Visitor visa fraud could later haunt your green card

Dear Atty. Gurfinkel:

Many years ago, when I applied for a visitor visa, I was advised by friends that I could increase my chances of success by submitting fake documents and lying about my job and assets. Unfortunately, the Embassy caught my fraud and refused my visitor’s visa.

Now, my parent’s petition for me is current, and I am being processed for my immigrant visa (green card). Will there be any problems with my immigrant visa because of that long-ago fraud for a visitor visa?                                                                                           

Very truly yours,

D.R.

Dear D.R.:

Under current US Immigration Law, fraud lasts forever. (Before 1996, the fraud would be erased from your record after 10 years. But changes in law now make fraud a lifetime blacklist). Therefore, the fraud you committed in connection with your visitor visa application, no matter how long ago it took place, will definitely come back and haunt you. I have come across so many cases where people were under petition for green cards, yet decided to take the chance of applying for a visitor visa through fraud and the submission of fake documents. Like you, they also got caught, and when they were processed for immigrant visas, they were refused.

In some cases there is a “waiver” (or forgiveness) available for people who commit fraud. In order to be eligible for a fraud waiver, the alien must meet the following requirements:

1. The alien must have a spouse or parent who is a US Citizen or green card holder (“qualifying relative”). If the alien does not have a spouse or parent who is a citizen or immigrant, they are not even eligible to submit a fraud waiver. Before 1996, having a US Citizen child could make you eligible for fraud waiver, but changes in law no longer consider a child as a “qualifying relative” for a fraud waiver.

2. The alien must demonstrate that their spouse or parent would suffer “extreme hardship” if the visa or green card was refused. Extreme hardship is a very difficult standard to satisfy. USCIS is well aware that all spouses and parents would suffer “hardship” if a person is not allowed to immigrate to the US. What is required is that the spouse or parent suffer extreme hardship. Some of the “extreme hardship” factors, as listed in Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) cases, include, but are not limited to, the following: the presence of lawful permanent resident or United States citizen family ties to this country; the qualifying relative’s family ties outside the United States; the conditions in the country or countries to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to such countries; the financial impact of departure from this country; and, finally, significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

The bottom line is that the fraud you committed in connection with applying for a visitor visa will definitely come back and haunt you later on when you apply for a green card. Therefore, do not commit fraud, just for the chance of having a six-month vacation in the US.

If you have already committed fraud, and you have a “qualifying relative”, then perhaps a fraud waiver could be an avenue for you to be “forgiven”. You should seek the assistance of a reputable attorney, who could assist you and your qualifying relative in developing the extreme hardship factors, prepare affidavits and gather documentation showing extreme hardship and otherwise package your fraud waiver application.

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