United States Department of State

and the Broadcasting Board of Governors

Inspector General
i
March 21, 2003

The Honorable Frank Wolf

Chairman
Subcommittee on the Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-6015

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This review is in response to your inquiry of November 6, 2002, concerning pre-

September 11, 2001, visas issued to the 19 terrorist hijackers. Your letter requested that
my office investigate whether visa laws, policies, and procedures in effect at that time
were properly followed with regard to visas issued to the hijackers.

Specifically, you asked whether their visa applications were (1) destroyed, (2) filled in
completely, (3) subject to denial or further scrutiny, including personal interviews, or (4)
accepted and visas issued within existing policy and regulation. In addition, you asked
whether the Department had information linking any of the hijackers to terrorist
concerns prior to granting visas.

Answers to your questions are presented in the following enclosure. If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to call me at (202) 647-9450.

Sincerely,

Anne M. Sigmund
Acting Inspector General

Enclosure

Address correspondence to: U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General, Washington, D.C. 20520-6817
 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

United States Department of State

Office of Inspector General

Review of the Issuance of Visas

to the September 11, 2001, Terrorists

Memorandum Report ISP-CA-03-27, March 2003

IMPORTANT NOTICE
This report is intended solely for the official use of the (Department of State or the Broadcasting
Board of Governors, or any agency or organization receiving a copy directly from the Office of
Inspector General. No secondary distribution may be made, in whole or in part, outside the
Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors, by them or by other agencies or
organizations, without prior authorization by the Inspector General. Public availability of the
document will be determined by the Inspector General under the U.S. Code, 5 U.S.C. 552.
Improper disclosure of this report may result in criminal, civil, or administrative penalties.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED