Help!

[Kiltboy1]

... in response to Re: Help!, posted by mudd on Dec 12, 2005

Mudd

I agree with you and it really fries my justa as much that we cannot vouch financialy for the person and be on the hook for a monetary sum of money if the person skips on the Visa. I think this should be a fundemental part of Immigration reform and thus puts the monkey on our backs so to speak and hits us where it hurs the most, in the pocketbook if we let the person take off

Our goverment is a bucn of LOSERS, every frigen one of them,EVERY FRIGEN ONE !!!

KB

[Calipro]

... in response to Help!, posted by Ranger71 on Dec 12, 2005

I would strongly suspect that this is a rip-off just based on the price.$2000 dollars is to cheap.

There are crooked lawyers in Cali that will do it for $5000. They will get you the title of a house in your name, bank records showing a steady cash flow from a business and everything to get a tourist visa at the embassy in Bogota. There are no guarantees that the embassy will approve the tourist visa but if they do it is as good as any other visa that they approve.

[Ranger71]

... in response to I have head of this...., posted by Calipro on Dec 12, 2005

I am afraid that the $2000 will go down some sinkhole and the poor girl wont even get a chance to board the plane. Thinking about it, if some of these lawyers charge $5000, this includes the price of bribing others in the chain, so to speak, ie the bank officials providing the phony documents, the title company providing the house documents, etc. The $2000 is probably his full profit. And like the other posting said,  even if this isnt a ripoff,this only guarantees her entry onto the plane, not into the country. I am going to try and convince him , but his wife is hell bent on trying. Goodbye $2k

[Calipro]

... in response to Re: I have head of this...., posted by Ranger71 on Dec 12, 2005

Any visa that anybody gets from any embassy only guarantees you entry on to the plane and not into the country.

If the embassy official takes the documents as genuine and issue a visa it is as good as any visa that is issued.

I think one of the reasons the embassy randomly denies visas is because there is alot of fraud in the paper work that supports tourist visas. These people pay alot of money for the fake paper work and when they don't get the visa it is all a waste of their money.

[Ray]

... in response to Help!, posted by Ranger71 on Dec 12, 2005

[This message has been edited by Ray]

Even if she were to lie her way past the interviewing consular officer and get her visitor visa, that will only get her on the plane and is no guarantee that she will be admitted. You are correct that she will be questioned by ICE at the Port of Entry. If she is denied entry, she will be sent back on the next available plane.

The consequences to her of getting caught committing visa fraud or making false statements include a probable life-time ban on entry into the U.S.

Tell your friend to flush his $2,000 plus the cost of the round-trip plane ticket down the toilet so he won’t have to waste the remittance fee to transfer the funds to Colombia.

Also, the fact that your friend’s wife is a citizen is irrelevant. There is no provision in the law to allow a citizen to petition a niece. She could only petition a parent, child, or sibling.

Ray

[Gary Bala]

... in response to Forget it!, posted by Ray on Dec 12, 2005

In addition all of Ray's comments with which I agree, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota's 22-officer anti-fraud unit is specifically screening for this type of tourist visa document fraud.

In fact, the Embassy website FAQ page even warns against the practices of this type of "tourist visa lawyer" on the ground in Colombia calling him the "man on the street", and warns that the visa applicant might even be sent directly to the Colombian Fiscalía.

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/wwwsc071.shtml

[Ranger71]

... in response to Re: Forget it! If caught, she might even..., posted by Gary Bala on Dec 12, 2005

I think that even if she does get this visa, she will be turned aside at the Border.I mean, think about it, She is a single female travelling alone ( red flag#1) No money in her pocket for her supposed  Xmas trip ( red flag #2)and a bunch of phony documents ( red flag #3). One question though
If the ICE guys have a reasonable suspicion that she is a visa fraud person, do the just detain her and deport her, noting her record, or will she go from Miami back to Colombia and then to detention?

[Calipro]

... in response to Re: Re: Forget it! If caught, she might ..., posted by Ranger71 on Dec 12, 2005

Ranger

I don't think you understand the process. If the embassy takes the fake paper work as genuine and gives her a visa there is very little chance of her getting turned away at customs.

Although the documentation was fake the visa that the embassy issues is the real thing.

There are all kinds of these scams going on in Colombia.

I knew a colombiana whose bother that went to a crooked lawyer. For 5 grand he gave him a venezuelan ID and a Venezuelan Passport with all the documentation necessary to get a visa for Spain. The guy went to Venezuela got the visa went to Spain, got a job and was senting money back to his sister so she could do the same thing.

[Gary Bala]

... in response to Re: Re: Forget it! If caught, she might ..., posted by Ranger71 on Dec 12, 2005

[This message has been edited by Gary Bala]

Thank you for your phone call; you and I spoke about this topic.

Assuming that she is even able to get the tourist visa at the Embassy in Bogota, she will be subject to "summary removal" procedure in Miami (or any port of entry), meaning immediate return to Colombia, and an immigration finding can be made in her record of visa fraud, document falsification or misrepresentation in the visa process which means a potential permanent bar or exclusion from U.S. entry. She could possibly face other local fraud charges back home in Colombia with DAS, since she used a Colombian passport (stamped with a U.S. visa issued on false documents) for exit from and re-entry into Colombia.

Bottom line: big risk, high danger.

[Calipro]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Forget it! If caught, she mi..., posted by Gary Bala on Dec 12, 2005

It seems to me that the embassy would look for fraud before they issued the visa. If the visa was issued why would they be checking after the fact to see if there was fraud?

[Gary Bala]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Forget it! If caught, sh..., posted by Calipro on Dec 12, 2005

[This message has been edited by Gary Bala]

"It seems to me that the embassy would look for fraud before they issued the visa. If the visa was issued why would they be checking after the fact to see if there was fraud?"

Because the appearance of a person with a “valid” U.S. visa is no guarantee of U.S. entry at POE (Port of Entry). Under expanded powers of “summary removal”, the USCIS immigration POE officer does not have to accept “carte blanche” the visa issuance or decision of the Embassy officer. He or she can make (and is expected to make) an independent review and decision of the “admissibility” of the visa holder, including where justified and appropriate: interview questions, review of documents in support of the visa, fraud  investigation, even a hearing with an immigration judge, and if needed direct communication and consultation with the Consular officer who issued the visa. You are right that this case is not one of a “fake” U.S. visa, the visa is indeed real, but that does not guarantee lawful admission. There are many foreign citizens who appear with a perfectly valid U.S. visa issued by the Consulate who are denied admission at POE for a variety of reasons, such as improper answers to questions, discovery of some new information about that person transmitted from the Consulate or law enforcement to the immigration officer, etc.

Granted that immigration officer staff do not have the time and resources to do this kind of extensive review in all cases and need to pick choose when they might do this. Granted that an immigration officer needs to sense or suspect some fraud before going the nine yards. Granted that the lady in question could find herself passing through POE without troubles. The issue however is the risk involved in getting caught in this process, and the penalties if caught.

By the way: I am sure that you can appreciate my position, namely that I cannot condone, encourage or suggest that someone go-ahead and get a U.S. visa based on “successful” fraudulent and falsified documents simply because there is a chance that she can “get away” with it later at POE and thereafter (i.e. they might not “per se” be looking for fraud at that moment.)

[Frank O]

... in response to Forget it!, posted by Ray on Dec 12, 2005

,