RANT: People who brag about immigrating fraudulently

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

Because of being around the local immigrant community for years I have heard all sorts of stories. Couples that legally divorce then each pay a USC to marry them, then get here get their USC and divorce and remarry each other. People from years ago that will slide through on other peoples visas/passports.

The classic now is to find some lonely older person on the internet, marry then leave once safely in the US. ( The land lords daughter did that to some poor soul from San Diego )

What I think is really sad is these people on VJ who you can just tell are being scammed but just won't listen to reason or the red flags.

I'm sure some cases are hard to prove, but in my opinion I don't think anyone should be allowed to stay after they marry while on a tourist visa , they should have to follow the same protocol as the rest of us and return to their original country and wait it out like the rest of us. Just my opinion.

In my opinion, we should just get rid of AOS all together except from visas in which the person is already been a long term resident. How many sob stories have we seen on here in which someone is being held as basically a slave because their partner refuses to adjust status from their VWP or K1?

[amykathleen2005 441]

I dislike there are people on here even who rather blatantly advocate coming in on a VWP and adjusting. Saying oh well, how can they prove it, intent will mean nothing, etc.

Give me a break.

[AmyWrites 593]

I'm in Puerto Rico. A LOT of illegal Dominicans and from other Caribbean islands too. I hear about the strategies used pretty often.

[pieroot 43]

I worry less about what other people do, and live my life, the way I think one should.

[destiny64 222]

Its about the fact of what they did inadvertently affects many of us in the immigration process. Long waits and denials because of fraud . Whether it be immigration or other laws . Some breeze through the immigration process and some of us don't, doesn't mean we shouldn't want it better for the next person..

[EminTX 131]

I simply don't understand why anyone is allowed to adjust status from being a student or a tourist to stay. If you were REALLY intending to return to your home country, you'd still have to leave to close up your residence there and resolve the open issues in your life. Outside of extenuating circumstances, I can't see that ever being legit. (Students that are here for 5 years--THAT I can understand. People here on work visas that are already here for several years, again, I can understand. Tourists? Never. Short term students? Never.)

Second, anyone that wants to AOS, IMHO should be required to do the same as everyone who follows the rules correctly--return to the country in question and hang out until you get an interview. No exceptions (in general). So many people whine that it is so hard to move to a strange country because they came here as kids or whatever. That is a load of #######--if your parents made a move to a strange country then you can, too. Get in line. Do the same thing as the legit folks.

These two things would probably shorten the numbers significantly and reduce wait times.

I do understand that not every country is safe and that refugees have extenuating circumstances--that is not who I am referring to. I can't imagine why anyone from Canada, for example, would ever be allowed to jump the line without serious proof of persecution. Or England. Or India. Or Nigeria. Or Pakistan. Or Mexico. Or Perú.

[Tosh Love 77]

I worry less about what other people do, and live my life, the way I think one should.

I agree. Regardless of your belief Karma always delivers!

[Gosia & Tito 199]

I work and live in Southwest Houston where it is possibly that a full 1/2 of our employees are foreign born and this is very reflective of the neighborhood.

Because of my own openness and awareness of the immigration process, I hear a lot from folks about their fraud to get here. People are open about it and appear to be proud of their methods.

It makes me nuts.

Is this common? Does everyone else here that lives in an area with lots of foreginers hear this a lot?

The most common ones I hear about are the K-1 fraud or the AOS from student/tourist visas to spousal. As frustrating as it is to me to deal with the delays, I can't help but wonder if they are along enough to deter ANYbody.

GGggrrrrr........

(Climbing down off my soapbox now.)

I think we need to consider a cultural factor, by which some believe it is not fraud if you are sticking it to the government. I don't think that is exclusive of a particular country, religion or ethnicity, but it plays a role.

Then we have people/couples who are not really well informed or know the law well enough (and no, I don't believe it is an excuse). Amongst this group are USCs who get their immigration know how from movies like Green Card and more recently The Proposal. It is laughable what I have heard from people at my office in regards of bringing my now wife to the US.

Then we have people who might brag about how they cheated, but that is only bragging.

And then we have the absurdity and vagueness of some of the rules by which people from different countries get treated differently.

Whenever there are rules in place to limit who/when/how a perceived benefit can be obtained, there will be people who will want to cheat the system, and out of those, there will be many that succeed; which will cause additional rules and restrictions and so on.

No system is infallible, and no system will be fair to all.

As sad and unfair as this would sound, the only ones that are deterred by K-1, AOS, ROC procedures are the ones who follow the rules!

Don't want to sound negative or that I'm promoting something against the TOS here, but people who know they would not on their own qualify for a visa, will try to get in outside of established rules; of those, some will succeed.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

However, if they made examples of the ones who are doing it illegally maybe they would think twice before attempting it. We all know it takes a lot of time and money to deport those that do it illegally, but if they stuck to the fines and jail sentences they claim to punish when caught then we wouldn't have as big a problem as we do. Its like telling your teenager if they get caught out past curfew they'll be grounded for the next year and then not sticking to it, people talk to each other about how they succeeded and then it helps others to do the same. I'm sure some cases are hard to prove, but in my opinion I don't think anyone should be allowed to stay after they marry while on a tourist visa , they should have to follow the same protocol as the rest of us and return to their original country and wait it out like the rest of us. Just my opinion.

I don't disagree with you but let's make sure that they ONLY punish those that are doing it illegally and nto let the punishment cross over to those of us going at it the legal way.

IMHO, after the 3rd email and a contact by a Senator the CO should have doen the righteous thing and called us for a second interview. Which scammer or fraudulent petitioner/beneficiary would go to that extreme? So IMHO they are clearly punishing the innocent and that is just plain inefficient.

[destiny64 222]

I don't disagree with you but let's make sure that they ONLY punish those that are doing it illegally and nto let the punishment cross over to those of us going at it the legal way.

IMHO, after the 3rd email and a contact by a Senator the CO should have doen the righteous thing and called us for a second interview. Which scammer or fraudulent petitioner/beneficiary would go to that extreme? So IMHO they are clearly punishing the innocent and that is just plain inefficient.

Yes, I agree with you . I am referring to the people who are caught being fraudulent with proof not speculation. Not only are they punishing the innocent and I agree sometimes they can get things wrong , they are human! When they make a decision based on speculation , they are making more work by returning it back for further review and putting it back into cue again. I have heard the numbers are amazingly high of the returned petitions, only for USCIS to turn around and send it back again, in not all but most cases.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

Yes, I agree with you . I am referring to the people who are caught being fraudulent with proof not speculation. Not only are they punishing the innocent and I agree sometimes they can get things wrong , they are human! When they make a decision based on speculation , they are making more work by returning it back for further review and putting it back into cue again. I have heard the numbers are amazingly high of the returned petitions, only for USCIS to turn around and send it back again, in not all but most cases.

Well, if you think about it, the couple probably still meets the criteria set forth by USCIS to have their I-129F or I-130 approved. That is probably something else that needs an overhaul.

[Wakey86 12]

It is my belief that we have the technology to make the process faster. I see no reason why family based petitions should take longer than one month. We pay for the privilege and there is high unemployment in the US , so get those unemployed trained for perhaps other lower jobs within USCIS and move other more technically trained upwards.

For the embassy folks, the President needs to sign an executive order requiring Consular Officers to be open and stand behind their decisions with facts and court backed proof of any denial.

I hate line jumpers as much as the other person but I can understand, not agree on, why some do it. It's not for us personally but I do not begrudge those that takes the path of least resistance. Perhaps if they improve the process then the scofflaws would not have a reason to cheat, they get in anyways so it's not for security threats, etc

Very well said Gowon!!!! It's the irony of life, isn't it? The legit folk are made to jump through hoops to prove their genuine relationship because of fraudulent people...on the other hand fraudulent people take the easy aka illegal route because doing it the "right" way only costs LOTS of money & time

Oh well...

[fantonledzepp 159]

Do you have any idea how many off-the-boat Irish live in my neighborhood? Jeez!

[EminTX 131]

OK. You are very arrogant in telling your personal opinion.

It is arrogant to see cheaters being gifted with something that they clearly did used fraud to get and to think this is wrong? Hhmmmm....

ANY person who comes here on vacation or with the intention to return to their home country needs to be required to do so EVERY time before being allowed to stay. I personally work with several people who have married on a student visa or tourist visa and never EVER intended to leave. If these two options were eliminated, we could reduce the ease of fraud in these two ways that are so common.

I wonder how the stats are in other countries concerning this. How often to people travel to other places on a trip WITH a round trip ticket and decide to just stay forever. It does happen, yes. But it should happen correctly.

If visitors weren't almost expected to try to not leave, it would probably be much easier for my in-laws in South America to visit us. There is an adult person in my family who is developmentally delayed. I would love for him to come visit us with the elderly folks he lives with. Because they are a family unit and it is not a good idea for him to be alone for two or three weeks for them to travel here, they probably won't be able to come ever.

I have a friend who is an expert in wells. He is an engineer and is completely grounded in his life overseas. He has traveled here to lecture and teach his methods to others. Last year he was denied a visa to travel to Louisana to teach for a 2 week conference. He did not overstay before and, if I remember correctly, he donated his earnings to the charity group he was educating. He has a proven track record of being the "perfect" tourist but nope--too much of a risk. GGggggrrrr.....

When fraud is so easy, the rules that allow it are the problem.

[EminTX 131]

BTW...

I have never actually met a single person who met their (now) spouse, fell in love, married in a whirlwind, and stayed legitimately. I think it happens in real life about as often as people win the lottery. On the other hand, I can't count how many people tell me that this is what they claimed so that they could stay here--fraudulently.