What is a 593?
- A 593 is a form that needs completion when requesting site access for a foreign national.
What is FAVOR?
- FAVOR (Foreign Assignment/Visit Online Report System) is an internal Argonne database for collecting, approving, and tracking foreign nationals.
What is FACTS?
- FACTS (Federal Access Central Tracking System) is a DOE database for collecting, approving, and tracking foreign nationals. Argonne’s FAVOR system feeds FACTS.
What is the difference between a Visit 593 and an Assignment 593?
- A visit request is only good for 30 days or less and an assignment request is good up to two years.
What are your primary responsibilities as a host?
- Hosting responsibilities are shared among management, administration, and scientific staff.
- Everyone should exercise due diligence in overseeing the activities of the foreign national while they are visiting or conducting experiments either on-site or remotely.
- The scientific host must be a person who is directly involved with the visit or assignment and is aware of the day-to-day activities of the foreign national.
- The host must have sufficient knowledge of the work being performed so that they can provide guidance regarding the limitations of the visit (i.e., potentially sensitive subjects or areas).
- If you see something suspicious, say something—report immediately!
When are you informed of your host responsibilities?
- APS and CAT staff hosting visitors are notified via an e-mail from FVA when a 593 request is approved.
- Every experiment safety assessment form (ESAF) requires identification of a host for the users on the experiment. When the beamline approves the ESAF, the selected host is notified via an e-mail. The e-mail contains the ESAF/Experiment ID, dates of experiment, title of experiment, and name(s) and affiliation(s) of the non-US participants on the experiment.
What makes you eligible to be the host of a foreign national visit/assignment in the ESAF system?
- Potential host names only appear in the ESAF drop-down if the following requirements are met:
- Host must be an Argonne employee or resident user in the APS database
- Host must have a JHQ (Job Hazard Questionnaire) for SCD100: Foreign National Unclassified Visits and Assignments Host Briefing Refresher (host training)
- Host must have a current status for host training SCD100
How many foreign nationals do you host at a given time?
- It varies depending on the nature of the visit or experiment being conducted. On any given experiment, the identified host is acting as host for all non-US experimenters identified on the ESAF.
How are access requests for non-US users processed?
- The APS User Program Office is responsible for administering the registration and foreign visits and assignments program.
When are security plans and cyber security plans required?
- Security plans and cyber security plans are required for all foreign nationals. The content of the plans differs depending on the foreign national's citizenship.
How are security plans or cyber security plans (if applicable) developed for foreign national visitors?
- Security plans and cyber security plans are developed by Argonne.
Do you need to be familiar with ANL’s sensitive subject’s list?
- No, hosts are not authorized or required to have knowledge of Argonne's sensitive subjects.
How is proprietary research protected?
- The research team conducting a proprietary experiment at the APS is responsible for ensuring that the research is protected.
Is classified research conducted at the APS?
- Potentially classified research could be conducted at the APS. There are strict guidelines and procedures that experimenters must follow. If classified work is conducted, only a select few people would hold clearance to know about the experiment.
Do you need to know the location of the nearest security interest/classified repository?
- No, hosts are not required to know this information.
What is the entity list?
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The Entity List identifies foreign parties that are prohibited from receiving some or all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) unless the exporter secures a license. Those persons present a greater risk of diversion to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs, terrorism, or other activities contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.
What does "T3" stand for?
- There are three countries currently identified as state sponsors of terrorism (Syria, Iran, and Sudan)--these are known as T3 countries.
Do hosts need to escort individuals from T3 countries?
- No, escorting is not required.
Are individuals from T3 countries issued user badges or gate passes?
- Individuals from T3 are issued gate passes that are valid for the duration of each experiment run. They are not issued user badges.
What end dates are put on user photo badges?
- All foreign national users (except individuals from T3 countries) are issued user photo badges commensurate with their legal immigration status.
When are the badges collected from the foreign national?
- All user badges should be returned to the Argonne Badging Office or the User Program Office at the conclusion of their appointment.
Are foreign nationals who are legal permanent residents (holding LPR cards, formerly known as green cards) considered citizens?
- No.
Are foreign nationals on W/T, B2, J2, F2, and H4 visas classifications eligible to work/conduct experiments at Argonne?
- No.
To whom should you report unusual occurrences or incidents to?
- Any suspicious behavior or attempts to gather information outside the scope of the visit/assignment should be immediately reported to the Argonne Office of Counterintelligence at 2-5300.