The FBI Name Check is a background check procedure performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal agencies, components within the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the federal government; foreign police and intelligence agencies; and state and local law enforcement agencies within the criminal justice system. The FBI Name Check is performed by the FBI as a part of the National Name Check Program, which dates back to Executive Order 10450 that was issued during the Eisenhower Administration.National Name Check Program. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed May 4, 2008 The FBI Name Check for an individual involves a search of the FBI's Central Records System Universal Index for any appearance of the name of the individual, as well as close phonetic variants and permutations of that name, in any of the records stored in the Universal Index. If any such occurrences are found, the Name Check also involves retrieval and analysis of the relevant paper and electronic files from local FBI offices and from other law-enforcement agencies.
FBI Name Checks are performed in relation to government employment and appointments, security clearances, admissions to the bar, attending White House functions, federal and state criminal investigations, counterintelligence and counterterrorism activities as well as applications for visas, green cards, and for naturalization.
One of the biggest customers of the National Name Check Program (NNCP) is USCIS (formerly INS) which, since late 2002 requires comprehensive FBI Name Checks for all applicants for permanent residence (green card) and for naturalization.
Details of the FBI name check process The FBI website and congressional testimony by the FBI officialsTestimony of Robert J. Garrity, Jr., Acting Assistant Director, Records Management Division, FBI Before the House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform. July 10, 2003 "The FBI's VISA Name Check Process". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed May 4, 2008.Testimony of Robert J. Garrity, Jr., Deputy Assistant Director, Records Management Division, FBI Before the House of Representatives, Committee on Science. February 25, 2004. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed May 4, 2008. provide a detailed step-by-step description of the Name Check Process:
The first step consists in running a particular name, as well as its close phonetic variants and permutations, through the Universal Index (UNI) of the FBI's Central Records System (CRS). The CRS encompasses the centralized records of FBI Headquarters, field offices, and Legal Attache offices. The CRS contains all FBI investigative, administrative, personnel, and general files. The UNI is searched for "main files", files where the name of an individual is the subject of an FBI investigation, and for "reference files", files where the name being searched is just mentioned in an investigation in any context or capacity (including witnesses, victims, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, bystanders, and so on).Testimony of Robert J. Garrity, Jr., Deputy Assistant Director, Records Management Division, FBI Before the House of Representatives, Committee on Science. February 25, 2004. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed May 4, 2008. Quote: "By way of explanation, a main file name is that of an individual who is, himself, the subject of an FBI investigation, whereas a reference is someone whose name appears in an FBI investigation. References may be associates, witnesses, conspirators, or a myriad of other reasons may exist to explain why an FBI Agent believed it important to index a particular name in an investigation for later recovery. The names are searched in a multitude of combinations, switching the order of first, last, middle names, as well as combinations with just the first and last, first and middle, and so on. It also searches different phonetic spelling variations of the names, especially important considering that many names in our indices have been transliterated from a language other than English." If the initial search of UNI returns no records, the individual's Name Check is cleared. FBI maintains that the majority of the Name Checks are electronically returned as "no record" within 48–72 hours. If the initial search results in some "hits" (mentions of the name of the subject of the search or of close variants of that name), a more detailed search is conducted. This more detailed search may involve an NNCP officer requesting from the local offices the actual electronic and physical files related to "hits" that the initial search of UNI generated. After receipt, these files are manually analyzed by an NNCP officer to determine if they pertain to the actual subject of the Name Check and if they contain any derogatory information about that subject; additional files may be requested later and the entire process may be repeated several times. In the process NNCP officers need coordinate with 56 field offices and retrieve files stored in 265 locations nationwide. Less detailed Name Checks are also possible. The agency requesting a Name Check pays FBI a fee that depends on the level of detail required. The requesting agency can also specify different levels of priority and set specific deadlines for the Name Checks that it requests.
Use of name checks for immigration purposes There is no federal law that specifically requires that FBI Name Check be used for any type of immigration benefits. Federal law does require that applicants for various types of immigration benefits undergo background checks, but the specific procedures to be used are not explicitly mandated. The specific procedures to be used are determined by USCIS (not the FBI) as a matter of internal policy.
Until 2002 INS used a limited form of a Name Check for applicants for asylum, permanent resident status, and naturalization: the applicant's fingerprints were checked against existing criminal databases for records of arrests and criminal convictions, and UNI was searched for "main files" to determine if the applicant has been the target of an FBI investigation. In late 2002 INS discovered a case where an individual, who has been naturalized, was involved, as a secondary party, in a terrorism investigation."FBI Name Check Cited In Naturalization Delays", The Washington Post, June 17, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008. Quote: "FBI name checks, in particular, were intensified after errors and a lack of cooperation between the FBI and immigration authorities in Newark led to the October 2002 naturalization of a man suspected of ties to Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist group. A policy decision was made to check applicants' names not only against the list of individuals under investigation by the FBI but also against the list of those named in investigative files for any reason". Subsequently, INS changed its policy and started requiring that maximally comprehensive FBI Name Check, including the search and detailed examination of all the "reference files", be completed for all naturalization applicants before their applications are granted. Soon thereafter a similar policy was adopted for the adjustment of status and asylum applicants.A Review of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Alien Security Checks. DHS Office Inspector General Report. November 2005. Department of Homeland Security. Accessed May 4, 2008.; pages 4, 11
Criticism and controversy The Name Check process and the way in which it is used are blamed some by immigration advocates, political commentators, and government officials for creating substantial delays in the processing of green card and citizenship applications." One family's nightmare", USA Today, September 26, 2007" Citizenship path sometimes rocky", The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 5, 2008 New York Post. June 27, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008FBI name checks blamed for immigration benefits delays Government Executive. June 22, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008
Immigrants affected by green card and naturalization delays due to pending FBI Name Checks have filed numerous lawsuits against the government trying to compel action on their applications. These lawsuits have had varying degrees of success but in many cases federal judges criticized the USCIS policy.Lauren E. Sasser, "Waiting in Immigration Limbo: The Federal Court Split over Suits to Compel Action on Stalled Adjustment of Status Applications ", Fordham Law Review. Vol. 76, No. 5. April 2008. Accessed May 5, 2008Naturalizations Delay Litigation. American Immigration Law Foundation, Accessed May 4, 2008.Victor Mocanu v. Robert S. Mueller, et al. www.bibdaily.com. Accessed May 4, 2008 The lawsuits have been widely reported in the press and have been discussed in various congressional hearings.Yemeni in Newport News takes U.S. citizenship case to court", The Virginian-Pilot, January 8, 2005. Accessed May 4, 2008"" Deseret News, November 13, 2006. Accessed May 4, 2008"Immigrants' lives in limbo", Dallas Morning News, March 15, 2006. Accessed May 4, 2008"Immigrants file lawsuits over citizenship delays ", Seattle Times, July 8, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008Lawsuit Loosens Citizenship Backlog Tampa Bay Online, April 19, 2008. Accessed May 4, 2008
According to the 2007 annual report of the CIS Ombudsman, as of May 2007, "USCIS reported 329,160 FBI name check cases pending. Approximately 64% (211,341) of those cases have been pending more than 90 days and approximately 32% (106,738) have been pending more than one year. There are now 93,358 more name check cases pending than last year, and 31,144 FBI name check cases pending more than 33 months".CIS Ombudsman's 2007 Annual Report to Congress, Report Highlights Accessed February 27, 2008 The report also states: "FBI name checks, one of the security screening tools used by USCIS, may be the single biggest obstacle to the timely and efficient delivery of immigration benefits". The delays due to pending FBI Name Checks for naturalization applications are expected to increase due to a substantial surge in the number of naturalization applications in the spring-summer of 2007 that happened before a significant increase in the USCIS application fees."FBI Name Check Cited In Naturalization Delays", The Washington Post, June 17, 2007. Accessed May 4, 2008.
Many immigration advocacy groups maintain that the use of the FBI Name Check process by USCIS is unproductive and even counter-productive in accomplishing the stated national security goals of the USCIS policy while at the same time causing unreasonable delays for large numbers of applicants. FBI name checks blamed for immigration benefits delays , Government Executive, June 22, 2007. Accessed February 28, 2008 Most people affected by FBI Name Check delays are already authorized to work and stay in the United States while their applications are pending. Critics assert that the current USCIS policy does not result in identifying and detaining genuinely dangerous individuals quickly but rather allows them to legally remain in the United States essentially indefinitely, while at the same time causing unreasonable delays in the processing of applications of tens of thousands law-abiding applicants. This view is also expressed in a number of court decisions related to the FBI Name Check delays. Thus in a 2008 ruling in a lawsuit by a Romanian naturalization applicant, U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson wrote: "If these individuals are potentially dangerous to the United States, it would seem their applications should be expedited over all other work. ... Some plaintiffs in these cases have been waiting over three years for a decision...Delaying their citizenship status does not eliminate the danger they may pose to the United States. ... It would seem that this group, estimated at 1 percent of all applicants, should be investigated more quickly, not more slowly, than everyone else."