Sharp rise in forged Indian applications for U.S. visas
More Indians — especially business people and students — arrive in the U.S. every year, but there is also a sharp increase in the number of Indians trying to enter the U.S. illegally
As the case with a growing list of countries, the United States is increasingly worried about about the rising number of cases of forged documents being submitted by applicants in India to get visas. The use of fraudulent documents had gone up largely in the case of business and student visas. The U.S. embassy in New Delhi does not share applicants’ documents with any other diplomatic missions, but the common concern over the growing number of visa related frauds often finds diplomatic missions informally sharing information. “These are shared challenges and we have informal forums to share information and concern over the growing use of false documents by visa applicants in India. So our advice to all applicants is to build up a relationship of trust with us rather than take recourse to frauds,” says Peter Kaestner, minister-counselor for consular affairs and consul general at the U.S. embassy. The Schengen countries, on the other hand, officially share information about applicants using false papers for visa applications. The use of biometrics may help here. “Biometrics help people who are honest and help us to stop illegal immigrants. The increased use of technology helps us to stop use of counterfeit documents and also speeds up the visa process,” Kaestner said.
The number of student visas issued in India by the U.S. embassy has gone up by 33 percent to 29,400 for the first ten months of 2007 (the accounting year ends in September) over 22,100 for the same period last year. More than 32,000 student visas are expected to be issued in India for the full 2007 year as against 24,600 in 2006.
