Immigration Corner | Consequences of committing immigration fraud

Dear Mrs Huntington:

I was a holder of a B1/B2 US visa from 1996 and I visited The States on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, in 2012, I assisted a family member in acquiring a loan here in Jamaica, where my salary was boosted. This was done with a bank manager with whom he was well acquainted. The loan was approved and was being repaid.

However, the bank manager was under scrutiny, and my account, along with others, was discovered. I was charged with fraud in 2013 and fined.

My travel documents were returned to me and I made arrangements to visit the US, but there was a stop order and I was removed from the aircraft. Luckily, I spoke to a supervisor and calls were made and I was allowed to travel. However, on my return, I was stopped and instructed to comply with procedures that would allow me to travel.

On my US visa renewal application, I answered that I had never been arrested, but walked with the documents I had in relation to my case. During the interview, I was questioned about my case, and I presented the documents. My application was pending for six months and then it was refused.

What do you think my chances of reapplying and being successful are?

- Initials withheld

Dear Initials withheld:

You appear to have two problems with the renewal of your United States visa.

First, because of your arrest for fraud, you would be inadmissible to the United States as having committed a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude. Second, on your visa application, you did not admit having been previously arrested, and that is considered immigration fraud. Both issues would make you inadmissible to the United States, but a non-immigrant waiver of that inadmissibility is available to you.

The falsification of your salary in trying to help someone is not only a criminal offence, but it is also a disqualification for a US visa - immigrant and non-immigrant. And giving false information on your visa application is a misrepresentation in the hope of gaining favourable immigration benefits.

Any future applications for a visa would be denied and you would only be granted a visa if a favourable exercise of discretion is granted to allow you to travel - in both an immigrant and non-immigrant category. In an application for a non-immigrant visa, you would have to take a non-immigrant waiver package with you to your interview and request the consular officer to review the package. If the non-immigrant waiver is denied, there is no appeal as a non-immigrant visa is in and of itself a discretionary benefit.

If you were the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition, depending on the petitioner and the actual visa refusal sheet, you may be eligible to have the petitioner apply for an immigrant visa waiver.

Valuable lesson to share with the readers that actions, even seemingly harmless ones, can have wide-ranging consequences.

- Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States, and family, criminal, international and personal-injury law in Florida. She is a mediator, arbitrator, and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com