Dave Seminara Article on Marriage Fraud

[Olomi_811 130]

A month before I got my NOA2 someone posted a question asking how she could get her sister to the US. This sparked my own curiosity and not wanting to rely on VJ member answers; I went on my own quest for knowledge. I found an unrelated Article written by a former CO. After reading this in its entirety, I changed my thinking on how I would get my husband home.

If you have not gotten your NOA2 and you are wondering if more evidence would be a good idea; skipping down to the heading You Can't Always Get What You Want: An Uphill Struggle which is just above the conclusion will be of benefit to you especially if the embassy you're petitioning is tough. I sent my additional evidence with my IV bill on 3/15 (weekend) it arrived on 3/19 and my case closed on 3/20.

Will everyone's case move as fast? Maybe not

Is it worth leaving to chance that your spouse will be asked for it during their interview? NOT AT ALL

Advise your spouse of all that you (as a couple) are sending and why. Discuss it at length so they can be prepared to combat the CO's badgering.

I did email the author on 1/10/11, but of course there was no reply.

I hope this is as helpful to you as it was to me.

[patient2010 93]

thanks for sharing!

[LadySarabi 0]

A month before I got my NOA2 someone posted a question asking how she could get her sister to the US. This sparked my own curiosity and not wanting to rely on VJ member answers; I went on my own quest for knowledge. I found an unrelated Article written by a former CO. After reading this in its entirety, I changed my thinking on how I would get my husband home.

If you have not gotten your NOA2 and you are wondering if more evidence would be a good idea; skipping down to the heading You Can't Always Get What You Want: An Uphill Struggle which is just above the conclusion will be of benefit to you especially if the embassy you're petitioning is tough. I sent my additional evidence with my IV bill on 3/15 (weekend) it arrived on 3/19 and my case closed on 3/20.

Will everyone's case move as fast? Maybe not

Is it worth leaving to chance that your spouse will be asked for it during their interview? NOT AT ALL

Advise your spouse of all that you (as a couple) are sending and why. Discuss it at length so they can be prepared to combat the CO's badgering.

I did email the author on 1/10/11, but of course there was no reply.

I hope this is as helpful to you as it was to me.

That was an interesting read. I do agree with his suggestions to help combat fraudulent cases. Thanks for the info.

[AmyWrites 593]

I think this is easily the best article on immigration fraud I've read.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Even front loading doesn't always work. Our first interview was tripped up by a determined to deny CO that kept poking until Joseph couldn't answer the statement " If you want a visa I need to have details of your wifes work for XXXX " He had correctly answer where I work, where I went to school , how many years and what type of work. However I work DOD contracts and that question is off limits even for CO's. They denied him and I took the correct action on my side. The next interview there were NO questions about my work.

[StraightShooter 62]

I've seen that article before, but really didn't like the recommendations at the end. The author wants to increase the size and scope of the government, including making it more intrusive and less flexible. Just what we need... another bureacracy that gets more power and taxpayer dollars while simultaneously saying who "they" think we should be allowed to marry. Sounds like the CFO in the Philippines. Ugh. Not for me.

Here are a few examples of the things the author wants to see in order to "help" us be with our loved ones.

Recommendations

•Eliminate Fiancé (K-1) visas. There is simply too much fraud associated with this visa category. Americans who intend to marry foreign nationals are free to do so, but making the effort to get married abroad testifies to the legitimacy and seriousness of the relationship. Couples can always have a second ceremony or reception in the United States once the foreign spouse receives his or her immigrant visa. Right, because people have unlimited time and resources to allow them to remain overseas for a month or more (in some countries) in order to get married.

•Adjudicate marriage-based immigrant visa petitions in the foreign spouse’s country of residence, with the American sponsor present. Authorize consular officers (or overseas USCIS officers) to rule on the validity of the relationships and deny fraudulent petitions. Appeals could be heard by an officer’s supervisor — with both petitioner and applicant present. Same as above.

•Create a national marriage registration database to help combat serial marriage fraud. PUHLEEZE!!!

•Eliminate the co-sponsor system for Americans filing immigrant visa petitions for spouses overseas. This means that Americans living below the poverty line would be unable to sponsor immigrants. Exceptions should be made for bona fide full-time students at the university level and young petitioners still listed as dependents on their parents’ most recent tax return. Since many, if not most of the Americans that engage in marriage fraud for cash are in a weak financial situation themselves, this move would add a difficult hurdle for would-be scam artists who want to engage in a sham marriage to a foreign national for money. So people working part time and attending school part time aren't allowed into the system even if they could get a sponsor. Right.

•Give both the State Department and USCIS significantly more resources to combat marriage fraud. Yep, let's make that government even larger and more intrusive.

•Aggressively prosecute everyone involved in marriage fraud, from those involved in personal schemes to large-scale marriage fraud rings. Penalties should include jail time for those convicted. Hey, being in an American prison could still be better than being free in some foreign countries. Might not deter as many as he thinks.

[Darnell 8,478]

bleuawolf - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/267559-usa-is-now-arizona/page__view__findpost__p__4100571

[Iyawo Ijebu 157]

Thanks for sharing.

He does have a few good points though but to each his own.

"even in cases where the couple may only have met over the Internet, and may not even share a common language"

I'm good for those two

"because of the prevalence of sham marriages, legitimate international couples can face longer wait times due to the huge number of bogus marriage petitions that bog down an already slow and cumbersome visa bureaucracy. Scam marriages also can cast a shadow of illegitimacy over real marriages, and many legitimate couples may be forced to endure invasive and sometimes harsh interviews with United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and State Department personnel who are trying in good faith to screen out fake couples."

I knew it, they can do it faster if they wanted to.

"For Americans paid to enter into fraudulent marriages, filing documents through the mail rather than having to appear at a consulate or embassy is more convenient and less stressful, particularly if they know that potential penalties for marriage fraud include large fines and jail time."

I'll be there Mr. CO so we can look each other in the eye as we shake hands (most likely will be behind a blast proof glass I think).

"FBI checks rarely reveal crimes committed overseas, however, and local police certificates are more or less a formality in many developing countries due to corruption or a lack of accurate record-keeping. Also, if an applicant has a criminal history, but hasn’t been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude, he or she is still eligible to immigrate to the United States. This means that consular officers can’t screen out obvious gang members, petty criminals, or thugs with numerous arrests, but no convictions.

Applicants also must undergo a medical examination by an embassy-approved local physician. This also is mostly a formality in most parts of the world, as only the most severe communicable diseases can derail one’s chances of immigrating to the United States and doctors can falsify exam results, either because they want to help the immigrant or because they’ve been bribed to do so."

Yet we are required to do these things.

"In Budapest, for example, I once interviewed a 36-year-old Nigerian woman who was the beneficiary of a fiancé petition filed for her by a 22-year-old American who worked in a bakery in the Bronx. Since the petition was filed in the United States (as is required for fiancé cases), the American wasn’t present and all I had to go by was his fiancé along with the petition, which contained photocopies of the American’s plane tickets and hotel reservations, along with a few clearly staged photos of the couple together in Budapest."

Ah, our reputation precedes us. Again.

"I returned the petition to USCIS with a request for them to reconsider their approval of the petition, but I never heard back. This is not unusual. Consular officers often find that returning petitions to USCIS is like dropping a case into a black hole — most likely you’ll never hear about it again."

Hmmm...not kosher at all.

"I can understand why consular officers enjoy the reduced workload, the reality is that it is far easier for consular officers to prove that a case is fraudulent when they have both parties sitting in front of them. A couple that seems outrageously incongruous in person might not look so crazy on paper, and so the result is that USCIS rubber-stamps nearly all marriage petitions."

IMHO, the greatest disservice to American taxpayer is not allowing us to be present at the interviews.

"Consular officers, particularly in developing countries where residents are desperate to “get out of Dodge,” frequently interview cross-cultural couples who appear to be grossly mismatched, but cannot deny the petitions of Americans who do not know that they are being used for a visa, which makes this type of one-sided marriage fraud nearly impossible to stop."

Problematic for sure.

"When American citizens find out that they were duped for a green card by an opportunistic foreign spouse, they often write letters to USCIS and the State Department or appear in person at embassies to ask consular officials to revoke their ex-spouses’ green cards. The letters and complaints are heart-felt, but USCIS almost never revokes a green card in these kinds of situations, even when there is clear evidence that the marriage was not entered into in good faith."

Interesting.

"Even in a case like this — where an American citizen has her foreign spouse on tape admitting that the marriage was a fraud — USCIS will not consider revoking the foreign national’s green card, partly to avoid giving potentially vindictive or abusive Americans an effective “veto” power over their foreign spouses that they could abuse for their own purposes. "

This is true. My Ex Wife tried to get my status revoked so that she could gain an edge in the divorce but it never worked. Thanks USCIS, you Guys are on the job.

"Adjudicate marriage-based immigrant visa petitions in the foreign spouse’s country of residence, with the American sponsor present. Authorize consular officers (or overseas USCIS officers) to rule on the validity of the relationships and deny fraudulent petitions. Appeals could be heard by an officer’s supervisor — with both petitioner and applicant present. "

I'm up for this, very good idea.

"Deny all applications filed by couples that cannot hold a basic conversation with each other in a common language. Legitimate couples will learn to communicate with each other and can reapply at that time. "

I'm up for this too.

"Benjamin Adams, the American man who responded to Kalinina’s Craiglist ad offering prospective husbands up to $15,000 to marry her, was sentenced April 7 to two months in prison for marriage fraud and making a false statement. "

Yep, the USC should be held liable also. Especially in the 419 cases. They are part of the problem.

"Jiri Janda, a Czech citizen, could lose permanent resident status and face deportation after an Alabama State Appeals Court annulled his marriage to American citizen Antoinette Walters. Ms. Walters filed the complaint based on Janda’s suspicious behavior: On their honeymoon in the Smoky Mountains, Janda insisted on sleeping in separate tents and refused to have intercourse. Janda claimed that the marriage wasn’t entered into for the purpose of immigration, but that his wife needed to lose 65 pounds."

Adjust your status at each and every opportunity. Also this could be true.

"Ghanians marrying American citizens —seemed to barely know each other and that some were even exchanging money in the halls and elevators of the courthouse building. "

See, 9ja Boys no dey carry last

Excellent read and a required reading for all VeeJayers.

[GoingCrazy2012 16]

A month before I got my NOA2 someone posted a question asking how she could get her sister to the US. This sparked my own curiosity and not wanting to rely on VJ member answers; I went on my own quest for knowledge. I found an unrelated Article written by a former CO. After reading this in its entirety, I changed my thinking on how I would get my husband home.

If you have not gotten your NOA2 and you are wondering if more evidence would be a good idea; skipping down to the heading You Can't Always Get What You Want: An Uphill Struggle which is just above the conclusion will be of benefit to you especially if the embassy you're petitioning is tough. I sent my additional evidence with my IV bill on 3/15 (weekend) it arrived on 3/19 and my case closed on 3/20.

Will everyone's case move as fast? Maybe not

Is it worth leaving to chance that your spouse will be asked for it during their interview? NOT AT ALL

Advise your spouse of all that you (as a couple) are sending and why. Discuss it at length so they can be prepared to combat the CO's badgering.

I did email the author on 1/10/11, but of course there was no reply.

I hope this is as helpful to you as it was to me.

Awesome article thanks for sharing!