- What are the roles involved in the VCS process and what workflow is involved among them?
- Who plays the R-4 Submitter role in Washington?
- Can a person play the dual role of Initiator and Verifier?
- Are there guidelines for assigning alternate Verifiers and Approvers?
- Do Approvers have to be USAID direct hires?
- Verifier and Approver roles seem to be similar. What is the difference?
- How is it determined what a Verifier or an Approver sees in the VCS?
- If a Mission nominates more than one Approver and more than one Verifier, are all Verifiers notified when data enters VCS for verification? Are all Approvers notified when data is verified?
- When an Approver rejects a visa request, is the Verifier notified? When a Verifier rejects, is the TraiNet operator notified?
- Verifiers & Approvers will need access to documents to really do their job. This would seem to suggest that the Verifier & Approver should be in the same location.
- What must be done to get an account as a Verifier?
- What must be done to get an account as an Approver?
- How will an overseas mission manage centrally funded training under the new process? Who enters the data? Who verifies and approves?
What are the roles involved in the VCS process and what workflow is involved among them?
VCS roles and processes can be summarized in the following steps:
R1-Initiation: The Sponsoring Unit (Mission or otherwise) submits a request for participant program data entry and a J-visa to a TraiNet Operator (Initiator), who enters the request into TraiNet. The TraiNet Operator then transfers the data from TraiNet to VCS using the "Submit to VCS" feature of TraiNet.
R2-Verification: The Verifier logs into VCS to check the data transferred from TraiNet to VCS. The Verifier can then: (1) reject the file and have the TraiNet operator correct errors and resend, (2) reject the application outright, or (3) verify that the data is correct and forward the visa data to the Approver.
R3-Approval: USAID Mission Approver receives notification that the visa data has been verified by the Verifier. At that time, the Approver can log into VCS and: (1) approve that data is correct, and that the participant and intervention is legitimate; or (2) reject the application and send it back to the R2-Verifier.
R4-Submission: If the data is approved by the mission Approver, the USAID Responsible Officer (Submitter) in the U.S. receives the application data and either: (1) reviews and submits the application to the SEVIS system or (2) rejects the application, which sends it back to the R2-Verifier.
Subsequently, following submission to SEVIS, the Submitter will be notified by SEVIS whether the DS-2019 is approved or not. If approved, the RO prints, signs, and mails the DS-2019 to the Approver.
Who plays the R-4 Submitter role in Washington?
A senior manager in AID/W/ED/EGAT/TR is the Responsible Officer (RO) for submitting participant data to SEVIS, for issuance of DS-2019 forms, and for all visa-related matters. The responsible officer can be contacted through the USAID Help Desk at TrainetSupport@riverainc.com
Can a person play the dual role of Initiator and Verifier?
The same individual cannot be both Initiator and Verifier for the same site id, but the Verifier and Approver can be the same person in those instances when the individual is both USAID staff and a U.S. Citizen. This is the current policy guideline from the RO.
Are there guidelines for assigning alternate Verifiers and Approvers?
An alternate should be named at the time the main person is named. That way usernames and passwords can be set up in case it's needed. The requirements for the alternate are the same as for the main person – for example, the Approver must be a US citizen and work at the Mission.
This also brings up the question of 1) whether all Verifiers (both the main Verifier and the Alternate) are notified when data is Initiated in VCS (yes, they are), 2) whether all Approvers are notified when data is Verified (yes, they are), 3) whether all Verifiers can verify everything that is initiated (yes, they can), and 4) whether all Approvers can approve everything (yes, they can.)
Obviously, this will require some coordination at the Mission level: for example, which Verifier will verify which participants (Verifier 1 will verify everything for SO-1, and Verifier 2 will verify everything for SO-2), and who will perform Approvals and under what circumstances (for example, the alternate will be authorized to approve when the main Approver is out of the country).
Therefore, please notify the individuals at your Mission who are nominating Verifiers and Approvers to please select ALTERNATES. Also, keep in mind the coordination issues mentioned above and put some sort of a procedure in place at your Mission.
Do Approvers have to be USAID direct hires?
No, as long as the Approver is a US citizen and works for the Mission (e.g. a personal services contractor (PSC) can be an Approver).
Verifier and Approver roles seem to be similar. What is the difference?
The two roles serve different purposes.
First, having a separate Approver and Verifier allows for physical separation of the roles, meaning the two do not have to be in the same country, for example.
Second, the Verifier is checking the data that was entered into TraiNet, and transferred to VCS, ensuring its correctness.
The Approver is confirming the legitimacy of each participant and training program, and making the decision for the Mission as to whether a participant's application should be forwarded to USAID EGAT, and then to SEVIS.
How is it determined what a Verifier or an Approver sees in the VCS?
Approvers see things by country. In the VCS system, each Approver is associated with one or more countries, and will be able to see (and approve) data about all participants who are residents of his/her responsible country or countries.
Verifiers are different. Verifiers are associated with one or more TraiNet site IDs, and will be able to see (and verify) the data for all participants from those site IDs.
If a Mission nominates more than one Approver and more than one Verifier, are all Verifiers notified when data enters VCS for verification? Are all Approvers notified when data is verified?
Yes to both questions.
Most Missions will have more than one Verifier and more than one Approver to cover cases when a Verifier or Approver is unavailable, on leave, etc. All Verifiers can verify all data, and all Approvers can approve everything for their country or countries. It is imperative that the mission and/or contractor coordinate roles in order to establish which Verifier and which Approver are verifying and approving what information.
See the next FAQ for further elaboration.
When an Approver rejects a visa request, is the Verifier notified? When a Verifier rejects, is the TraiNet operator notified?
Notification works in this way:
- Initiator:
- Enters data and forwards to VCS - Verifier is notified.
- Verifier:
- Verifies - Approver Notified.
- Rejects - Record is purged from VCS. Initiator is NOT notified. Verifier must do that outside the system.
- Approver:
- Approves - Submitter notified.
- Rejects - Verifier Notified. Initiator NOT notified - this must be done outside the system.
- Submitter:
- Submits - Visa application request uploaded into the Department of Homeland Security's SEVIS system.
- Rejects - Verifier notified. Approver NOT Notified. Initiator NOT Notified. The Verifier must notify the Initiator outside the system.
Verifiers & Approvers will need access to documents to really do their job. This would seem to suggest that the Verifier & Approver should be in the same location.
Verifiers & Approvers do not have to be in the same location, but there will have to be coordination between the roles to ensure that both have access to the information or documents they need.
What must be done to get an account as a Verifier?
Verifiers must be nominated by an existing Approver and must provide some basic contact information to the Help Desk before an account is created. Approvers can email the Help Desk directly with Verifier nominations. If you need to become a Verifier for your site but don't have contact with an Approver, send an email to the Help Desk at TrainetSupport@riverainc.com and request assistance.
What must be done to get an account as an Approver?
Approvers must be nominated by the Mission or Office Director, and must provide some basic contact information and a notarized certification of U.S. citizenship to EGAT before an account can be created. If you need to become an approver, email Linda Walker at lwalker@usaid.gov).
How will an overseas mission manage centrally funded training under the new process? Who enters the data? Who verifies and approves?
For centrally funded training, the mission can either use one of these options:
- Centrally funded training, managed by: Mission
- Initiator: Mission TraiNet Operator
- Verifier: Mission Verifier
- Approver: Mission Approver
- Centrally funded training, managed by: US Training Contractor - Preferred Configuration
- Initiator: US Training Contractor's TraiNet operator
- Verifier: US Training Contractor staff member nominated by Mission Approver
- Approver: Mission or USAID/W Approver
- Centrally funded training, managed cooperatively by both Mission and contractor
- Initiator: US Training Contractor's TraiNet operator
- Verifier: Mission Verifier (where US contractor only trains individuals from that country); otherwise, US Training Contractor
- Approver: Mission Approver
One key issue is that data will only be editable in TraiNet by the original initiator. Whoever that is will be responsible for maintaining/updating the data, so that may be important in guiding a mission to choose one option or another.