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United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA)
Global Support Strategy (GSS) for Overseas Consular Support Services
GSS for Anglophone West Africa
Statement of Objectives
Table of Contents
| 1. | Scope of Services | 1 |
| 2. | Background | 1 |
| 3. | Task Order Performance Objectives | 2 |
| 4. | Estimated Workload Data | 2 |
| 5. | Assumptions and Constraints | 2 |
| 6. | Service Level Standards and Customer Satisfaction | 3 |
| 7. | Security | 4 |
| 8. | Transition Period | 5 |
| 9. | Period of Performance | 5 |
| 10. | Place of Performance | 5 |
| 11. | Historical Data | 6 |
Scope of Services
The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) within the Department of State (DoS) is executing its Global Support Strategy (GSS) for Overseas Consular Support and seeks to award a performance-based task order to provide support services for consular operations in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
Background
The Bureau of Consular Affairs is the public face of the Department of State for millions of foreign nationals around the world. CA is responsible for the protection of U.S. border security and the facilitation of legitimate travel to the United States. These far-reaching consular activities have broad foreign policy and domestic political implications and involve serious legal, humanitarian and management concerns. Responsibility for these functions is vested within the Department of State in the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs and for their implementation abroad in consular officers assigned to Foreign Service posts.
The posts covered by this task order have employed a patchwork of user-pays information, appointment, fee collection and document delivery services. Although user-pays services have helped posts meet their workload and improved customer service, such partnerships have been entered into on a piecemeal basis; this has led to a lack of transparency and inconsistent costs and service standards. The use of these services has also led to a multiplication of business processes and limited our ability to effectively launch new procedures and requirements. In addition to addressing legal and regulatory concerns, CA sees the establishment of the Global Support Strategy as an opportunity to make significant improvements to the integrity and performance of existing operations.
Task Order Performance Objectives
Note: Contract Section C, Scope of Services and its objectives/activities apply to this task order.
Objective 1: Launch a regional GSS program within 90 days of award.
Objective 2: Provide service package two, which includes information services, appointment services, fee collection services, document delivery services, and greeter services, for Nigeria.
Objective 3: Provide service package four, which includes information services, appointment services, and fee collection services, for The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Department of State requires the Contractor to employ best practices, and utilize its expertise to propose creative solutions that will meet the objectives stated above. Contractors shall prioritize the task order objectives in a way that best achieves the Departmental and CA mission and goals in a cost-effective manner. Under a performance-based contract structure, performance metrics and service level agreements (SLA) will be used extensively to monitor the performance of this task order. The Government and the winning Contractor will baseline and monitor progress using agreed-to performance metrics and service level agreements.
Estimated Workload Data
The following table provides workload estimates for performance under this task order:
| Year |
| Service Package |
| Baseline Workload |
| All Option Years | |
| Two (2) | |
| 76,000 |
Assumptions and Constraints
Note: Contract Section J, Listing of Attachments, Attachment C, Constraints and Mandatory Program Requirements applies to this task order.
a. General
i. The contractor shall provide a single point of contact and on-site management for GSS services under this task order. That individual must be available for daily consultation, including (in rare instances) after-hours emergencies, for at least weekly on-site meetings with consular managers in Nigeria and for at least quarterly on-site meetings with consular managers in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
b. GSS Services
i. Information services shall, at a minimum, be provided via telephone and interactive website. This information shall be available in English.
ii. Where document delivery services are provided, applicants shall be able to collect their documents at one or more distributed points of service (i.e. courier offices). Applicants must choose the preferred location at the time they make their appointment.
iii. Where service package two (2) is provided, the contractor must provide a minimum of one greeter per 100 applicants, based on average daily appointments over a 30 day period.
Service Level Standards and Customer Satisfaction
Note: Refer to Contract Section J, Listing of Attachments, Attachment E, Notional Metrics for definitions of metrics listed below.
a. The support services metrics that are applicable to performance under this task order include:
i. For all service packages
a) Service Downtime
b) Service Rework
c) Service Capacity Incidents
d) Service Availability Incidents
e) Customer Survey Satisfaction
f) Mean Call Abandon Rate (for all live operator services)
g) Agent Service Level (for all live operator services)
h) Call Duration Incident Rate (for all live operator services)
ii. For service package two
a) Lost Document Rate
b) Document Delivery to Applicants
b. The management services metrics that are applicable to performance under this task order include:
i. For all service packages
a) Local Compliance Incidents
b) Call Monitoring Incidents (for all live operator services)
c) Data Delivery Incident Rate
d) Provision of Management Data
e) Provision of Quality Data
f) Status Reporting
g) Embassy/Post Satisfaction
h) Contractual Requirements
i) Fee Deposit Incidents
j) Fee Mismatch Incidents
ii. For service package two
a) Document Delivery to USG
c. The quality services metrics that are applicable to performance under this task order include:
i. For all service packages
a) Data Resend Incident Rate
b) Provision of Public Information
c) Fee Collection Error Rate
ii. For service package two
a) Document Resend Incident Rate
d. The security services metrics that are applicable to performance under this task order include:
i. For all service packages
a) Cleared Personnel
b) Audit Compliance
c) Fraud Prevention Program
d) Physical Security Incidents
e) Data Security Incidents
ii. For service package two
a) Courier Security Incidents
e. The Government reserves the right to impose additional standards and performance and quality metrics on authorized premium (user-pays) services that shall be met if the contractor wishes to continue providing those services.
Security
a. The Contractor shall comply with and adhere to the security requirements outlined in the umbrella GSS contract. The Government reserves the right to add, delete, and/or modify the security requirements, as necessary or as directed by Diplomatic Security, or other U.S. Government security agencies.
b. The Contractor must receive approval from the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) for all exceptions to existing security guidelines and regulations.
Transition Period
a. Phase-In
Phase-in transition activities shall be performed in accordance with a USG approved transition plan to be provided by the Contractor. This plan shall describe all activities that must be completed by the Contractor to assume operational responsibility of GSS services within 90 days of award.
b. Phase-Out
The Contractor’s proposed performance statement of work shall include a task order phase-out period to closeout the task order. The phase-out period will include all activities necessary for a seamless transition upon the completion of the task order’s period of performance. The Contractor shall assume a phase-out period of thirty (30) days prior to the end of the task order period of performance. The Contractor Phase-Out Plan shall be delivered not later than 120 days prior to the end of the second option year or prior to the end of the current period of performance when the government provides written notification that it does not intend to exercise an option year, whichever is sooner.
Period of Performance
c. The base period of performance will be 12 months from task order award with four (4) one (1) year option periods.
Place of Performance
d. The Contractor shall perform work within the scope of this task order at the Contractor’s facilities or, in the case of Service Package Two (in which greeter services are provided), at the U.S. embassy or consulate.
GSS for Anglophone West Africa Statement of Objectives
Historical Data
e. Historical Workload – Service Package Two
f. Historical Workload Data – Service Package Two
Note: The “IV Workload” column includes IV cases issued in a given month as well as IV cases received that were being processed but did not result in an issuance for that month.
Month
NIV
Workload IVs Issued NIV Workload + IVs Issued
IV
Workload
| Oct-05 | |
| 4,431 |
| 401 |
| 4,832 |
| 856 |
| Nov-05 | |
| 4,752 |
| 457 |
| 5,209 |
| 775 |
| Dec-05 | |
| 5,548 |
| 541 |
| 6,089 |
| 799 |
| Jan-06 | |
| 3,710 |
| 521 |
| 4,231 |
| 736 |
| Feb-06 | |
| 4,163 |
| 567 |
| 4,730 |
| 800 |
| Mar-06 | |
| 5,117 |
| 452 |
| 5,569 |
| 622 |
| Apr-06 | |
| 6,327 |
| 472 |
| 6,799 |
| 643 |
| May-06 | |
| 6,954 |
| 695 |
| 7,649 |
| 940 |
| Jun-06 | |
| 7,072 |
| 507 |
| 7,579 |
| 712 |
| Jul-06 | |
| 6,306 |
| 559 |
| 6,865 |
| 726 |
| Aug-06 | |
| 6,997 |
| 629 |
| 7,626 |
| 912 |
| Sep-06 | |
| 5,051 |
| 710 |
| 5,761 |
| 1,254 |
| Oct-06 | |
| 4,130 |
| 683 |
| 4,813 |
| 1,142 |
| Nov-06 | |
| 4,795 |
| 580 |
| 5,375 |
| 999 |
| Dec-06 | |
| 4,265 |
| 523 |
| 4,788 |
| 835 |
| Jan-07 | |
| 4,188 |
| 670 |
| 4,858 |
| 1,258 |
| Feb-07 | |
| 5,058 |
| 654 |
| 5,712 |
| 1,181 |
| Mar-07 | |
| 6,050 |
| 656 |
| 6,706 |
| 1,276 |
| Apr-07 | |
| 3,895 |
| 257 |
| 4,152 |
| 472 |
| May-07 | |
| 5,995 |
| 656 |
| 6,651 |
| 1,142 |
| Jun-07 | |
| 6,353 |
| 673 |
| 7,026 |
| 1,184 |
| Jul-07 | |
| 6,027 |
| 711 |
| 6,738 |
| 1,020 |
| Aug-07 | |
| 5,747 |
| 831 |
| 6,578 |
| 1,343 |
| Sep-07 | |
| 3,587 |
| 704 |
| 4,291 |
| 1,371 |
| Oct-07 | |
| 4,297 |
| 540 |
| 4,837 |
| 1,138 |
| Nov-07 | |
| 4,982 |
| 628 |
| 5,610 |
| 1,124 |
| Dec-07 | |
| 4,270 |
| 444 |
| 4,714 |
| 909 |
| Jan-08 | |
| 5,458 |
| 425 |
| 5,883 |
| 889 |
| Feb-08 | |
| 5,985 |
| 559 |
| 6,544 |
| 1,074 |
| Mar-08 | |
| 6,464 |
| 468 |
| 6,932 |
| 998 |
| Apr-08 | |
| 8,831 |
| 805 |
| 9,636 |
| 1,740 |
| May-08 | |
| 7,675 |
| 935 |
| 8,610 |
| 1,878 |
| Jun-08 | |
| 7,832 |
| 1,017 |
| 8,849 |
| 1,871 |
| Jul-08 | |
| 7,735 |
| 969 |
| 8,704 |
| 1,698 |
| Aug-08 | |
| 7,943 |
| 1,009 |
| 8,952 |
| 1,707 |
| Sep-08 | |
| 5,488 |
| 1,223 |
| 6,711 |
| 1,926 |
| Oct-08 | |
| 5,610 |
| 735 |
| 6,345 |
| 1,146 |
| Nov-08 | |
| 4,122 |
| 709 |
| 4,831 |
| 1,177 |
| Dec-08 | |
| 4,872 |
| 677 |
| 5,549 |
| 1,173 |
| Jan-09 | |
| 5,411 |
| 811 |
| 6,222 |
| 1,274 |
| Feb-09 | |
| 4,760 |
| 700 |
| 5,460 |
| 1,212 |
| Mar-09 | |
| 6,144 |
| 746 |
| 6,890 |
| 1,424 |
| Apr-09 | |
| 7,117 |
| 689 |
| 7,806 |
| 1,248 |
| May-09 | |
| 6,395 |
| 605 |
| 7,000 |
| 1,173 |
| Jun-09 | |
| 7,695 |
| 695 |
| 8,390 |
| 1,291 |
g. Historical Workload – Service Package Four
h. Historical Workload Data – Service Package Four
Note: The “IV Workload” column includes IV cases issued in a given month as well as IV cases received that were being processed but did not result in an issuance for that month.
NIV
Workload IVs Issued NIV Workload + IVs Issued
IV
Workload
| Oct-05 | |
| 2,334 |
| 230 |
| 2,564 |
| 757 |
| Nov-05 | |
| 2,375 |
| 297 |
| 2,672 |
| 834 |
| Dec-05 | |
| 2,860 |
| 287 |
| 3,147 |
| 849 |
| Jan-06 | |
| 2,223 |
| 238 |
| 2,461 |
| 855 |
| Feb-06 | |
| 1,840 |
| 341 |
| 2,181 |
| 884 |
| Mar-06 | |
| 3,037 |
| 301 |
| 3,338 |
| 1,088 |
| Apr-06 | |
| 2,489 |
| 409 |
| 2,898 |
| 883 |
| May-06 | |
| 2,942 |
| 376 |
| 3,318 |
| 1,042 |
| Jun-06 | |
| 3,058 |
| 387 |
| 3,445 |
| 1,160 |
| Jul-06 | |
| 2,901 |
| 347 |
| 3,248 |
| 913 |
| Aug-06 | |
| 2,285 |
| 494 |
| 2,779 |
| 1,181 |
| Sep-06 | |
| 1,896 |
| 944 |
| 2,840 |
| 1,736 |
| Oct-06 | |
| 2,461 |
| 344 |
| 2,805 |
| 937 |
| Nov-06 | |
| 2,481 |
| 460 |
| 2,941 |
| 1,008 |
| Dec-06 | |
| 2,283 |
| 439 |
| 2,722 |
| 977 |
| Jan-07 | |
| 1,750 |
| 351 |
| 2,101 |
| 926 |
| Feb-07 | |
| 1,639 |
| 443 |
| 2,082 |
| 990 |
| Mar-07 | |
| 2,140 |
| 380 |
| 2,520 |
| 1,076 |
| Apr-07 | |
| 2,092 |
| 389 |
| 2,481 |
| 1,044 |
| May-07 | |
| 3,226 |
| 424 |
| 3,650 |
| 1,006 |
| Jun-07 | |
| 2,558 |
| 325 |
| 2,883 |
| 755 |
| Jul-07 | |
| 3,156 |
| 516 |
| 3,672 |
| 1,139 |
| Aug-07 | |
| 3,495 |
| 567 |
| 4,062 |
| 1,102 |
| Sep-07 | |
| 2,902 |
| 404 |
| 3,306 |
| 697 |
| Oct-07 | |
| 2,817 |
| 281 |
| 3,098 |
| 622 |
| Nov-07 | |
| 3,115 |
| 476 |
| 3,591 |
| 801 |
| Dec-07 | |
| 2,695 |
| 358 |
| 3,053 |
| 549 |
| Jan-08 | |
| 2,831 |
| 495 |
| 3,326 |
| 708 |
| Feb-08 | |
| 2,347 |
| 464 |
| 2,811 |
| 628 |
| Mar-08 | |
| 2,694 |
| 442 |
| 3,136 |
| 580 |
| Apr-08 | |
| 3,410 |
| 741 |
| 4,151 |
| 880 |
| May-08 | |
| 3,524 |
| 506 |
| 4,030 |
| 732 |
| Jun-08 | |
| 4,790 |
| 595 |
| 5,385 |
| 878 |
| Jul-08 | |
| 4,682 |
| 655 |
| 5,337 |
| 802 |
| Aug-08 | |
| 3,736 |
| 633 |
| 4,369 |
| 829 |
| Sep-08 | |
| 3,160 |
| 1,168 |
| 4,328 |
| 2,293 |
| Oct-08 | |
| 3,199 |
| 397 |
| 3,596 |
| 1,132 |
| Nov-08 | |
| 2,089 |
| 364 |
| 2,453 |
| 853 |
| Dec-08 | |
| 2,276 |
| 318 |
| 2,594 |
| 828 |
| Jan-09 | |
| 2,364 |
| 339 |
| 2,703 |
| 919 |
| Feb-09 | |
| 2,276 |
| 300 |
| 2,576 |
| 1,008 |
| Mar-09 | |
| 3,362 |
| 427 |
| 3,789 |
| 1,499 |
| Apr-09 | |
| 3,543 |
| 210 |
| 3,753 |
| 884 |
| May-09 | |
| 3,444 |
| 255 |
| 3,699 |
| 702 |
| Jun-09 | |
| 4,167 |
| 396 |
| 4,563 |
| 1,153 |
i. Historical NIV Refusal Data – Service Package Two
| Fiscal Year |
| NIV Workload |
| Refusals (#) |
| Refusals (%) |
| 2006 | |
| 66,428 |
| 38,204 |
| 57.51% |
| 2007 | |
| 60,090 |
| 19,921 |
| 33.15% |
| 2008 | |
| 76,960 |
| 27,850 |
| 36.19% |
j. Historical NIV Refusal Data – Service Package Four
| Fiscal Year |
| NIV Workload |
| Refusals (#) |
| Refusals (%) |
| 2006 | |
| 30,240 |
| 19,855 |
| 65.66% |
| 2007 | |
| 30,183 |
| 16,169 |
| 53.57% |
| 2008 | |
| 39,801 |
| 19,641 |
| 49.35% |
k. User-Pays Service Data – Service Package Two
Used PINs Unused
| Apr-09 | |
| 11,162 |
| 9,790 |
| 1,372 |
| May-09 | |
| 10,377 |
| 8,368 |
| 2,009 |
| Jun-09 | |
| 10,613 |
| 7,248 |
| 3,365 |
English-speaking West Africa, Service Package 2: NIV Workload & IVs Issued NIV Workload 38626 38657 38687 38718 38749 38777 38808 38838 38869 38899 38930 38961 38991 39022 39052 39083 39114 39142 39173 39203 39234 39264 39295 39326 39356 39387 39417 39448 39479 39508 39539 39569 39600 39630 39661 39692 39722 39753 39783 39814 39845 39873 39904 39934 39965 39995 40026 40057 4431 4752 5548 3710 4163 5117 6327 6954 7072 6306 6997 5051 4130 4795 4265 4188 5058 6050 3895 5995 6353 6027 5747 3587 4297 4982 4270 5458 5985 6464 8831 7675 7832 7735 7943 5488 5610 4122 4872 5411 4760 6144 7117 6395 IVs Issued 38626 38657 38687 38718 38749 38777 38808 38838 38869 38899 38930 38961 38991 39022 39052 39083 39114 39142 39173 39203 39234 39264 39295 39326 39356 39387 39417 39448 39479 39508 39539 39569 39600 39630 39661 39692 39722 39753 39783 39814 39845 39873 39904 39934 39965 39995 40026 40057 401 457 541 521 567 452 472 695 507 559 629 710 683 580 523 670 654 656 257 656 673 711 831 704 540 628 444 425 559 468 805 935 1017 969 1009 1223 735 709 677 811 700 746 689 605 NIV Workload IVs Issued English-speaking West Africa, Service Package 4: NIV Workload & IVs Issued NIV Workload 38626 38657 38687 38718 38749 38777 38808 38838 38869 38899 38930 38961 38991 39022 39052 39083 39114 39142 39173 39203 39234 39264 39295 39326 39356 39387 39417 39448 39479 39508 39539 39569 39600 39630 39661 39692 39722 39753 39783 39814 39845 39873 39904 39934 39965 39995 40026 40057 2334 2375 2860 2223 1840 3037 2489 2942 3058 2901 2285 1896 2461 2481 2283 1750 1639 2140 2092 3226 2558 3156 3495 2902 2817 3115 2695 2831 2347 2694 3410 3524 4790 4682 3736 3160 3199 2089 2276 2364 2276 3362 3543 3444 IVs Issued 38626 38657 38687 38718 38749 38777 38808 38838 38869 38899 38930 38961 38991 39022 39052 39083 39114 39142 39173 39203 39234 39264 39295 39326 39356 39387 39417 39448 39479 39508 39539 39569 39600 39630 39661 39692 39722 39753 39783 39814 39845 39873 39904 39934 39965 39995 40026 40057 230 297 287 238 341 301 409 376 387 347 494 944 344 460 439 351 443 380 389 424 325 516 567 404 281 476 358 495 464 442 741 506 595 655 633 1168 397 364 318 339 300 427 210 255 NIV Workload IVs Issued