USCIS trains its officers to look for several indicators or "red flags" that may indicate fraud in the various types of immigration and visa cases.

General Behavioral Fraud Indicators

• extreme nervousness
• over-interaction
• lack of knowledge about basic questions
• late for interview
• answers prompted by attorney or other
• lack of interest or interaction
• lack of eye contact
• evasive or overly general answers
• answers interrupted by attorney or other
• attorney attempted to distract or mislead

Other General Fraud Indicators

• documents issued immediately before interview
• documents issued immediately after interview
• over-submissions
• proactive, explicit, or staged photographs
• suspect tax flings or financial transactions
• multiple applications or petitions by a single applicant or petitioner
• common preparer (known or suspected by USCIS to have previously engaged in fraud)
• preparer, notary, etc., are all the same person
• tip letter or phone call
• suspect documents
• photographic evidence suggests imposter
• biometric discrepancies
• denied for abandonment or withdrawal after request for evidence issued
• suspicious filing history of beneficiary or applicant

I-130 Family-Based Petition Fraud Indicators

• short time between entry and marriage
• unusual marriage history
• children born during marriage to other parent
• unusual number of children and large discrepancy in age
• unusual dates on submitted documents
• divorce and new marriage close in time
• unusual associations between family members
• unusual cultural differences
• low employment/financial status of petitioner
• prepare, notary, and minister are all the same person
• same employer of petitioner and beneficiary
• previous marriages to foreign nationals
• unusual or large age discrepancy between spouses (when found in conjunction with other indicators)

I-140 and I-129 Employment Based Fraud Indicators

• unknown or unusual addresses or email addresses
• skill, age, salar, or education does not match job requirements
• no record of correspondence with parent company
• zoning inconsistent wiht business
• unusual data in quarterly reports
• labor certification right before sunset of 245I (April 30, 2001)
• multiple filings by petitioner is inconsistent with company size
• location on ETA-750A or ETA-9035 differs from place of employment
• no record of providing goods or services
• boilerplate documents that are in more than one petition

I-360 Religious Worker Fraud Indicators

• skill, age, education, and/or religious training does not match job requirements
• concregation size does not match number of employees
• zoning inconsistent with organization
• preceding two years of tax document list different position than petitioned for
• service conducted at non-religious properties

I-539 Student Visa Fraud Indicators

• unusual financial support or bank statements
• age is not commensurate with education sought
• affidavit of support identifies benefactor as friend rather than relative
• biolierplate justification to change to F1
• benefactor's income ppears insufficient to cover expenses
• B1/B2 visitor applying for extension with insufficient evidence or motive
• educationa request doesn't coorelate with beneficiary's employment background

I-589 and I-730 Asylum Fraud Indicators

• similar claims or documents on multiple applications
• unusual travel outside US
• conflicting information from different application or petitons
• unusual or excessive length of stay in US
• return to country they claim to fear
• common addresses on different applications
• children that are not on I-589 but later claimed on I-730

I-90, I-131, I-765 Fraud Indicators

• multiple filings
• name does not match what is in DHS system
• photographic evidence suggests imposter
• claims of eligibility based on suspicious asylum claims

 FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contact us at tel.: 410-719-1501.

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