Charged with keeping technologies that have both civilian and military uses from falling into the wrong hands overseas, the U.S. Department of Commerce has dramatically cut back on its screening of foreign nationals for American visas, even though this process is a prime way to prevent foreign agents from working in high-tech companies.

 

A report from the Government Accountability Office shows the Commerce Department reviewed only 150 visa applications in fiscal year 2009—compared to the 54,000 applications it examined in 2001. The department also has practically given up on conducting follow-up inspections of visa applications—going from 160 eight years ago to only one last year.

 

Commerce officials claim their agency is focusing more on quality than quantity with its visa inspections, due to limited resources that prevent it from analyzing the entire visa database.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

U.S. Might Be Giving Away Sensitive Military Technology, Report Finds (by Aliya Sternstein, NextGov)

Improvements Needed to Prevent Unauthorized Technology Releases to Foreign Nationals in the United States (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)