washington, D.C., use the ACS 
system to maintain and organize information regarding cases and to 
track their workload. The system is organized around nine categories of 
service; some are routine, such as issuing a report of birth abroad or 
a passport, and others are related to emergency services. Posts and 
staff in Washington, D.C., use the ACS system to maintain and organize 
information regarding a case. According to Consular Affairs officials, 
information in the ACS system constitutes State's official record of a 
case and, according to the FAM, all "significant" details regarding a 
case should be entered into the system. For example, if a person is 
arrested and sentenced to prison overseas, details about the case, 
including when and where the arrest occurred, the charges, the length 
of the sentence, and the post's first prison visit should be included 
in the ACS system. 

The ACS System Has Data Reliability and Functional Problems Limiting 
Its Utility: 

Data in the ACS system are unreliable due to incomplete and inaccurate 
data case entry by posts. We found that not all ACS cases are being 
entered into the ACS system. Consular Affairs officials stated that not 
all the welfare and whereabouts cases are entered into the system, 
which results in incomplete reporting. According to the Embassy in 
Jakarta, Indonesia, the post's workload statistics for the first three 
quarters of 2008 were underrepresented because several welfare and 
whereabouts cases it handled had not been entered into the ACS system. 
Furthermore, despite clear guidance in the FAM that posts are supposed 
to close out financial assistance cases in the ACS system 72 hours 
after a case has been completed, 25 percent of posts do not close out 
such cases, according to the Consular Affairs officer responsible for 
tracking financial assistance cases. As a result of cases remaining 
open, Consular Affairs is unable to determine how much money was 
borrowed, how much has been returned, and how much is still owed to the 
U.S. government. For example, Consular Affairs noted that at the end of 
the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, there was more than $115,000 of 
authorized funds still not fully disbursed or accounted for in the ACS 
system because some cases had not been closed. 

The system's lack of reliable data is partly attributable to unclear 
guidance regarding whether certain kinds of information should be 
entered into the system. A number of the officials at posts we visited 
stated there is a lack of guidance on this issue and, as a result, not 
all ACS cases are being entered into the ACS system. First, the FAM 
does not make it clear when reporting case information through the ACS 
system is required and when it is not. For example, the FAM section 
dealing with reporting cases related to court trials states that 
"significant actions should be reported."[Footnote 35] However, 
"significant" is not defined, which could affect the number of reports 
submitted, as officers' interpretation of what is significant may 
differ. Second, the FAM requires that officers report through the ACS 
system on some types of cases, but not for others. For example, in 
death and victims' assistance cases, as well as cases that involve 
financial or medical assistance, the FAM indicates what must be 
reported in the ACS system, whereas there is no reference in the FAM to 
entry of data into the ACS system on welfare and whereabouts cases. 
[Footnote 36] Rather, this is left to the discretion of FSOs, according 
to Consular Affairs officials. 

In addition to the ACS system's lack of reliable data, functional 
difficulties in generating reports from the system further limit the 
usefulness of its data as a management tool for the posts. Many of the 
posts we visited indicated they do not use the ACS system reports to 
track their workload because the system often crashes when printing 
reports and the reports are not always accurate. For example, when we 
asked posts in Germany and Thailand during our visits to provide us a 
report listing the open and closed victims' assistance or death 
statistics cases from 2003 through 2008, their computers crashed 
several times while attempting to produce the reports. Posts also noted 
that the reports the ACS system generates are not always accurate, 
limiting their usefulness as a management tool. For example, at eight 
of the posts we visited, reports for open and closed victims' 
assistance cases for 2003 through 2008 were identical, even though the 
cases listed in these reports should be mutually exclusive. At the 
ninth post, the reports contained incorrect data--closed cases appeared 
on the open case report and open cases appeared on the closed cases 
report. In order to determine which cases were closed and which were 
open, LES stated they relied on their local files rather than the ACS 
system reports. 

Many of the posts we visited created additional systems for tracking 
emergency services, an inefficient use of resources necessitated by the 
problems and limitations with the ACS system. In particular, a number 
of the posts created spread sheets to track death and arrest cases. For 
example, Bangkok kept a spread sheet with the names of American 
citizens who had died and for whom next of kin were present and another 
list of citizens for whom next of kin needed to be identified and 
contacted, along with the name of an LES assigned to handle the case. 
In addition, some of the posts we visited maintained a spreadsheet to 
track prison visits for arrested and incarcerated American citizens, 
since the ACS system does not produce a report containing this 
information. Consular officers indicated that the prison spreadsheet 
assisted the post in complying with the requirements for arrest cases, 
and one consular officer stated that the spreadsheets helped the post 
maintain continuity in visitations when staff turnover occurred. 

Data in the Consular Package Are Unreliable and Affect Consular 
Affairs' Ability to Evaluate Its Workload: 

Consular package reports, which are Consular Affairs' main tool for 
making resource allocation decisions for consular operations abroad, 
also lack reliable data; as a result, Consular Affairs does not know if 
it is effectively allocating its resources. The data in Consular 
Package reports are unreliable in part because certain sections of the 
reports are prepopulated with emergency services data obtained from the 
ACS system, which, as noted above, is unreliable. In other instances, 
we identified discrepancies in the consular package emergency services 
data that could not be explained.[Footnote 37] Additionally, 
limitations with the guidance regarding what information should be 
entered into the consular package report hamper the data's reliability. 

Problems with the consular package reports' reliability are partially 
attributed to errors with the prepopulated data obtained from the ACS 
system. In particular, FSOs at posts we visited informed us that data 
directly transferred from the ACS system to the consular package 
reports, such as the number of arrest and death cases, were often 
incorrect. For example, FSOs at several of the posts we visited told us 
they needed to correct arrest and death case data that had been 
provided in the consular package. As a result, Consular Affairs cannot 
rely on the numbers that appear in the consular package without first 
having posts verify the data. 

We also found variations in the consular package data that called into 
question its reliability. For example, data from the consular package 
system showed variations over time that Consular Affairs could not 
explain, such as: 

* FSOs in Tijuana, Mexico, performed over 10,000 hours of emergency 
services in 2003, 644 hours in 2004, and more than 8,000 hours in 2005. 

* In London, England, the number of hours spent on public inquires 
fluctuated substantially over several years--from 4,861 in 2004, to 200 
in 2006, to 5,160 in 2008. 

* In Oslo, Norway, the number of emergency services hours performed by 
both consular officers and LES dropped from 1,700 hours in 2004, to 
zero in 2005, and then increased to 500 in 2006. 

Discrepancies with emergency services data, such as deaths and arrests, 
that Consular Affairs provided to us for fiscal year 2003 through 2008 
further illustrated reliability problems with its data. [Footnote 38] 
For example, State initially reported there were 5,332 arrests in 
fiscal year 2007, but our analysis of the consular package data 
indicated the number was 3,915. After reviewing our analysis, Consular 
Affairs officials indicated that some of the differences we identified 
were due to system errors, specifically that data from the consular 
agencies were not included in the figures they initially provided us. 
Consular Affairs reran the arrest data, and the number of arrests 
decreased to 4,487 for fiscal year 2007. 

Additional problems with the reliability of the data may be attributed 
to limitations associated with the guidance for inputting information 
into the consular package. In response to the variations in the data we 
noted above, Consular Affairs officials stated that some differences 
might be due to different people inputting the data from year to year 
and interpreting what information should be included differently. 
Consular Affairs is aware that discrepancies exist between the data 
posts collect and the data in the consular package system. One reason, 
according to Consular Affairs, is that workload queries to the system 
conducted by posts may not be run at the same time or in the same 
manner as Consular Affairs' workload queries, resulting in differences 
in the data. Nonetheless, Consular Affairs has not provided clear 
guidance on the appropriate time frame for running queries to address 
this discrepancy. We also found that a lack of clarity about defining 
certain work activities led to some activities being categorized 
differently from year to year based on changes to the guidance. For 
example, in 2007, a post in Sweden reported its actual workload 
concerning "Other Special Citizen Services cases" remained generally 
the same from fiscal year 2006, but was represented as dropping 
significantly in the consular package report due to a misinterpretation 
of the category's definition. 

Consular Affairs has taken steps to compensate for the data limitations 
in the consular packages. First, Consular Affairs sends consular 
package reports to all posts and asks them to verify or correct the 
data in the report. Several posts we visited indicated that they 
correct the data in the consular package during the annual review 
process. In addition, Consular Affairs includes narrative questions in 
the consular package report where posts can supplement the workload 
data by providing information about their activities and needs. 
However, according to a Consular Affairs official not all questions are 
repeated from year to year, making it difficult to determine how 
activities or issues identified by posts one year are addressed the 
next year or if the activity or issue persists. Further, according to 
Consular Affairs officials, they do not aggregate the data because 
posts may interpret questions differently. Nonetheless, the bureau uses 
the additional information when making resource allocation decisions. 

State also has problems estimating the number of work hours associated 
with providing emergency services, which further contributes to the 
reliability issues associated with consular package data. Consular 
Affairs recognizes that ACS work hours are estimates and inherently 
difficult to calculate. Unlike work hours for other consular 
operations, no two emergency cases are the same and the hours spent 
addressing two similar cases can vary widely.[Footnote 39] Further, 
whereas some consular services, such as adjudicating a visa, usually 
entail a relatively specific and predictable series of steps (an 
application, interview, and adjudication), victims' assistance cases 
can vary from assault and domestic violence to robbery and rape, and 
the amount of time spent on cases can vary depending on the complexity 
of the crime and the country in which the crime occurred. In addition, 
not all hours devoted to emergency services are captured in the 
consular package data since, according to Consular Affairs officials, 
posts do not include the ACS work hours performed by duty officers that 
provide emergency services outside of normal business hours. Consular 
Affairs generally gives posts wide latitude in determining how to 
estimate the time they spent annually on the provision of emergency 
services, and post estimates can therefore vary widely. 

To compensate for weaknesses with the work hour estimates, the bureau 
is trying to develop measures that more accurately convey workload and 
reflect the complexity of the various types of emergency assistance. In 
addition, Consular Affairs officials stated they are developing a 
measure to capture a post's outreach efforts, as it considers outreach 
useful in educating American citizens on how to avoid situations that 
might necessitate emergency assistance. For example, Consular Affairs 
recently studied the feasibility of tracking the time consular staff 
spend on providing emergency services during nonbusiness hours. The 
study highlighted the significant workload associated with such 
services, but also revealed that tracking this time is itself a time- 
consuming process. 

The Regional Consular Officer Program Provides Oversight to Selected 
Small Posts: 

Regional Consular Officers are tasked with monitoring and evaluating 
all consular operations, including the provision of emergency services, 
through periodic visits to selected small posts and reports on the 
findings of those visits.[Footnote 40] Currently, there are 90 posts 
covered by the Regional Consular Officer program, and Regional Consular 
Officers have a minimum of 10 posts assigned to them. The Regional 
Consular Officer's reports are not used to identify trends that may be 
applied globally; rather they focus on individual problems at posts. 
The reports also generally have a common format, which includes an 
overview section and post staffing levels, followed by more detailed 
information on those areas the Regional Consular Officers focused on 
during their visit.[Footnote 41] Our review of 43 Regional Consular 
Officer trip reports from 2008 and 2009 found varying levels of detail 
regarding emergency services, making it difficult to systematically 
identify problems based on these reports.[Footnote 42] Regional 
Consular Officers may not always review a post's emergency services, as 
their reports primarily focus on management controls and other 
activities where the potential for fraud or abuse has significant 
security and other ramifications, according to a Regional Consular 
Officer. In addition, the officer stated that if there isn't much 
written about emergency services in a report, it is because no issues 
were identified during the visit. 

Though Regional Consular Officers indicated they share information and 
lessons learned among themselves and with their supervisor, their 
reports are not systematically analyzed by Consular Affairs in order to 
ascertain if consular operations could be improved worldwide. The 
Supervisory Regional Consular Officer in Cairo, Egypt, is responsible 
for clearing the other Regional Consular Officer's reports, and may 
therefore see themes and identify vulnerabilities in the various 
regions or across regions.[Footnote 43] However, according to the 
Supervisory Regional Consular Officer, he has not conducted a 
systematic review of the reports, and while Consular Affairs also 
reviews the Regional Consular Officer reports, it does not 
systematically analyze them to ascertain if consular operations could 
be improved worldwide. Although the reports are not systematically 
analyzed, the Regional Consular Officers themselves reported that they 
meet annually to discuss their work and share lessons learned, 
identifying common problems or themes. They also routinely share 
information via phone calls and e-mails. Additionally, there is a 
Regional Consular Officer Web site, available to all posts, which 
contains such information as examples of standard operating procedures 
and responses to questions posed by posts. 

Consultations with Posts Provide Useful Information but Are Not 
Required: 

According to Consular Affairs officials, supplementing the information 
provided by the ACS system, consular packages, and Regional Consular 
Officer reports are consultations Consular Affairs holds with consular 
and post management regarding their staffing and resource needs. 
Consultations occur either when consular management visit Washington, 
D.C., or when Consular Affairs officers visit posts; however, the 
consultations were not mandatory or routine. Consular Affairs 
recognized the value of providing these consultations, and Consular 
Affairs recently standardized the practice for outgoing consular 
officers, Deputy Chiefs of Mission, and U.S. Ambassadors. 

Consular Affairs may also contact a post when reviewing its consular 
package submission to obtain additional information regarding its 
resource requests, or seek the opinion of Regional Consular Officers 
regarding workload and resource allocations given their broad 
perspective on such post issues. While the information gathered during 
these consultations is factored into resource allocation decisions, 
such consultations are not regularly conducted with all posts and 
therefore cannot be used to systematically evaluate post needs. 

Consular Affairs Does Not Have Adequate Information to Comprehensively 
Monitor Its Provision of Emergency Services: 

Consular Affairs does not have adequate information to comprehensively 
monitor its provision of emergency services worldwide, largely due to 
the difficulty of developing meaningful measures, and the limitations 
associated with Consular Affairs' existing monitoring mechanisms, such 
as the ACS system. As a result, the bureau does not know the global 
demand for its services or if it is allocating its resources 
effectively. The overall number of cases addressed by posts overseas 
does not provide a complete picture of the level of effort expended by 
posts, since the measure does not reflect the complexity of the cases. 
Additionally, the number of hours spent on emergency service cases does 
not provide a sense of the types of emergencies posts address and 
whether or not the need for emergency services may be increasing. In 
addition to the difficulty of developing meaningful measures, 
mechanisms such as the ACS system and consular package, as discussed 
earlier in this report, do not provide Consular Affairs with reliable 
and complete data to assess the global demand for emergency services. 
Consular Affairs officials informed us that the bureau has an 
initiative under way to see how it might use the data it collects to 
identify trends related to the provision of emergency and consular 
services globally. However, as this initiative is ongoing, we were not 
able to assess it. 

Conclusions: 

While State provides a wide range of emergency services to American 
citizens overseas, State's ability to comprehensively analyze the 
global demand for these services is hampered by limitations with its 
data systems. For example, reporting weaknesses and unclear guidance 
associated with the ACS system prevent posts from monitoring and 
evaluating their workload or using the data to make management 
decisions. Moreover, limitations associated with Consular Affairs' 
monitoring mechanisms, combined with the inherent difficulty of 
measuring emergency service activities, prevent Consular Affairs from 
having a clear understanding of the global demand for emergency 
services. Although State shifts consular resources to meet emergency 
service demands, such as in the case of the Mumbai bombings, resource 
allocation, training, and planning decisions may not be based on a 
clear understanding of global workload. Absent current and reliable 
data on this worldwide demand for emergency services, Consular Affairs 
will continue to make resource allocation decisions based on incomplete 
and unreliable data. In addition, Consular Affairs views posts' Web 
sites as its main outreach mechanism; it is therefore imperative that 
American citizens are able to quickly find emergency services 
information on these Web sites. However, the vast majority of posts' 
Web sites do not contain emergency contact information on their main 
pages, forcing individuals to navigate through many Web sites at posts 
to get basic emergency contact information, and increasing the risk 
these individuals will not obtain these services in a timely fashion, 
or at all. 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

To ensure the Bureau of Consular Affairs has accurate and reliable data 
from the mechanisms used to monitor and evaluate its provision of 
emergency services worldwide, and therefore make informed resource 
allocation decisions, we recommend that the Secretary of State direct 
the Bureau of Consular Affairs to take the following two actions: 

* provide guidance on the information to be entered into the ACS system 
to ensure that data are consistently captured across posts and 
accurately reflect workload, and: 

* improve functionality in the ACS system so that Consular Affairs and 
posts can use the system more effectively. 

To ensure American citizens who experience an emergency overseas can 
easily find and identify emergency contact information on post Web 
sites, we are making the following two recommendations to the Secretary 
of State: 

* require posts' main Web site pages to include emergency contact 
information, and: 

* periodically test the accuracy of the emergency contact information 
provided on the posts' main Web site pages. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

In written comments on a draft of this report, State concurred with our 
conclusions and recommendations. State indicated that it is developing 
new FAM guidance which will focus on reporting and provide clear 
guidelines on what information to enter into the ACS system. State 
indicated it is also working to improve the ACS system, as well as the 
data system that provides information for the consular package, and it 
will release a new version of the software for testing in November 
2009. In addition, State indicated it is developing a new Global 
Citizens Services project, which should be implemented by 2014, and is 
supposed to facilitate case tracking, ease data entry requirements, and 
include appropriate management tools. 

State also agreed to make emergency contact information easily 
accessible for U.S. citizens abroad and in the United States on post- 
controlled Web sites and to periodically test the accuracy of the 
emergency contact information. State also indicated it will provide 
links to such information on both its main Web site and on the Bureau 
of Consular Affairs Web site. Finally, the Bureau of Consular Affairs 
noted it plans to undertake a major redesign of its main Web site, 
[hyperlink, http://travel.state.gov], beginning in September 2009. 
Ensuring better access to emergency assistance information is supposed 
to be a redesign priority and should be implemented in the first 
quarter of fiscal year 2010, with other changes to the site completed 
over the remaining part of the fiscal year. 

We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional 
committees and the Department of State. In addition, the report will be 
available at no charge on the GAO Web site at [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please 
contact me at (202) 512-4268 or fordj@gao.gov. Contact points for our 
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on 
the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions to 
this report are listed in appendix III. 

Signed by: 

Jess Ford: 
Director, International Affairs and Trade: 

List of Requesters: 

The Honorable Edolphus Towns:
Chairman:
The Honorable Darrell Issa:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
House of Representatives: 

The Honorable Henry Waxman:
House of Representatives: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

We examined (1) the emergency services that the Department of State 
(State) provides U.S. citizens, (2) how State is prepared to assist 
U.S. citizens in need of emergency services, and (3) how State monitors 
the assistance it provides U.S. citizens in need of emergency services. 

To describe the services State provides to U.S. citizens who are the 
victims of crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise need emergency 
services overseas, we interviewed State officials from the Bureau of 
Consular Affairs, including officials from the Office of Overseas 
Citizens Services. We also reviewed State guidance, specifically the 
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) chapter dealing with Consular Protection 
of U.S. Nationals Abroad, as well as other relevant sections of the FAM 
pertaining to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Consular Agents, the 
Regional Consular Officer Program, and the Warden System. We also 
reviewed the relevant sections of the Foreign Affairs Handbook, 
including guidance to Consular Agents and Regional Consular Officers, 
as well as Duty Officer Guidance and Crisis Preparedness. We also 
reviewed additional State guidance, including cables, pertaining to the 
provision of emergency services, including preparation of the report 
estimating the number of Americans who might need to be evacuated 
during a crisis, new procedures for death notification, closing out 
financial records, and support for victims of crime overseas. In 
addition, we reviewed international agreements such as the Vienna 
Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on 
Consular Relations and bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties 
related to criminal matters. We also reviewed Memoranda of 
Understanding between State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 
State and the Department of Justice pertaining to victims of terrorism 
and crime. To identify the presence of emergency contact information 
available on embassy and consulate Web sites, we conducted a simple 
random sample of 70 Web sites. One of the posts was deemed out of 
scope, leaving us with a final sample size of 69. We selected the 
sample from a list of 239 embassies and consulates that provide 
American Citizen Services (ACS) identified by State in their consular 
packages. Because our sample selection was based on random selection, 
it was only one of a large number of samples that might have been 
drawn. Since each sample could have produced different estimates, we 
express our confidence in the precision of our particular sample's 
results as a 95 percent confidence interval. Based on the confidence 
interval, we estimate that no less than 7 percent of the Web sites and 
no more than 26 percent of the Web sites include contact information on 
the main page of posts' Web sites. We traveled overseas to five 
countries and 12 posts to observe how emergency assistance is provided 
at posts, including Beijing and Guangzhou, China; Berlin and Frankfurt, 
Germany; Mexico City, Guadalajara, Matamoras, and Puerto Vallarta, 
Mexico; Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Cape Town and 
Johannesburg, South Africa. We interviewed ACS officials at all these 
posts including the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in Beijing, 
Berlin, and Mexico City as well as the ACS chiefs at all posts we 
visited. We also interviewed other ACS officers including entry-level 
officers and locally employed staff who are responsible for the 
provision of ACS emergency services at their respective posts, as well 
as several duty officers to learn about the training and guidance they 
received prior to providing emergency services during nonbusiness 
hours. Additionally, we interviewed management and budget analysts from 
the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and division directors, desk officers, 
and management within the office of Overseas Citizen Services, in 
Washington, D.C. 

To describe and assess how State is prepared to assist U.S. citizens in 
need of emergency services, we interviewed State officials from the 
Bureau of Consular Affairs regarding the process for determining 
resource allocations to posts and other offices that provide emergency 
services. We also interviewed ACS staff, Foreign Service officers, 
locally employed staff, and post management including Consuls General 
at several posts, and the Chargé d'Affairs and Deputy Chief of Mission 
in China, to ascertain how posts manage their emergency services 
workload. To assess the training provided by State we interviewed 
officials from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and obtained records 
pertaining to FSI courses that focus on ACS emergency-related services 
for both Foreign Service officers and locally employed staff. We also 
reviewed overseas and online training opportunities for both Foreign 
Service officers and locally employed staff provided by FSI, and we 
also attended FSI's training course on Assisting Victims of Crime, held 
in January 2009 in Arlington, Virginia, to learn about the issues 
associated with providing assistance to victims of crime overseas. In 
addition, we reviewed guidance available to assist staff, such as the 
Foreign Affairs Manual, post-specific operating procedures, and the 
duty program. We also interviewed Foreign Service officers and locally 
employed staff at all the posts we visited about the training they 
received both formally and on the job, as well as the resources at 
their disposal, including training and mentoring provided by Regional 
Consular Officers at selected posts, guidance provided by senior-level 
consular officers to entry-level officers at large posts, and new 
forums for providing information, such as a consular-supported blog 
focused on ACS and the Regional Consular Officer forum. We also 
observed Foreign Service officers and locally employed staff overseas 
at all the posts we visited, providing routine services such as issuing 
passports, as well emergency services such as visiting prisoners in 
jail and handling death notifications to the next of kin. In addition, 
in both Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, we observed post staff 
conducting prison visits. However, we did not address the overall 
quality of the ACS provided by posts. 

To assess how State monitors the assistance it provides to U.S. 
citizens in need of emergency services, and how this information is 
used to inform management decisions, we reviewed the Consular Bureau's 
2010 Strategic Plan and the Mission Strategic Plans for four of the 
five countries we visited, including the framework for measuring and 
evaluating the bureau's goals specific to ACS emergency services. The 
Bureau's Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2011 had not been released 
during our review's time frame. We also reviewed State's Performance 
Reports for fiscal years 2007 and 2008 and its Annual Performance Plan 
for fiscal year 2009 to ascertain how it was measuring and monitoring 
its ACS emergency services effort. In addition, we interviewed 
officials from the Bureau of Consular Affairs about the data collected 
through the ACS system, which is used to monitor the work of posts 
overseas, and discussed the problems posts identified with the ACS 
systems. We analyzed the annual consular package submissions from 
fiscal years 2003 to 2008, which provide data and narrative responses 
from all the 238 posts providing consular assistance overseas. Based on 
our review of the consular package data, we identified a number of 
problems with the data and provided the Bureau of Consular Affairs 
examples of problems we identified. Our assessment found 
inconsistencies in Consular Affairs data reporting by posts over time, 
which present major problems for monitoring and management purposes; 
however, we also assessed that the data give a general indication of 
the differences in orders of magnitude between the various ACS services 
provided worldwide over the time period in question. For example, the 
Consular Affairs data recorded roughly 4,500 deaths worldwide from 
natural causes during this period, compared to 25,000 arrests, compared 
to more than 200,000 welfare and whereabouts cases. Due to the 
weaknesses we noted in the data by post and over time, we report these 
data in very general terms simply to give a relative sense of State's 
activities in each of these areas. Likewise, we interviewed Foreign 
Service officers overseas regarding how data provided through the ACS 
system are used to monitor and evaluate their own activities. 
Additionally, we interviewed all the Regional Consular Officers--in 
Bangkok, Thailand; Cairo, Egypt; Frankfurt, Germany; Johannesburg, 
South Africa; and Washington, D.C.;[Footnote 44]--who are responsible 
for providing guidance to 90 small posts around the world, and reviewed 
43 Regional Consular Officer trip reports, which included findings and 
recommendations regarding the provision of ACS in the countries they 
cover. For 19 of the 43 reports, State provided only those sections of 
the trip reports they determined were pertinent to the provision of 
emergency services. Nonetheless, during post visits, two Regional 
Consular Officers allowed us to review the reports they had written in 
their entirety, and based on those reviews we determined that Regional 
Consular Officer reports focus mainly on management controls. In 
addition, at 9 of the 12 posts we visited, we obtained copies of open 
and closed victims' assistance reports. We determined that the data 
presented in this report are sufficiently reliable for the purpose for 
which they are presented. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of State: 

United States Department of State: 
Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer: 
Washington, D.C. 20520: 

September 18, 2009: 

Ms. Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers: 
Managing Director: 
International Affairs and Trade: 
Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street, N.W. 
Washington, D.C. 20548-0001: 

Dear Ms. Williams-Bridgers: 

We appreciate the opportunity to review your draft report,
"State Department: Wide Range of Emergency Services Provided to 
American Citizens Overseas, but Improved Monitoring is Needed," GAO Job 
Code 320641. 

The enclosed Department of State comments are provided for 
incorporation with this letter as an appendix to the final report. 

If you have any questions concerning this response, please contact 
Monica Gaw, Deputy Director, Bureau of Consular Affairs at (202) 736-
9107. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 
James L. Millette: 

cc: 
GAO - Anthony Moran: 
CA - Janice Jacobs: 
State/OIG - Mark Duda: 

[End of letter] 

Department of State Comments on GAO Draft Report: 

State Department: Wide Range of Emergency Services Provided to American 
Citizens Overseas, but Improved Monitoring is Needed (GAO-09-989, GAO 
Code 320641): 

The Department thanks GAO for its efforts in evaluating the 
Department's emergency services to American citizens overseas. The 
Department appreciates GAO's recognition of the services we provide to 
U.S. citizens abroad who are the victims of crimes, suffer accidents, 
or otherwise need emergency services. The report clearly describes our 
preparedness to assist U.S. citizens requiring emergency services. We 
would also like to assure Congress that protection of U.S. citizens 
abroad is among the Department of State's highest priorities. 

The Department appreciates the opportunity to respond to the 
recommendations and thanks GAO for a thorough and positive report, 
which has already helped us improve access to services and mechanisms 
to monitor provision of emergency consular services in some areas, even 
as GAO's engagement progressed. 

Recommendation: To ensure the Bureau of Consular Affairs has accurate 
and reliable data from the mechanisms used to monitor and evaluate its 
provision of emergency services worldwide, and therefore make informed 
resource allocation decisions, we recommend that the Secretary of State 
direct the Bureau of Consular Affairs to: 

1. Provide guidance on the information to be entered in the ACS system 
to ensure that data is consistently captured across posts and 
accurately reflects workload; 

2. Improve functionality in the ACS system so that Consular Affairs 
management and posts can use the system more effectively. 

Response: In general, the Department agrees with the recommendation, 
but also recognizes that we must trust our colleagues in the field to 
use good judgment to determine what constitutes a high profile or 
emergency case. In addition, we must have enough flexibility in our 
reporting mechanisms to allow for quick spot reports, followed by case 
entry into the ACS case-tracking database. 

The Department is developing a new section in volume 7 of the Foreign 
Affairs Manual, which will address the broad subject of reporting and 
provide clear guidelines on what information to enter into the ACS 
system. When published, the Department will introduce this change to 
posts abroad by cable and through our ACS Blog and will incorporate it 
into our ongoing training programs. The Department is deploying the 
State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset (SMART), which 
consolidates cables and e-mail, provides search capabilities, and 
enables collaboration. It is a user-driven system designed to support 
the conduct of diplomacy by integrating commercial applications 
including Communicator (IM), SharePoint, Office 2007, and Google 
search. When fully deployed, it will provide more targeted message 
dissemination as well as greater access to internal information. 

The Department is also refining the post management, monitoring, and 
oversight duties of officers in the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) OCS 
and EX offices as we improve our ACS and Consular Workload and 
Statistical System (CWSS) systems. CWSS is starting validation testing 
on September 17, and will roll out near the end of October (estimated 
October 21). 

The ACS testing and deployment schedule is an estimate only, at this 
point. There are many aspects involved in the introduction of this 
complex system, which makes it difficult to confirm a final timeline 
now. ACS 1.06 beta testing should be complete by the end of September. 
Once completed, we plan to deploy in October 2009. ACS 1.07 will begin 
beta testing in November 2009, pending some issues with Facial 
Recognition, with a planned deployment date of the end of the year, 
assuming the beta testing is successful. 

The Department is improving and refining its approach to technology in 
Citizens Services work. While we are incorporating interim measures in 
the existing ACS system, we are also developing a new Global Citizens 
Services (GCS) project. The GCS project is a strategic effort that will 
transform and modernize the systems supporting the provision of 
services to U.S. citizens domestically and abroad. The new system will 
be a person-centric case management system that will facilitate case 
tracking, ease data entry requirements, and include appropriate 
management tools. The GCS project was launched in August 2009 and is 
broken into several phases, the dates and durations of which are 
estimates and subject to change: 

* Phase 1 - 14 months (ending 10/2010) - preliminary study and scope; 
high level architecture and requirements; pre-acquisition; 

* Phase 2 -- 6 months - (ending 4/2011) - acquisition; 

* Phase 3 - 36 months - (ending 2014) - development of a complete GCS
solution. Phase 3 development could be staged to provide new GCS 
components as early as 2013 or, perhaps, 2012. Exactly what and when 
components will be phased in cannot be estimated until most Phase 1 
activities are completed. 

Recommendation: To ensure American citizens who experience an emergency 
overseas can easily find and identify emergency contact information on 
post Web sites, we recommend that the Secretary of State: 

1. Require posts' main Web sites to include emergency contact 
information; 

2. Periodically test the accuracy of the emergency contact information 
provided on the posts' main Web sites. 

Response: The Department agrees with the recommendation. CA is 
coordinating with our embassies and consulates abroad to make emergency 
contact information easily accessible for U.S. citizens abroad and in 
the United States on postcontrolled web pages, and to periodically test 
the accuracy of the emergency contact information. We are also taking 
measures to provide links to such information on the Department of 
State web page [hyperlink, http://www.state.gov/] and the Bureau of 
Consular Affairs' web page [hyperlink, http://travel.state.gov]. 

In addition, CA is in the planning stages of a major redesign of 
[hyperlink, http://travel.state.gov]. Easier and more obvious access to 
emergency assistance information is one of the many goals of this 
project. The redesign will commence in late September 2009, after the 
completion of a formal usability study of the site. To minimize 
disruption to site users, changes will be made incrementally throughout 
the site over the course of FY2010. Better access to emergency 
assistance information will be prioritized and will be implemented in 
the first quarter of FY2010. 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contact: 

Jess Ford, (202) 512-4268, fordj@gao.gov: 

Staff Acknowledgments: 

In addition to the individuals named above, Anthony Moran, Assistant 
Director; Julie Hirshen; John F. Miller; Grace Lui; Jacob Davis; Martin 
De Alteriis, Assistant Director; Joe Carney, Justin Fisher, and Suneeti 
Shah made key contributions to this report. In addition, the following 
staff provided technical assistance: Etana Finkler and Ellery Scott. 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] The United States began overseas representation in 1777, 12 years 
before the creation of the Department of State. 

[2] American citizens are defined as any person who was born or 
naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. Under State regulations, 
nationals of U.S. territories and dependencies are also eligible for 
consular protection and services; however, lawfully permanent residents 
are not eligible to receive such services including the spouse and 
children of U.S. citizens who are lawfully permanent residents. See 
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7 section 012 
(May 20, 2009). For the definitions of "national of the United States," 
"nationals but not citizens of the United States at birth," "outlying 
possession of the United States," and "lawfully admitted for permanent 
residence" see 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(22); 8 U.S.C. § 1408; 8 U.S.C. § 
1101(a)(29); 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(20). 

[3] In addition to protecting U.S. citizens overseas, State is also 
responsible for conducting American diplomacy on behalf of the 
President through U.S. representation abroad, foreign assistance 
programs, countering international crime, foreign military training 
programs, and helping to protect the border of the United States. 

[4] In this report we are not addressing children's issues, including 
child abduction and adoption, nor are we addressing mass casualty 
events, acts of terrorism, or kidnapping. 

[5] Proof of citizenship includes having a valid U.S. passport, 
naturalization certificate, certificate of citizenship, or Consular 
Report of Birth Abroad. In addition to citizenship documents, a 
person's name must be cleared by the Consular Lookout and Support 
System, which determines if there are any outstanding federal warrants 
or any other possible bases for the denial of services. In the event 
that such documents have been lost or stolen, citizenship can be 
verified through the Passport Information Electronic Records System or 
American Citizens Services System. 

[6] The Privacy Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-579, 88 Stat. 1896, 
codified as amended at 5 U.S.C. § 552a. 

[7] 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b) (listing conditions of disclosure). 

[8] 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(8). 

[9] State provides consular services in accordance with international 
and U.S. law. This includes the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs, 
bilateral treaties between the United States and the host government, 
and the following U.S. statutes and regulations: 22 U.S.C. §§ 1731, 
2671(b)(2)(A)(ii), 2671(b)(2)(B), 4802(b), 2715, 2715a; 22 C.F.R. §§ 
71.1, 71.6. 

[10] For previous GAO reports on consular operations see GAO, Border 
Security: State Department Is Taking Steps to Meet Projected Surge in 
Demand for Visas and Passports in Mexico, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-1006] (Washington, D.C.: July 31, 
2008); and State Department: Comprehensive Strategy Needed to Improve 
Passport Operations, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-891] (Washington, D.C.: July 25, 
2008). 

[11] For previous GAO reports on emergency planning and evacuation see 
GAO, State Department: Evacuation Planning and Preparations for 
Overseas Posts Can Be Improved, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-23] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 19, 
2007); and State Department: The July 2006 Evacuation of American 
Citizens from Lebanon, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-893R] (Washington, D.C.: June 7, 
2007). 

[12] This includes missions to international organizations; the branch 
office of embassies, U.S. interest section; and American Presence 
Posts, which may not provide consular services, but may provide 
emergency services. 

[13] Consular agencies can also be located in places in which the 
United States does not have an embassy or consulate but may wish to 
have a consular presence. For example, the consular agency in the 
Cayman Islands is part of the consular district of the embassy in 
Kingston, Jamaica. 

[14] Under some circumstances, such as during the transition of one FSO 
to another post, there may be no officer to conduct official business. 
Such occasions are infrequent, according to consular officials. 

[15] In addition to the fees to fund Consular Affairs' operations, for 
fiscal year 2009 State's Congressional Budget Justification included 
approximately $3.1 million for Consular Affairs; these funds support 17 
positions located in Washington, D.C., and do not include the total for 
ACS operations overseas. 

[16] State notifies Congress about the funds received from fees, and 
retains a portion of them for its operations, rather than depositing 
the fees in the Department of the Treasury and having to rely on 
appropriations for such operations. 

[17] While our assessment of State's Consular Affairs data found 
weaknesses that we detail in objective 3, we determined that, in the 
aggregate, the data can give a general indication of the relative 
magnitude of the different ACS services provided between fiscal years 
2003 and 2008. 

[18] State identifies nonnatural deaths annually in the "Deaths by Non- 
Natural Causes" report, which is required in the Foreign Relations 
Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003, Pub. L. No. 107-228, § 204, 116 
Stat. 1350, 1363, codified at 22 U.S.C. § 2729. According to State, 
nonnatural deaths include deaths as a result of an accident, suicide, 
or homicide. 

[19] See 22 U.S.C. § 2715b and 22 C.F.R. § 72.5. A Report of Death is 
used by the next of kin in lieu of a U.S.-issued death certificate. 

[20] The Federal Bureau of Investigation is not involved in the 
investigation of deaths of American citizens or citizens who are 
victims of crime overseas, unless (1) the citizen deaths are the result 
of terrorist activity, or (2) the host country government requests 
Federal Bureau of Investigation assistance with an investigation. 

[21] State has interpreted this requirement to mean that posts should 
attempt to visit an arrested American citizen within 24 hours. In 
circumstances in which it is not possible to visit an arrested American 
citizen within 24 hours, such as when the arrest occurred in a remote 
location, the officer should at a minimum make phone contact with the 
prisoner within 24 hours of being notified of the arrest and should 
attempt to visit the prisoner within 72 hours. 

[22] State indicated that some loans are "written off," generally when 
the person who received the loan died before repayment was completed. 

[23] Of the 23,333 calls between October 1 and December 31, 2008, 
nearly three-fourths sought routine information on topics such as 
passports and consular information. 

[24] The Consular Affairs Web site can be found at [hyperlink, 
www.travel.state.gov]. 

[25] Information for people studying abroad can be found on State's Web 
site, "Students Abroad" [hyperlink, http://studentsabroad.state.gov/] 

[26] The Internet Based Registration System can be found on State's Web 
site at [hyperlink, https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/] 

[27] We drew a random sample of embassy and consulate Web sites. 
Because our sample selection was based on random selections, it was 
only one of a large number of samples that might have been drawn. Since 
each sample could have produced different estimates, we express our 
confidence in the precision of our particular sample's results as a 95 
percent confidence interval. This is the interval that would contain 
the actual population value for 95 percent of the samples we could have 
drawn. As a result, we are 95 percent confident that the confidence 
interval in this report will include the true value in the study 
population. See app. I for additional information on the sample. 

[28] Based on a 95 percent confidence interval, we estimate that no 
more than 26 percent of the Web sites would include a phone number on 
the main page. 

[29] These assessments are not formal audits or inspections, although 
Regional Consular Officers do make recommendations to improve consular 
operations at posts. 

[30] Chapter 7 of the FAM is the main guide on emergency services. The 
Foreign Affairs Handbook also provides guidance, although its focus on 
the provision of emergency-related activities is limited, according to 
Consular Affairs officials. 

[31] The basic information contained in the duty book is outlined in 
the FAM. 2 FAM 113.8 addresses the requirements of the duty officer 
guide. 

[32] Fourteen courses offered by the Foreign Service Institute contain 
ACS-related content, although not of all of them are relevant to 
emergency services, such as the courses on Nationality Laws and 
Regulations With Regard To Consular Procedures, and Fraud Prevention 
for Consular Officers. 

[33] Other LES-required courses include Nationality Laws and 
Regulations With Regard To Consular Procedures. 

[34] Posts wishing to edit a case that was created in another country 
must request access to the case information from the post that created 
the case. Consular agencies, however, do not have access to the ACS 
system since they operate in unsecured locations. Information 
pertaining to cases in a consular agency's area is shared with and 
inputted by its supervising post. 

[35] 7 FAM 450 and 455. 

[36] Reporting on deaths and victims' assistance cases is required by 
statute. 22 U.S.C. § 2729, 22 U.S.C. § 2715b, 

[37] The Consular Package system contains data other than emergency 
services data; we did not assess the reliability of the nonemergency 
services data. 

[38] Consular Affairs obtained the data from the system that produces 
consular package reports, and the ACS system. 

[39] For example, a death case in which the next of kin is present 
generally requires less time to address than a death case in which the 
next of kin is unknown. 

[40] State's Office of the Inspector General also conducts inspections 
on consular services at posts; however, the inspections generally have 
focused on activities other than the provision of emergency services. 
Likewise, Consular Affairs Consular Management Assistance Teams conduct 
evaluations of consular post operations, generally at the invitation of 
a post, and these reports generally do not focus on the provision ACS 
emergency services. 

[41] All of the Regional Consular Officer reports we reviewed followed 
the same format. 

[42] We requested all of the Regional Consular Officer trip reports 
from 2003 through 2008 and were told they were not available 
electronically; however, State provided us with 43 reports. 

[43] The Supervisory Regional Consular Officer also had 12 countries in 
the region where he conducts Regional Consular Officer reviews. 

[44] The only Regional Consular Officer we did not interview in person 
was the Supervisory Regional Consular Officer who is located in Cairo, 
Egypt. 

[End of section] 

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