Questions concerning the CLASS System G.

Meeting Monday, June 10, 2002 % b / o 2-

1. Does the Consular Consolidated Database utilize CLASS' Arabic name

algorithms?

No. Most access to CCD is by a known name or based upon post code.

2. How does CLASS handle French transliteration of Arabic names? (In

Tunis, we saw that Arabic names had been translated with French
spelling instead of English; e.g. "Nawar" in English would be spelled
"Nouar" in Tunisia).

CLASS uses regularization to handle this French/English translation

issue. CLASS handles the examples given (Nawar vs. Nouar). It must
be understood that the total score of all data elements (given name,
surname, date of birth, country of birth) is what dictates the assignment
of hits. The example given sites only one data element. A match of that
data element alone could probably not qualify a record as a "hit".

3. In posts where the majority of applicants have Arabic names, Consular

Officers reported that applicants will sometimes use up to 4 of their
family names when they apply for a visa and, at other times, they will
choose to use only 2 or 3 of their names. Consular Officers reported
that this problem reduced the number of CLASS hits. Can this problem
be addressed in CLASS?

First, the name entered for namechecking should come from the
applicants official travel document not from the application. CLASS
obviously can only act upon data elements provided in the query.
Submitting only a subset of the elements of a segmented surname (or
given name) will generally result in fewer hits. There is also a direct
dependence on the content of lookouts reported to CLASS. Lookouts
with only partial given names or surnames affect the ability of computer
logic. For this and other reasons, the provision of complete lookout
data is vital to the success of the CLASS system.

4. How often will the Arabic Algorithm CLASS training be offered this
year? How many officers are receiving this training?

The advanced linguistics course will be offered 7 times in FY2002.

Although plans for FY2003 are not complete at this point, we expect the
course to be offered a minimum of 10 times, possibly up to 18 times.

f Maximum class size is 12. With the exception of the initial (shakeout)
class in March 2002, the classes have been fully subscribed. Not all

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