How much investigating do the CO's actually do?

[mahboula 11]

Hi all. I've been lurking here for a while. I don't post but all the information I've found here has been so helpful. I was reading someolder topics and i found this:

Early 2005 they started their K-1 process. Like others, it was taking forever to get an interview. Once the interview was granted everything seemed to be going as expected with AR and such and then when she emailed the embassy she was told she needed to show proof of their chat logs which she did. A few weeks letter after sending another email, she received a letter saying that her fiance was very active in talking to many women online and suspected her case as fraud. When confronting her fiance about this he of course denied everything saying that his friends were doing this to him. So she made up another ID and started investigating herself. Sure enough he began chatting with her too professing his love to her! Now she is so very thankful the CO did their work and kept her from entering a bad marriage. As much as it angers us all when a case takes forever, there are really some circumstances that it does help.

Do these CO's actually have access to our chat histories or do they go online and bait these guys? If the above post is true, I'm wondering where they get their information?

[Nicoxcx 1]

With the amount of cases the service centers recieve I would be incredibly surprised if they investigated to that extent.

Of course that is my personal opinion.

[pushbrk 12,877]

With the amount of cases the service centers recieve I would be incredibly surprised if they investigated to that extent.

Of course that is my personal opinion.

The question is about "COs", not USCIS adjudicators. The amount of investigation will vary by Consulate and by country with more occuring in the high fraud posts. I suspect that in the case depicted in the story, the beneficiary had been petitioned by more than one petitioner or that one of his "girlfriend" caught him with his hand in the cookie jar and reported him. Perhaps the "friend" was a spurned or enlightened "girlfriend".

[S and S 12]

Well, they asked for chat logs which would have given away his user name. From there they had a way to contact him and bait him. They used those chats they had with him (and him not knowing it was the CO) in order to build their evidence.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

It would take them 2 minutes to google the beneficiary's name, or IM handle if they had it from chatlog and see what comes up. I can totally see them do that, especially in borderline cases or high fraud posts.

[mahboula 11]

It would take them 2 minutes to google the beneficiary's name, or IM handle if they had it from chatlog and see what comes up. I can totally see them do that, especially in borderline cases or high fraud posts.

Thanks guys for the replies. Yeah I'm sure it's a quick and easy thing for them to do, I just had no idea they had the time, or would even bother to investigate in this way. And I'm glad there's a simpler explanation than them having access to our chat logs from yahoo...I would so not want anyone reading those

[Carlawarla 1]

Hi all. I've been lurking here for a while. I don't post but all the information I've found here has been so helpful. I was reading someolder topics and i found this:

Early 2005 they started their K-1 process. Like others, it was taking forever to get an interview. Once the interview was granted everything seemed to be going as expected with AR and such and then when she emailed the embassy she was told she needed to show proof of their chat logs which she did. A few weeks letter after sending another email, she received a letter saying that her fiance was very active in talking to many women online and suspected her case as fraud. When confronting her fiance about this he of course denied everything saying that his friends were doing this to him. So she made up another ID and started investigating herself. Sure enough he began chatting with her too professing his love to her! Now she is so very thankful the CO did their work and kept her from entering a bad marriage. As much as it angers us all when a case takes forever, there are really some circumstances that it does help.

Do these CO's actually have access to our chat histories or do they go online and bait these guys? If the above post is true, I'm wondering where they get their information?

You found this topic on VJ? If so, you should really use the whole quote when putting it on here. I've never seen this. I read it and thought it highly improbable that the Embassy people were emailing the petitioner. I'd like to see who posted that if it came from here.

[mahboula 11]

You found this topic on VJ? If so, you should really use the whole quote when putting it on here. I've never seen this. I read it and thought it highly improbable that the Embassy people were emailing the petitioner. I'd like to see who posted that if it came from here.

I found that post on VJ. I'll try to find it again but it may take a while. I've actually had several emails back and forth with a CO at the embassy in Algeria though, so I didn't find that part unlikely. My concern was actually how they knew what this man was doing online.

[mahboula 11]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...st&p=840140

[Carlawarla 1]

Thanks for posting that thread! Very interesting. I really don't know if that's true or not however. I suppose some CO's might be highly suspicious of people and if there was information already provided with screen names, they might go snooping? I do think however, that it may be a case of someone who was spurned, perhaps an ex, who notified the Consulate...maybe even provided the information to them.

The investigation differs from country to country. Applicants from high fraud countries are going to get more scrutiny. I've heard of home visits, and family interviews as well. Do you have any "red flags"? (something to arouse their suspicions)?

On the chance that the poster is still around, you could PM them, or even post this link in the MENA forum for input.

[Staashi 371]

Actually, the COs are known to do their own investigations, especially once a case goes in for Administrative Processing. If they have screen names and such they'll use that, they might do interviews at the homes of beneficiaries, they'll look for pictures of the couple. Many times people apply for a K1 because it is supposedly faster, and yet they have already been married - somehow a CO finds pictures of the wedding ceremony. They use many resources. Remember, the COs, although American, now live in the country and mingle with the citizens of said country. They learn things about people, understand cultural norms, begin to develop a new perspective of how things really are there that one can't get from a 2 week visit. If red flags go off in their heads that lead them to speculate fraud, they'll investigate it however they deem necessary.

Remember, fraud is so rampant in various countries. We only see a very small microcosm of the immigration process here in VJ. We witness what our friends go through and we cry for them or rejoice for them, but in reality, how many thousands of cases do the COs see where the red flags are screaming at them in the face???

I'd rather the COs do a thorough investigation - use all resources available to them and approve or deny based on what they have found.

[mahboula 11]

Do you have any "red flags"? (something to arouse their suspicions)?

No, I don't think so. We've already been approved actually. They told us to expect the visa by UPS in two weeks. I was more concerned with them having access to what might be private conversations, for example, I wondered if they were given chat logs by Yahoo or something to that effect. If it's actually them going online and investigating, baiting, or following up on tips I have no problem with that. I'm actually surprised they have the time to do so. I am aware of the fraud and I'm also glad they do thorough investigations to weed out the liars.