Stolen identity, asylum, and embassy interview

[Eternal Spring 10]

Hi, friends,

 

I'm asking this question on behalf of a friend who's not a VisaJourney member. Her husband "Juan" applied for asylum in 2002, and was surprised at how quickly it was granted. He received a social security card, etc. Later, he discovered that his brother "Pablo" had applied for asylum in 1994, but the brother applied for asylum using Juan's identity. At that time, Juan was not even in the US. When Juan became aware of this, apparently, he did not report the identity theft to the government. Instead, he did not renew the asylum status, but continued to work for 15 years using the social security # that he had received. Juan does not have a lawyer, but his hardship waiver was approved. When Juan left the US for his interview at the embassy, the official gave him the "yellow paper", requesting that Juan provide the "results of asylum (the next word is not legible) I. J." I assume "I.J." means "immigration judge", but I'm not sure. Do you think that Juan still has a chance of getting his visa issued?

[acidrain 325]

Was Juan's asylum status approved quickly because they thought he was Pablo (who already had status)? Did Juan use the same SSN as Pablo? The situation seems rather odd. Why would his brother not apply using his own name and why would Juan not report it? Based on the info provided there would be a lot of questions to the real identity of "Juan". The biggest flag is the fact he never renewed his asylum status. Why wouldn't he if he's really Juan?

[Eternal Spring 10]

That was the impression my friend gave me, that the only reason Juan was approved, was because of Pablo's application under Juan's name. She did not explain to me about the social security number, or even what happened to Pablo in the end. The only reason I can think of why Pablo did not apply using his own name is because he was afraid of the chance of being denied, so maybe he thought he'd somehow save his real identity for a "second try" if they rejected his first application? I really don't know. The reason that Juan didn't report this was also not explained to me, but I suspect Juan didn't report it in order to possibly a) protect his brother and b) out of fear that Juan would be forced to leave the US, in case the government wouldn't believe that Juan did not know of his brother Pablo's fraud. This is the same reason probably for why Juan did not try to renew it. I seriously have a lot more questions about this, but so far, my friend hasn't explained the rest of the story.

[acidrain 325]

If I understand it correctly there are currently two Juan's who are using the same identity. The real Juan (or so we think) was probably hoping US immigration would not find out about the Pablo Juan. A lot is forgiven with spousal visas (illegal entries, overstays, work, etc.) but one of the main criteria is immigration has to know who they are giving a visa to. Could you imagine if you were US immigration trying to figure all of this out?  

 

While I am sure both brothers have their reasons there is often more to the story. From an outsider perspective the situation looks extremely shady. If it has been referred to an immigration judge I am sure they are determined to find out the truth. Unfortunately for both brothers the situation could be very serious and they could've avoided the outcome had they come clean years ago.