Q: I know someone who is involved in a sham marriage just to get a visa. How can I report that information to you?
If you have information about a visa applicant committing fraud in any visa category, there are several ways to report it. You can notify the Inquiries Unit of the Consular Section by calling 225-7965 or send an email to visageorge@state.gov. You may also write a letter and mail it to the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy. If you choose to include your contact information, it is never disclosed.
Q: Why should I share information about visa fraud with the U.S. Embassy?
Visa fraud hurts everyone. It is unethical and unfair. Immigrant visas are allocated on a monthly basis in limited numbers. Much like cutting in line, it is not fair for people to commit fraud in order to migrate in visa categories that don’t pertain to them.
When fraud is evidenced or perceived with increasing frequency, it becomes more difficult to obtain a visa. Genuine applicants who want to live with their spouse or who are qualified for another type of visa are scrutinized more closely because of the fraudulent marriages or activities of others. By reporting fraud before applicants appear for a visa interview, the general public is perceived as being intolerant of such behavior. With your cooperation, we would be able to keep fraud to a minimum so that honest people are better able to obtain a visa.
Q: If I want to send a fink letter to the U.S. Embassy, am I required to include my contact information?
No, you don’t have to include your contact information. We have received many anonymous fink letters that contained valuable information regarding applicants committing fraud.
On the other hand, sometimes a fink letter is illegible to Embassy officials or requires clarification. We would like to follow-up on such letters, but cannot if we do not have contact information for the sender.
Q: What information should a fink letter, email or call contain?
There is no set format for a fink letter. The key to writing a fink letter is to be as detailed as you can be with factual information about the fraud, names, dates of birth, addresses, and any other pertinent information you can provide about the parties involved. Keep in mind that although the information in the letter appears obvious to the person who wrote it, it may not be to the reader at the Embassy.
Concerning names, if possible, provide the complete birth name, as opposed to a “call” name. Records at the Embassy are maintained by legal birth name.
Q: If I give you information about someone committing fraud, will I get a reward or have an easier time getting a visa for myself?
No, people who provide information are not rewarded with a visa and do not receive compensation. When you provide information on someone committing fraud, the reward you get is the satisfaction of helping to fight fraud. You can rest assured that your information will be considered carefully.
Q: Do you take fink letter information at face value or do you check it out first?
Whenever we receive information through a fink letter or email, we research it to ensure that we are able to reliably link the information to a visa applicant. Although we do not assume the information to be true, it provides valuable leads for us during our visa interviews. Additionally, we must question the motivation behind the person sending the information because some people have been known to submit false information simply to sabotage someone else’s attempt at migrating.
***
“Ask the Consul” is a fortnightly column from the U.S. Embassy answering questions about U.S. immigration law and visa issues. If you have a general question about visa policy please email it to us at AskGeorge@state.gov. We select questions every other week and publish the answers in Stabroek News and on our website at http://georgetown.usembassy.gov/ask-the-consul.html For more information about visas please see http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov or http://georgetown.usembassy.gov/.
Other than the questions we select, we DO NOT respond to questions sent to Ask the Consul. Please contact the visa inquiries unit (email visageorge@state.gov or call 225-7965 between 8 am and 4 pm Monday through Friday) if you have questions about a specific case.
