Applying in Chennai: No English? No problem.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENNAI 000174

CA/FPP FOR JILL NYSTROM
DS/CR/CFI FOR DAVID BRACKINS
DS/CR/OCI FOR GALEN NACE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CMGT ASEC IN
SUBJECT: Applying in Chennai: No English? No problem.

Ref: A) Chennai 77, B) Chennai 13, C) New Delhi 638, D) 08 Kolkata
89

CHENNAI 00000174 001.2 OF 003



1. Summary. Consulate Chennai conducted a validation study for the
first three months of calendar year 2008 of its non-English speaking
B1/B2 applicants and found the visa holders had a 97.6 percent
compliance rate. Post adjudicated approximately 84,000 visas during
this time, including 11,253 non-English speaking interviews (13.4
percent of Post total) in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu and
Kannada. The study randomly reviewed 1,589 of the 8,749 visas
issued during the study period. The issuance rate is only seven
percent lower than the Post average, and non-English speakers tend
to have less education, less money, and more incentive to work
illegally in the United States, suggesting Post's adjudications were
on target. End Summary.

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Background & Methodology
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2. English is widely spoken in South India as a second language.
English is the official subsidiary language of India with Hindi
being the official language. However, many people in South India do
not speak Hindi but opt for English as a medium of conversation
between people from different provinces.


3. Due in large part to the high prevalence of English speakers and
preference to study science at the high school and university level,
Consulate Chennai adjudicates more H-1B skilled worker visas than
any other post. India is also currently second in the world in
sending F-1 college students to the U.S. with over 90,000 Indian
students currently in F-1 status. This large number of people
living long-term in the U.S. also fuels much of the demand for B1/B2
visa applicants as family members, usually parents, in India apply
to visit them.


4. The visa applicants who do not speak English, referred to at Post
as "language applicants," tend to be people from rural areas with
less education and lower income compared against people who do speak
English. They would appear to have the most to gain by migrating to
the United States illegally.


5. Consulate Chennai offers applicants the option to book their visa
interviews in either English or one of the other six predominant
languages spoken in South India. The languages are Tamil (spoken by
people in Tamil Nadu province),Malayalam (Kerala),Kannada
(Karnataka),Telugu (Andhra Pradesh),and Hindi and Urdu (Muslims in
Andhra Pradesh).


6. Post looked at the people who booked a non-English appointment
from 1-JAN-2008 to 31-MAR-2008 and were issued a visa. Post issued
a total of 8,749 visas to language applicants during this time.
Post randomly selected approximately 15 percent of each of the six
different languages spoken, unless the sample size was too small, as
in the case of Hindi and Urdu, for which all cases were examined.
The applicants were sorted by language, and Post sent the list to
USVISIT to conduct Arrival/Departure Information System (ADIS)
checks on the travelers. If ADIS showed that the individual was
still in the U.S. illegally, Post called the applicant's home in
India to check if the ADIS findings were correct.

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Findings
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7. Post's overall issuance rate for the study period was 84.9
percent. For language interviews, the issuance rate drops to 77.8
percent. This data, along with the 97.6 percent compliance rate of
issued cases, suggests that officers had a high degree of accuracy
in their adjudications. The language applicants currently in the
U.S. illegally are mostly parents who said they were visiting their
children on work visas in the United States.

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Telugu
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8. Telugu-speaking applicants, mostly people from Andhra Pradesh,
constituted a large percentage of Post's applicant pool prior to the
start-up of Consulate General Hyderabad in March 2009. During the
study period, they applied for more visas than the other five
language applicants combined. Andhra Pradesh, and specifically
Hyderabad, has long been a source of fraudulent documents for all of
India (ref A). This is due in part to the large Telugu diaspora in
the U.S. and the mobile nature of people from Andhra Pradesh. This

CHENNAI 00000174 002.2 OF 003


would explain why Post had an issuance rate of 75.8 percent for
Telugu interviews which is lower than the Post average of 84.9
percent. Post looked at 817 randomly selected applicants out of
4,652 Telugu language applicants issued a visa. Of those, only 14
accrued any illegal presence (98.3 percent compliance rate).
However, another 30 individuals went to the U.S. and filed for an
extension to remain more than 6 months, though they were legally
present.


9. The issued Telugu applicants were by far most likely to be
parents of H-1B visa holders visiting their children. The refused
applicants were often other relatives such as aunts, uncles, and
cousins going to visit family members. Many times these people were
using fraudulent documents in order to establish a relationship.
Illegal document vendors often use a distant relationship as it
still provides the mala fide applicant with a purpose and support
for the visit. This provides an excuse for not being able to trace
the applicant's name back to the person in the United States.


10. The Telugus who are illegally present in the U.S. are all
parents of individuals legally in the U.S., whether a legal
permanent resident (LPR) or H-1B holder. However, Post has
discovered during FPU interviews that another common fraud trend is
for older applicants (approximately 45-55) to purchase fake
documents claiming to visit their child in the U.S. when their true
intent is to work illegally. Post has also uncovered two recent
instances where applicants have obtained an Indian passport in a
false identity and birth date, sometimes decades earlier, attempting
to pass themselves off as parents visiting their children.

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Tamil
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11. Tamil is an official language of Tamil Nadu, where Chennai is
located, and the second largest language applicant group Post
interviewed during the study period. Most applicants from Chennai,
though, speak English well enough to conduct a visa interview. The
vast majority of the Tamil language applicants are from rural Tamil
Nadu, make their living from agriculture, and rarely have beyond a
tenth grade education. As in other provinces in South India, the
Tamil-speaking applicants often are parents of H-1B holders going to
visit their child. The issuance rate for Tamil-speaking applicants
was 82.2 percent during the study period. Post looked at 354 out of
1,952 issued applicants randomly selected during the study period
and found that only 5 people (98.6 compliance rate) accrued any
illegal presence. Four of the five who are in the U.S. illegally
were retired parents going to visit their child who was on an H-1B
visa. The other individual illegally present was a medical
attendant accompanying his patient in the United States.

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Malayalam
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12. Malayalam is spoken almost exclusively in the Kerala province.
Kerala is famous throughout India for the number of nurses it
produces. Post processes many E-3 immigrant visas for nurses from
Kerala. Most of the NIV visas issued are for parents going to visit
these LPR nurses (ref B). For thousands of years, Kerala has been a
major trading hub for South India. This exposure to outsiders may
account for Malayalam-speakers' proclivity for emigration to work
and then retire in Kerala. Many of the Gulf states employ Malayalam
laborers. Post also sees more applicants for immigrant visas than
for H-1Bs as the travelers from Kerala tend to be manual laborers
rather than engineers. Therefore, the NIV applicant pool differs
from the rest of South India, where parents are going to visit their
children who are engineers or computer programmers. Malayalam
language applicants tend to be parents of nurses, for whom Post has
historically seen high compliance rate. Post has seen lower
compliance rates among Malayalam NIV applicants for younger people
visiting family and Christian priests (and those claiming to be
priests) ministering to the large Malayali Christian population.


13. The overall issuance rate for Malayalam-speaking applicants
during the study was 71.3 percent. Post randomly chose 289 out of
1,270 issuances during the study period and found that eight
individuals (97.2 percent compliance rate) accumulated illegal
presence. Seven out of the eight applicants who over overstayed
were parents of legal LPR holders visiting their children. In all
instances, the case notes indicated the individuals had children and
owned a home in India. Having more overstays from parents is likely
because parents are issued visas far more frequently than other
language applicants who are often refused 214b.


CHENNAI 00000174 003.2 OF 003


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Hindi and Urdu
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14. Native Hindi and Urdu speakers in South India are limited to
Muslims from Hyderabad and are also a high fraud category. Muslims
from other South Indian provinces would be more likely to speak the
language native to the province, i.e. Tamil, Malayalam, or Kannada.
As noted in para 8, Hyderabad is a hub for fraud. Furthermore,
Hindi and Urdu language applicants rarely are parents going to visit
their H-1B children. They tend to be small business owners going to
visit a cousin or take an expensive package tour, or newlyweds
taking a tourist trip that will cost two years of salary. This
accounts for a low issuance rate of 32.1 percent during the study
period. Delhi conducted a validation study of its Hindi speakers
(ref C) and found similarly lower issuance and compliance rate and
higher fraud rates than the general applicant pool.


15. Post reviewed 47 of the 208 Hindi visas issued during the study
period. Post found that 2 people (95.7 percent compliance) were
illegally in the U.S. Both of those unrelated overstays claimed to
be visiting an LPR brothers who was a doctor. Another individual
was turned around by Customs and Border Patrol and had his visa
revoked 6c1 for material misrepresentation.


16. Post had a small sampling of Urdu applicants, so all 82 visas
issued during the study period were reviewed. Seven of these
individuals were reported as overstays (91.5 percent compliance).
Five of those overstays were a young couple with their three small
children visiting an LPR brother who was a doctor. Post
investigated the three overstays visiting LPR brothers who were
doctors but discovered no other commonalities. Another woman
claimed to be visiting her L2, intra-company transfer dependent
daughter. The final overstaying applicant was a female poultry farm
owner visiting a cousin.

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Kannada
--------------


17. Kannada is one of the official languages of Karnataka, where
Bangalore is the major city and makes up the smallest pool of
language applicants. Most Kannada speakers, however, do not come
from Bangalore but the rural villages. Kannada applicants typically
perpetrate less fraud, are better off financially, and therefore
seem to have stronger ties to India. The 84.7 percent issuance rate
for Kannada interviewees almost matches the issuance rate for the
general applicant pool. Post randomly reviewed 100 of the 592
applicants issued during the study period, and only four accrued any
illegal presence. All of the individuals with illegal presence were
over 55 years old and visiting family.

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Conclusion
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18. Consulate Chennai's language applicants issued visas are largely
compliant. This seems due to the large number of parents visiting
their H-1B, H4, or LPR children. Other posts, such as Kolkata, have
studied applicants over 55 years of age (ref D) and found them to
have high compliance rates. The older applicants who do not speak
English and claim to be parents of children legally in the U.S.
appear to have the same high compliance rate. Younger language
applicants seem to be rightly refused as they tend to have weaker
ties to India and are more likely to benefit from illegal
immigration. Language applicants visiting siblings or cousins have
been a cause for concern, especially from Hindi and Urdu speakers.

KAPLAN