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Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) - ODOS III Extension/DV United

This document is a Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) filed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to approve a non-competitive sole source extension to DV United, LLC under Modification No. P00035 to Task Order No. 70SBUR22F00000113. The extension authorizes continued system maintenance and security work for mission-critical IT development, security integration, and DevSecOps services supporting the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS) and Global case management system. The performance period runs from March 25, 2026 through September 24, 2026, with two optional three-month periods available. The extension operates under the Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) Small Business Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), which remains valid through April 29, 2026. A total of 188 contractor personnel will provide development, service delivery, and infrastructure support to ensure secure and efficient case processing and vetting of applicants.

The justification cites RFO 16.507-6(b)(2) as the statutory basis, asserting that only DV United possesses the unique and highly specialized skills, knowledge, and experience required to provide the services at the required quality level within the compressed timeframe. The Government determined that the succeeding competitive procurement (ODOS 3.1) experienced unanticipated delays in solicitation and evaluation phases, preventing timely transition to new awardees. DV United's extension is necessary to continue critical work including: developing one integrated case management system to adjudicate 90 percent of USCIS workload; creating an enterprise Notice to Appear (NTA) service; enabling the Final Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) across product lines; maintaining and scaling the benefits case management system; supporting interactive capabilities with partner agencies (ICE, CBP, DoS); and providing proactive monitoring and security patching. The Contracting Officer determined the anticipated cost to be fair and reasonable based on previously awarded CIO-SP3 labor rates and ODOS III competition pricing determinations. The Head of Contracting Activity approved the exception on March 17, 2026, and USCIS intends to post this requirement on Sam.gov pursuant to RFO 16.507-6(f).

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JEFO, Exceeding the SAT, ODOS III � DV United Justification Log Number: FY26-0058

This justification seeks approval to continue the following work unique to 70SBUR22F00000113 on ELIS and the Global case management system:

1. One Case Management System: Continue to develop capabilities that support the D1/D2 initiative allowing for the ability to adjudicate 90% of the Agency�s workload in one case management system.

2. Notice to Appear (NTA): Continue to create an enterprise NTA service to increase USCIS�s issuance of NTA�s for all product lines and conduct quality checks to eliminate the rejection of certain NTA�s due to administrative errors.

3. Final Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT): Continue to enable this service for all product lines within USCIS to strengthen the screening and vetting process to protect the Homeland.

4. Continue to maintain and scale the major enterprise benefits case management system.

5. Continue to support interactive capabilities, such as real-time communication, data sharing, and workflow integration with partner agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Department of State (DoS).

6. Continue to provide proactive monitoring, timely security patching, and incident response.

4. Statutory exception and supporting rationale.

The applicable statutory RFO citation and basis for using an exception to fair opportunity process is:

RFO 16.507-6(b)(2). Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

Rationale:

The work performed on this task order is mission critical as it provides development and support in IT development, security integration, and maintenance efforts for sustaining ELIS and the Global case management system. DV United provides ELIS and non-ELIS related Outcome-Based Delivery and DevSecOps design, User Experience Design (UXD), and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) for the delivery of solutions that adapt to the changing business needs and efficiently deliver business results. A total of 188 contractor-personnel support DevSecOps, service delivery, and infrastructure needs under this task order for secure and efficient case processing and vetting of applicants.

As a result of the RFO initiative in support of Executive Order (E.O.) 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, there were significant changes made to the acquisition strategy, period of performance, total estimated procurement value, and total number of teams needed for ODOS IV. While the Agency continues to finalize its long-term strategy for ODOS IV, it was determined that it was in the Government�s best interest to pursue a smaller, competitive version of ODOS (referred to as ODOS 3.1).

The succeeding competitive procurement, ODOS 3.1, was expected to be in place prior to the expiration of the current task order but has faced numerous delays in both the solicitation and evaluation phases, consequently prolonging the Government�s efforts to transition work from the ODOS III contractors to new awardees. The Government has determined that a non-competitive extension to the current award is the most efficient method to continue system maintenance and the current iteration of ODOS III requirements under the DV United task order until the ensuing awards are made and sufficient time is given to the new awardees to transition in.

This justification supports the agency�s requirement to continue ODOS III support commencing on 03/25/2026. Market research that was conducted for the competitive recompete that�s currently in-progress indicated that there are contractors capable of performing the services required by ODOS on multiple EAGLE Next Generation (Next Gen) contracts as well as the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS). However, it has been concluded that only DV United has the specific skills, knowledge and experience needed to provide the required specialized services at the level of quality required at this time and within the timeframe required to continue needed performance while the follow-on contract effort is pursued..

The nature of the requirement is complex and requires large-scale coordination and mobilization of development teams and there is a significant learning curve associated with commencing to support these projects. The time between a potential competitive short-term award action and the need date for services (03/25/2026) would not allow sufficient time for recruiting, hiring, background checks and entry-on-duty, and most importantly, a transition period with knowledge transfer. The inability to conduct a proper in-depth transition will result in failure to deliver on key USCIS priorities. DV United is currently capable of providing the required staffing and the level of quality within this short timeline with all necessary teams in place as well as extensive program knowledge to continue operations to complete the projected tasks and to transition ongoing activities to the new competitive awardee.

As referenced above and for greater context, this task order is essential for USCIS to continue its adjudicative mission as the Agency would experience unacceptable losses that could not be overcome by Government personnel. Without this task order, DHS and USCIS would lose the services needed to develop and maintain the ELIS and Global enterprise case management systems, these systems currently process over 90% of the Agency�s adjudication workload. If this task order is not extended, USCIS would be unable to continue supporting the following initiatives that fulfill multiple Executive Orders:

One Case Management System: This team is responsible for the development of capabilities that support the D1/D2 initiatives, which allow for the ability to adjudicate 90% of the Agency�s workload in one case management system.

Notice to Appear (Enterprise Service): This team is creating an enterprise NTA service to increase USCIS issuance of NTA�s for all product lines. The service will allow all portions of the NTA to be done in the system and transferred over to the court. This service also has quality checks to eliminate the rejection of certain NTA�s due to administrative errors.

Final IDENT: This team is responsible for enabling this service for all product lines within USCIS to strengthen the screening and vetting process to protect the Homeland.

Additionally, losing the DevSecOps support services provided under the ODOS III task order will severely inhibit the Agency�s ability to maintain and scale its major enterprise benefits case management system, which would be unacceptable and detrimental to the mission of the Agency.

USCIS does not have the bandwidth or skillsets required to design, develop, test, and deliver software products. The cooperative effort of DV United is vital for creating high-quality software that meets the needs of the Agency and implementing executive orders and any Congressional mandated requirements, while adhering to strict project timelines and budgets.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The labor rates awarded on the CIO-SP3 SB GWAC were determined fair and reasonable by the awarding Contracting Officer. Further, the total price, labor mix, number of hours, and other direct costs resulting from the ODOS III competition were determined fair and reasonable by the ordering Contracting Officer. The Government will use one or more of the price analysis technique(s) identified in RFO 15.404-1 to evaluate the extension proposal and may conduct negotiations as necessary to ensure that the price is fair and reasonable.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

Only one awardee is capable of providing the required services at the level of quality required because the services are unique are not due to poor planning, but due to events outside the control of the contracting office. The ODOS IV Integrated Product Team (IPT) was formed in October 2023.

Program staff released a Request for Information (RFI) in February 2024 and spent approximately seven (7) months using the responses, in conjunction with meetings with vendors, to complete market research and formulate a plan for the acquisition. The acquisition strategy was briefed to the Head of Contracting Activity and approved in October 2024. The recompete acquisition experienced unanticipated and significant delays with the review and approval of the acquisition plan due to the new policies and procedures that have recently been implemented. More specifically, the ODOS IV acquisition plan was pending review by DHS and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) liaison since March 2025.

As briefly discussed in Section 4, the succeeding competitive procurement, ODOS 3.1, was expected to be in place prior to the expiration of the current task order but has faced numerous delays in both the solicitation and evaluation phases, consequently prolonging the Government�s efforts to transition work from the ODOS III contractors to new awardees.

or services is made.

Any barrier to competition will be removed upon finalization of the source selection and a transition to a new awardees. No other competitive barriers are known at this time, which would lead to a future fair opportunity exception. This sole source extension is only intended to continue the current services until the award and transition-in of the in-process competitive procurement is completed.

RFO 16.507-

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