FRAUD SUMMARY - TALLINN: SECOND QTR FY2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000355 SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/FPP; DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC: POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFRD VIS CPAS CMGT ASEC EN SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - TALLINN: SECOND QTR FY2006 REF: A) 06 TALLINN 099; B) 06 TALLINN 109; C) 05 TALLINN 964 D) 05 STATE 205073 Answers keyed to ref D: ¶A. COUNTRY CONDITIONS: Estonia's economy is growing (GDP up 9.8 % i boosted by the country's 2004 accession to the EU, among other factor unemployment stood at 5.9 % nationally, but was considerably higher i The standard of living is often lower than that found in western Euro most families, in Estonia both husband and wife are employed. Russia organized crime groups exist throughout Estonia and members sometimes visas. Because Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union for 50 years, a larg Russian speakers remains in Estonia. Relations between the Estonian m Russian-speaking minority are sometimes strained. As of 2005, 136,00 Estonia were considered stateless and traveled on Estonian-issued "al which do not accord the same travel privileges to EU and Schengen cou passports. The number of stateless persons is decreasing due to nat 89 % of Posts' NIV applicants held Estonian passports, 5 % stateless Russian passports, and 1 % passports from some other country. A mach Estonian passport has been issued since February 2002, and a photo-di 1 2005. The alien passport is made to the same standard as the Eston and is machine readable and photo-digitized. An E-Passport with biom expected in 2007. The volume of Estonian travel to the United States is low, due largel small population. Additionally, there are currently no direct commer Estonia and the United States, nor is there a large Estonian-American United States. In 2004, according to DHS statistics, there were 8,23 admissions of Estonian nationals to the United States. ¶B. NIV FRAUD: NIV fraud in Estonia centers on attempts to enter the U work illegally on a B1/B2 visa. Significant NIV fraud is not detecte occasional bogus job letters and bank statements and false U.S. conta occasionally presented. Post processed 7,709 NIVs in 2004, with an a of 9.28 percent. Visa staff perform regular checks of job letters an U.S. contact information provided by applicants. A recent check reve unsuccessful NIV applicants all giving the same Brooklyn NY resident the U.S. they intend to visit; a CCD check revealed the same point of applicant refused in Tashkent in 2003. ¶C. IV FRAUD: Tallinn is not an IV issuing post, but it accepts peti children of American Citizens. Embassy Helsinki performs all other i processing for residents of Estonia. Post does not believe that ther marriage fraud, though we have encountered the occasional "not clearl petition. ¶D. DV FRAUD: Post does not issue diversity visas. ¶E. ACS AND PASSPORT FRAUD: Post reports no ACS fraud. ¶F. ADOPTION: Post does not issue visas for adopted children but does investigations. Post has not detected fraud related to adoptions. ¶G. ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS FRAUD: Post is not aware of significant DHS fraud. There have been apparent asylum fraud investigation requests involving stateless or Russian passport holder claiming asylum in the dubious claims of persecution in Estonia. Post has not had such a ca early 2005. Recently, the use in the United States of an altered I-7 notice by an Estonian national was brought to Post's attention. The the media when it was used in connection with an international chess Post Fraud Prevention manager and RSO are investigating whether the a ever used to gain U.S. immigration benefits. ¶H. .COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES: Post has received excellent cooperation from Estonian authorities, particularl Ministry, the Citizenship and Migration Board, the Criminal Police, t Police, and the Border Guards. In February 2006, the Ministry of th Post with electronic lists of all passports (Estonian and alien) ever stolen. The lists included 81,307 issued Estonian passports and 119 passports. Post has since kept CLASS updated, forwarding lost and st additional 1,399 Estonian passports and xxx stateless passports. Any Estonian or Estonian-issued alien passport can be checked against Boards' lost and stolen document database at their website: http://www.mig.ee/eng/inquiries/ ¶I. AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN: Estonia remains a source, transit an destination country for trafficking in persons. Women trafficked fro destined for other European countries, particularly Scandinavian and Estonia hopes to join the Schengen area in 2007. When this occurs il into Estonia may increase as it becomes a gateway to onward passport- rest of the EU. At a recent visit to Border Guards at Tallinn airpor percent of airport passenger traffic is to or from Schengen countries largest single group of fraudulent document users encountered by at T airport, are Moldovan nationals using Romanian passports, falsified o ¶J. STAFFING AND TRAINING: The consular section consists of two office consular associate and two FSNs. Both help with fraud prevention work TALLINN 00000355 002 OF 002 Both officers have completed PC541 Fraud Prevention for Consular Mana WOS