Our National Name Check Program

Issues and Concerns
Our National Name Check Program

06/11/08

National Name Check Program Chief Mike Cannon briefs reporters at FBI Headquarters on program enhancements

The timeliness of our “name checks” has been in the news and is of concern to citizens of other nations who want to live, work, or study in the U.S. And it was the subject of a recent report by the Inspector General of the Department of Justice.

We thought you’d be interested in the facts on the issue. Why are there delays in some cases and what are we doing about it?

First, some background. The FBI got into the “name check” business in 1953, when President Eisenhower asked us to start running the names of federal job seekers applying for national security positions through our files to make sure these individuals didn’t pose a threat to our country.

Since then—and especially post-9/11—the program has grown in leaps and bounds. Today, we do name checks not only for federal job applicants but also for immigration and naturalization requests; work, student, and travel visas; employment at high-profile events that could be terror targets; admittance to the federal bar; attendance at White House functions, etc. These checks have become one of our vital national security responsibilities.

Most requests—about 45 percent—come from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). But we also get them from other federal agencies, congressional committees, the federal judiciary, friendly foreign police and intelligence agencies, and state and local criminal justice agencies.

Why the current backlog in processing some requests? Largely for two reasons:

• The volume of requests has increased substantially since 9/11. In fiscal year 2001, we received 2.7 million name check requests; by fiscal year 2007, that number had grown to more than four million. Still, of those four million names, we cleared 86 percent within 60 days…and nearly 90 percent within 120 days.
• The scope of the searches has broadened. We used to search only for subjects of FBI investigations; now, we also look for any reference in our files. This change in procedure led USCIS to resubmit 2.7 million names in 2003, creating an instantaneous backlog. Nearly 97 percent of all name checks submitted in the last five years, however, have now been completed.

Our response. We’ve addressed and continue to address the remaining backlog in a number of important ways.

In the short term, we’ve increasing staffing by hiring both full-time FBI employees and contractors. By March 2008, the number of employees and contractors working on name check requests had risen to 371, up nearly 30 percent since November 2007. We expect to increase that number to 597 by the end of this fiscal year.

Over the longer term, we’ve developed a plan with USCIS—with specific milestones—to clear older requests and to increase our overall response time. By next June, our goal is to complete most of USCIS name checks within 30 days.

The Inspector General’s report also offered a number of recommendations—many of which we were working on before the report was published and all of which will be pursued—in the areas of technology enhancements, hiring, training, and quality assurance.

Stay tuned for updates on our progress in the weeks and months to come.

Resources:
- FBI response to OIG Report
- FBI response to Washington Post editorial
- National Name Check Program website