The US will not take any shortcuts in vetting refugees held on Manus Island and Nauru as part of the controversial deal with Australia, according to a US State Department official.
Matt Matthews, a deputy US assistant secretary of state responsible for policy for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, confirmed "pre-screening" of the refugees had begun.
"What I can tell you is that there will be no shortcuts in the process, they will go through a full vetting process, but these refugees have been vetted in depth in Australia and they're in a process of being vetted in depth now by (the Department of Homeland Security)," Mr Matthews told reporters on Thursday, according to the Washington Examiner.
The deal has been a source of controversy between US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with a January 28 phone call between the two leaders ending abruptly.
Mr Trump also called it a dumb deal, although he backtracked and said the refugees would have to pass extreme vetting before being accepted by the US.
Mr Matthews said the US did not have a specific time-line for the vetting to be completed.
The Australia-US deal was struck last year when Barack Obama was in the White House.
Australia has agreed to accept Central American refugees held in US-funded camps.
Mr Matthews maintained Mr Trump's stance that the refugees would have to pass thorough vetting before they gain entry into the US.
"There is no inherent obligation to take refugees unless they actually meet our strict standards," Mr Matthews said.
Mr Trump and Mr Turnbull put on a united front during a May 4 meeting in New York and the refugee issue will likely come up when US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits Australia next week.
"What the United States has undertaken to do is review applications submitted through the UN High Commission and go through our own very independent and very strict vetting process to determine whether or not referred potential refugees would meet our standard for admittance to the United States," Matthews said.
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