Sao Paulo Domestic Employee Validation Study

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000322 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR CA/FPP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KRFD CVIS KCRM SMIG BR SUBJECT: Sao Paulo Domestic Employee Validation Study REF: 04 STATE 172283 ¶1. Summary: A recent study of B-1 domestic employee visas issued in Sao Paulo found a 3.5% overstay rate. By instituting new fraud prevention procedures, we hope to reduce this rate even further by closing certain loopholes. In almost all cases, overstays involved both the employer and the applicant misrepresenting that the nanny would be returning. End Summary. ¶2. Data on applications was extracted from the CCD (Consular Consolidated Database) using sample parameters of all B-1 Domestic Employee visas issued between Aug 1 and December 31, 2007. Using these criteria, 340 issuances were pulled and placed in an Excel Spreadsheet. All were then run through DHS' ADIS (Arrival-Departure Information System) to verify entries and exits. ¶3. An initial review of the ADIS results indicated 241 had traveled and returned, 54 (15.9%) had not traveled more than six months after visa's issuance, and 45 had traveled and were still in the U.S. A review of the issuances indicated that 20 of the non-returnees involved an employer who would be in the U.S. for an extended period of time (17 working for L-1's; 1 for an H1-B; 1 for an O-1; and 1 to accompany their employer visiting her sick child for 6 months),3 had pending Adjustments of Status (AOS),and one had an approved AOS. Phone checks were then done for the remaining 21 cases. In 7 of those cases, return to Brazil was confirmed. Additionally, one pending AOS returned to Brazil before this study was concluded and one was found to have married an AmCit, yielding a total of 12 overstays (3.5%). ¶4. An analysis of the overstays indicates: -- In three of the cases the employer left the domestic to work for a son or daughter living in the U.S.; -- In three cases, the employer was an AmCit who moved back to the U.S. and took the domestic with them; -- In one case, the domestic asked to stay on for a few extra days following the employers return to Brazil and simply remained; -- Four appear to have paid to be taken to the US by their "employer," ie. smugglers; -- And one we were unable to contact. ¶5. The study identified three possible smugglers who operated both during the time period covered by the study and outside it. Two are clear cases of smuggling, where a husband or wife, together or separately, applied for a visa for their domestic employee, accompanied them to the U.S. and left them, repeating the process frequently over a relatively short time. In one case, the individual successfully obtained three domestic employee visas between September 2007 and March 2008. In another a husband and wife separately obtained five domestic employee visas between September 2007 and May 2008. The last case involved a husband and wife who appear to have escorted three domestic employees as part of larger scheme involving 11 overstays across several visa categories. All three cases are subject of ongoing investigations. ¶6. Comment: In response to the study, Sao Paulo has instituted additional fraud prevention procedures to try and deter such smugglers. All domestic employee cases will now be associated in NIV with the employers, to enable officers to easily see if the employer has previously applied for a domestic. As this will not identify cases where a domestic visa was obtained before the start of this procedure, FPU will also conduct full CCD text searches on all new domestic employee cases for the next several months. One-half of the overstays illustrate a distinct challenge in adjudicating domestic employee visas. When the domestic is taken to the U.S. to work for a family member or an AmCit, it appears to be the employer who is the motivating factor in the overstay. The officer must try to judge both the applicant's intent and the employer's intent in requesting the visa. End Comment. STORY