1. Foreign Nationals Security Processing
Keisha Risby
Foreign National Visitors Program Manager
Personnel Security Staff

2. Who are “Foreign Nationals”?
People who are not citizens or nationals of the United States
or its territories: American Samoa,
the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands by birth or naturalization are foreign nationals.
Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) (persons issued a ‘green card’) showing they have been granted the right to permanently reside in the U.S., are considered foreign nationals until they become naturalized.

3. Presentation of a U.S. passport
U.S. Citizenship (or nationality) can only be proven in one of three ways:
U.S. Citizenship
Presentation of a U.S. passport
Presentation of
a Naturalization Certificate, Form
N-550 or 570 (Replacement)
Presentation of a birth certificate from a U.S. state or territory or a State Department-issued Report of Birth Abroad Form FS-240 or DS-1350

4. What is Required when a Foreign National Plans to Visit a USDA Facility
The foreign national must be hosted and escorted by a USDA employee.
A Foreign National Data Sheet (ARS-230) must be submitted for an all source check (name trace)
If a J-1 Visa will be obtained, additional documents must be provided (listed on another slide)
A favorable result of the all source check

5. Required Forms J-1 Program Security Check (only)
Assistance Memo for issuance of a DS-2019
ARS-230
Electronic scan of the passport data page. (include a copy for each family member)
Letter of Invitation
Student Transcripts (if a student) or curriculum vitae (if not a student)
AD-672
Proof of Health Insurance (must be provided within 3 calendar days of arrival into the U.S.)
Copies of all applicable documents listed in Section II of the ARS-230
Send electronically to
ARS – 230
Copies of applicable documentation
Send electronically to
Extensions
Extension Request Memo (J-1 only)
ARS-230
Copy of Current DS-2019 (J-1 only)
Any new funding or health insurance documents, if applicable(J-1 only)
*All documents must be in English. FSIP or FAS will only issue the DS-2019 after receiving notification from the ARS Personnel Security Staff that the all source check (name trace) has been cleared.

6. Who Needs an All Source Check (name trace)
Foreign visitor from a country on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list (Cuba, Sudan, Iran, Syria)
Foreign visitor requesting access to a USDA Facility Critical Infrastructure
Foreign visitor who requires IT login credentials to access a USDA network.
Currently th

7. U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign National Data Sheet
ARS-230
U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign National Data Sheet
Now we will briefly discuss the ARS-230 Form and it’s purpose.

8. What is the ARS-230 form?
The ARS-230 Form is a data collection form to gather information for Foreign National Visitors that are visiting an ARS facility for more than 5 consecutive days or 5 non-consecutive days in a 30 day period. The form should be completed by the visitor and include all of the requested information in Section I and any information that the visitor has in section II. An important note to make is in Section I, the section regarding who will be accompanying the visitor on the trip. This section is gender specific and therefore if anyone is accompanying the visitor they must specify whether the individual is their son, daughter, husband or wife and not spouse or child.

9. When is Submission of an ARS-230 Required?
An ARS-230 must be submitted whenever a foreign national will:
be present for more than five (5) days (consecutive or non-consecutive days within a 30-day period);
perform hands-on work;
be applying for a visa sponsored by a USDA office or agency;
receive Government funding;
be an employee of ARS;
Extended their visit;
It’s been over 30 days since the initial ARS-230 was cleared and the visitor hasn’t arrived yet.
This includes those who have permanent residence status. An updated ARS-230 is needed whenever a visitor is extending their visit.

10. ARS-230 POC’s Who submits the ARS-230? Who is the POC for my area?
Location
Contact(s) Name
Contact
Beltsville Area
Denise Skinner-Marshall
Dan Thessen
Mid-South
Rita Keeling
Teresa Privott
Mid-West
Debbie Agee
National Agricultural Library
Elizabeth Jackson
North Atlantic
Maria Dallara
Northern Plains
Lynda Jensen
Office of International Programs
Tanya Wran
Irene Santos
Pacific West
Fran Sichel
Veronica Laird
South Atlantic
Irene Fortson
Earl Griffin
Southern Plains
Jaycee McKinzie
Edna Taylor
ARS-230
POC’s
Who submits the ARS-230?
Who is the POC for my area?
There are designated Area Point of Contacts (POC’s) that receive the ARS-230 from the host. The area POC’s and their addresses are listed on the chart.

11. Where to submit the ARS-230 form?
For ARS-230 Only
For J-1 Program Applicants Only
Upon review of the ARS-230 form the POC forwards it (electronically) to the Personnel Security Staff for further processing. There are 2 mailboxes that were developed to separate the 2 types of ARS-230 submissions: ARS 230 (only) and the ARS-230 for the J-1 Program. The ARS-230 Only Mailbox is used when the Foreign National has a non-USDA sponsored visa and have his/her own funding. The J-1 Program Mailbox is used when ARS will sponsor the J-1 Exchange visitor visa or support funding is required.

12. Common Errors on the ARS-230
Section I
All of the requested information is required;
NAME - lastname, first name middle name (a comma must separate the last and first name or the form will be returned to the POC);
Date of Birth – must be in the correct format MM/DD/YY;
Place of Birth – must list city and country
Marital Status – must specify single, married, divorced, etc.;
Country of Residence – the name of the country which granted the foreign national permission to legally reside within its borders;
Home Address – must list the full current physical address
Home Telephone and Mobile Number – list the number only if it’s a home or cell. Do not put the employer’s phone number

13. Common Errors on the ARS-230 cont.
Fax – list only if there is one
Residential Address in Other Countries During the Past 7 years – need the full address and the length of time at the address. This can be listed as exact dates or the number of years.
Occupation – list the occupation (i.e. Researcher) , or if a student, write “student”;
Employer/School’s Address – need the full address of either the school or employer;
Employer/School’s Telephone Number – should be the correct number and not the same number as the home or cell unless an individual is self-employed or something similar;
USDA Facility You Wish to Access – need the full name and address of the facility;
Date you expect to arrive and depart this facility – only list the proposed dates that the individual is expected to visit a USDA facility and not the dates they are in the U.S;
Will anyone accompany you on this trip – list the gender of the accompanying guest (i.e., spouse = husband or wife, child = son or daughter);

14. Common Errors on the ARS-230 cont.
Section II
Only list the information that the visitor currently has;
Passport expiration date – must be in the correct date format (mm/dd/yyyy);
Visa Type – must specify the type of Visa (B1, J1, H1B, etc). Or Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
Visa Number – the 8 digit number in the lower right side of the Visa; If under VWP, list the ESTA number
Visa Expiration Date – must be in the correct format (mm/dd/yyyy);
Form I-94 admitted until date – this is either a stamped date or DS (duration or study);
Section III
Use the section for any changes
Section IV
List the actual arrival and departure date to and from a USDA facility.
* The ARS-230 should also be submitted when the visitor has arrived and departed the facility.
In Section II, not all of the information will be applicable at this time unless the visitor is already in the U.S. Only complete the areas that you have information for.
The visa information is not required if the foreign national doesn’t currently have one. The visa type can be found on the right side under the heading Visa Type/Class. The visa number is the most commonly made mistake on the form. It’s the 8 digit number on the lower right hand side of the Visa. If the individual is participating in the Visa Waiver program, they will need to list the ESTA# under visa #.
Section III – Use this section for any changes that occurred after the initial ARS-230 submission.

15. Roles and Responsibilites
Host
Escort
Area Point of Contact (POC)
Personnel Security Staff (PSS)
Office of Homeland Security – Personnel & Document Security Division (OHSEC – PDSD)

16. Host Responsibilities
Hosts are responsible for:
Ensuring all required information is included in the submission of foreign national screening requests within the timeframes stated in the policy;
Meeting foreign visitors at the designated building entrance on the arrival date to check them in, visually inspect their identification, and obtain the proper USDA badge or sticker;
Informing all foreign visitors of prohibited items or items that will be controlled in certain areas while visiting USDA facilities, such as cell phones, cameras, and laptop computers;
Collecting all USDA issued badges or stickers on the last day of the visit;
Ensure visitors don’t access unauthorized areas

17. Host Responsibilities cont.
Ensuring escorts are assigned for foreign visits as required;
Responding to requests for additional information on follow-up checks and/or corrections
Immediately reporting any security anomalies, concerns, or incidents to agency leadership, the USDA Operations Center, the Office of the Inspector General (if applicable) and local law enforcement (if applicable).

18. Who May Host a Foreign National?
Only U.S. citizens employed by USDA in permanent positions (this excludes career-conditional employees) that have a favorably adjudicated background investigation on file may host a foreign national.
Foreign nationals are required to have a host when accessing an USDA-owned, operated, or controlled facility that is not ‘open to the public’.

19. ESCORT RESPONSIBILITIES
As an escort, you will be responsible for:
Escorting foreign visitors according to the Foreign Visitor Access Management Policy (1:5 = 1 escort for every 5 visitors. Special Agent areas 1:1)
Ensuring foreign visitors wear their USDA issued badge or visitor sticker at all times above their waist in an easily observable position
Arranging multiple escorts, if necessary, to accommodate multiple visitors in different locations
Immediately reporting any security anomalies, concerns, or incidents to agency leadership, the USDA Operations Center, the Office of the Inspector General (if applicable) and local law enforcement (if applicable).
Under the new DR, escorts will be required to complete an Escort Responsibilities briefing. As of right now, it’s a hardcopy form that the escort will read, sign and date.

20. Area Point of Contacts (POC)
POC’s are responsible for:
Reviewing all documents that are submitted by the host, checking for accuracy and completeness;
Serving as the liaison between the Personnel Security Staff (PSS) and the host;
Electronically submitting ARS-230’s and supporting documentation to PSS (password protected);
Submitting ARS-230 clearance results to the Host
Please be sure to password protect al 230’s that are being sent. We can obtain a shared password for those who don’t already use one.

21. PERSONNEL SECURITY STAFF
Personnel Security Staff is responsible for:
Ensuring the ARS-230 is completed in it’s entirety
Requesting corrections to forms
Maintaining an electronic tracking system of all foreign visits
Serving as liaison between the Area POC’s and Office of Homeland Security -Personnel Security Division (OHSEC – PDSD)
Submitting all source check requests to OHSEC
Reporting all source check clearance results to Area POC’s, FAS, and FSIP
Providing guidance and updates to USDA employees on program matters

22. Office of Homeland Security
PDSD is responsible for:
Entering the data from the ARS-230’s into a secured database to initiate the all source check;
Rejecting incomplete and/or inaccurate ARS-230’s and returning them to the PSS;
Retrieving all source check data from the secured database and reviewing the results;
Providing the results to the PSS;
Providing program guidance to PSS.

23. The Process
The host collects, prepare, review all documentation and submits it to the area POC
The area POC conducts a second review of the documentation ensuring the ARS-230 is complete and accurate, then electronically submits it to the PSS staff designated mailbox
The PSS conducts a brief third review of the ARS If no corrections are required, its forwarded to Homeland Security
If corrections are needed, it’s returned to the POC via outlining what corrections are necessary
Once corrections are made, the POC resubmits the corrections to the PSS using the designated mailboxes
Homeland Security enters requests into secured database
Results are returned to Homeland Security Staff and reviewed and compiles a clearance list
Clearance List is forwarded to the PSS.
PSS reviews the clearance list and forwards it to the POC’s, FAS, and/or FS
PSS will not make any corrections to the forms. All corrections are returned to the POC to gather the appropriate information. There are times where PSS sends a new list to Homeland security and an ARS-230 is rejected for errors that were missed by all reviewers. If corrections are needed the form will be returned to the POC to forward to the host and then resubmitted to the appropriate mailbox upon completion. Please do not send information to our personal mailboxes.

24. Processing Timeframes
Personnel Security Staff Receives and Reviews ARS-230’s
(within 45 days of the planned visit)
The ARS-230’s are forwarded to OHSEC
Submitted weekly
OHSEC
Receives and enters data into secure database
On average 1-2 days
OHSEC retrieves and reviews the results.
Within 45 days of the date of submission
Clearance list is sent to PSS from OHSEC.
Within 45 days of the submission date
Clearance list is sent to Area POC’s
Normally within 24 hours of receiving the list
Please note that these times can change depending on the office workloads and higher priority submission from other agencies. These are estimates. Also please note that when corrections are needed, that extends the length of time from the date of initial submission

25. Participating Visa Waiver Countries
Andorra
Hungary
New Zealand
Australia
Iceland
Norway
Austria
Ireland
Portugal
Belgium
Italy
San Marino
Brunei
Japan
Singapore
Czech Republic
Latvia
Slovakia
Denmark
Liechtenstein
Slovenia
Estonia
Lithuania
South Korea
Finland
Luxembourg
Spain
France
Malta
Sweden
Germany
Monaco
Switzerland
Greece
Netherlands
United Kingdom

26. Terms and Definitions
All-Source Check: A procedure whereby a request is made to appropriate U.S. Government agencies to determine whether information exists on a particular foreign national.  Also none as the name trace.
Dual Citizenship: Recognition of a person as a citizen by more than one country.
Foreign National: A person who was born outside the jurisdiction of the United States and who has not been naturalized under U.S. law.
 Foreign National Status: The period of time a foreign national is authorized to be in the United States and what type, if any, work he/she can participate in while in the United States as determined by his/her valid passport, visa, Permanent Resident Card, or other U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) documentation.
 Foreign Visit: Any access by a foreign national to a USDA facility.
Green Card - The Permanent Resident Card, is known informally as a Green Card but its correct name is Form I-551 or ‘Permanent Resident Card’.
Host: The federal USDA employee who is the sponsor and point of contact responsible for the activities associated with the successful accomplishment of a visit to a USDA facility.
 State Sponsors of Terrorism: Countries that have been identified by the Department of State as sponsors of groups and/or activities which support terrorism or terrorist activities and are on the list of state sponsors or terrorism.

27. REFERENCES
Presidential Decision Directive – 12 (PDD-12), Security Awareness and Reporting of Foreign Contacts, August 5, 1993.
Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) – 21, Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, February 12, 2013
Title 7, Code if Federal Regulations (CFR), Agriculture, section 2.95 (7 CFR 2.95) Director, Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Coordination
Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors, August 27, 2004
Departmental Manual (DM) , Common Identification Standards for U.S. Department of Agriculture Employees and Contractors, January 14, 2009
Departmental Regulation (DR) , Control and Protection of Sensitive Security Information (SII), January 30, 2003
FNV program policies and procedures are derived from
This is a partial list of references and guidelines that were used for the Draft DR. A full list will be available with the final draft once it’s been singed and approved. For full explanation of each reference, you can simply conduct an internet search of each one.

28. Contacts Personnel Security Staff Forest Service (FSIP)
Keisha Risby
Program Manager - Operations
Desk –
Maya Callender
Program Assistant
Desk –
Forest Service (FSIP)
Rim Eid (BA, NAA, SAA, MSA)
Misty Sidhu (PWA, NPA, SPA, MWA)
Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS)
Jean Good