Steps for Validation of U.S. Exchange Visitors

The following text is from an email announcement sent to all R-1s and R-2s by Mr. James Nindel, USAID Responsible Officer.

Greetings TraiNet R-1's and VCS R-2's.

This email is in follow-up to my email of December 3, 2007 in which I discussed the importance of the timely validation of a participant's arrival to, and departure from, the United States.

The following are the specific steps that R-1's and R-2's must take in order to validate arrival and departure. And remember, validation must take place within three days of arrival and departure.

To Validate a Participant Trainee or Exchange Visitor's Arrival:

In TraiNet:

1. At TraiNet's Program List, click the "Edit Participants" icon found to the left of the program name.
2. On the left side of the screen that opens, click "Edit Participant Status".
3. In the list of "Active Participants", change the drop-down-list next to each individual's name from "Planned: Scheduled to Attend Program" to either "In Training: Currently Attending Program," or "Cancelled: Did Not Begin Program".
4. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the screen
5. Review and confirm your changes on the screen that follows
6. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the screen
7. To complete the process, click the "Submit Request" button on the screen that follows.

In VCS:

1. Click on an individual's name to view his or her information
2. Confirm that the status of the participant is being updated from "Request" to "Validate"
3. Click the "Verify" button at the bottom of the screen to complete the process.
4. You should be taken back to the screen listing participants waiting for action, and the individual you just verified should no longer be shown on the list.

To Validate Departure:

In TraiNet:

1. At TraiNet's Program List, click the "Edit Participants" icon found to the left of the program name.
2. On the left side of the screen that opens, click "Edit Participant Status".
3. In the list of "Active Participants", change the drop-down-list next to each individual's name from "In Training: Currently Attending Program" to either "Achieved: Completed Program and Achieved Goals," "Not Achieved: Completed Program and Did Not Achieve Goals," or "Terminated: Did Not Complete Program".
4. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the screen
5. On the page that opens, enter the participant's status of "Returned," "Not Returned" or "Unknown"
6. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the screen
7. Review and confirm your changes on the screen that follows
8. Click the "Next" button at the bottom of the screen
9. To complete the process, click the Submit Request button on the screen that follows.

In VCS:

In the normal course of a program, the R-2 will not have to verify the departure information; however, if there have been further changes to the program budget or to the dates of the program, the R-2 may receive notification from the VCS prompting him or her to log in and verify the update.

Happy New Year. James Nindel, USAID/EGAT/ED