EVIDENCE OF POSSIBLE FRAUDULENT ASYLUM CLAIM -

UNCLAS E F T O YEREVAN 000540 SENSITIVE NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/VO/F/P (MEEARL) AND CA/FPP (RSBILLINGS) USCIS FOR ASYLUM BRANCH (KTURO AND KMACK) MOSCOW FOR USCIS (SSINCLAIR-SMITH) FRANKFURT FOR RCO (KBROUGHAM) AND ICE (GSPINDEL) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CVIS KFRD PHUM PREF AM SUBJECT: EVIDENCE OF POSSIBLE FRAUDULENT ASYLUM CLAIM - ASATRYAN, VAHRAM - DOB 29 OCT 1975, A89780549 THIS CABLE CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU/NF) Summary: Evidence has come to light during a Visa 92 following-to-join interview that suggests Mr. Vahram ASATRYAN, Alien Registration Number 89780549, submitted a fraudulent claim for asylum. As per 9 FAM Appendix O, 1207.2-5(A),Post is reporting these details to CA/VO/F/P, CA/FPP and USCIS. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU/NF) Armenian citizen Mr. Vahram ASATRYAN entered the U.S. in B2 status on 22AUG2007 and claimed asylum on 12AUG2008. The basis for his claim to asylum was persecution, threats, beatings and detention he had received as a result of his political activity and attending a political rally in support of the opposition prior to the 2007 Armenian parliamentary elections. Specifically, Mr. ASATRYAN noted in his I-589 statement that he attended an opposition rally on May 9, 2007, that was broken up by Armenian Special Forces. Mr. Asatryan was beaten at the rally, arrested, severely beaten in detention and then released after spending one night in a holding cell. As a result of beatings, Mr. ASATRYAN was incapacitated for one week, according to his statement. Approximately three months later, Mr. ASATRYAN left for the United States. Continuing threats from the police, received after he left Armenia, compelled his wife and children to temporarily move to his parents' house. USCIS granted Vahram ASATRYAN asylum on 13AUG2008. ¶3. (SBU/NF) On 22APR2009, Post interviewed Mr. ASATRYAN's wife Laura Asatryan and their three children for Visas 92 following-to-join status. As part of routine preparation for the interview, the consular officer reviewed the principal applicant's case file including Mr. Asatryan's I-589 application for asylum. During his interview, the consular officer interviewed Mr. Asatryan's wife Laura Asatryan separately from their children. The consular officer asked Ms. Asatryan about her life in Armenia and if she or her husband had ever experienced any persecutions or beatings while living in Armenia. Ms. Asatryan vowed and signed a sworn statement that she had lived in Armenia with her �00A;husband Vahram Asatryan from the time of their 1998 wedding until his trip to the United States, and that during that period her husband had never participated in a political rally, been beaten, or arrested. Ms. Asatryan further swore that she had lived in the same apartment from the day of her marriage to the day of her asylee follow-to-join interview. Finally, Ms. Asatryan stated that she had asked her husband not to return to Armenia for the future of her children, implying his purpose in getting to the U.S. was to work to send money home to his family. Ms. Asatryan stated that, unlike her husband, she had participated in a political rally on March 1, 2008, in Yerevan, but escaped unharmed from the police crackdown that followed. Ms. Asatryan's sworn statement has been scanned into the NIV record for Ms. Asatryan's YY transportation foil and can be accessed through the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD). ¶4. (SBU/NF) Given the conflicting information provided by Laura Asatryan, Post suspects that Vahram Asatryan's original claim for asylum was fraudulent. Mr. Asatryan stated in his I-589 Asylum Application that he participated in a political rally in May 2007, and was subsequently arrested and severely beaten to the point that he could barely walk or leave his apartment for one week. His wife, conversely, swears that her husband never attended a political rally and never was beaten or arrested. Post finds it highly unlikely that a wife of nine years would not notice when her husband has been beaten severely. Further, Ms. Asaatryan directly said she asked her husband to stay in the United States, not out of a sense of credible fear, but for their children's future. As a result of these inconsistencies, Post concludes that Mr. Asatryan's I-589 includes disinformation. Post believes this disinformation necessarily casts doubts on the rest of the information of record in this case. ¶5. (SBU/NF) To preserve the principal applicant's confidentiality, the questions put to Laura Asatryan were all factual questions to confirm information for the record. The consular officer's questioning was such that he never stated that Mr. Vahram Asatryan had received asylum or intimated that one reason for his departure from Armenia was that Mr. Asatryan had difficulties in Armenia. Nonetheless, the interview showed that Laura Asatryan appeared to be aware that her husband received asylum status in the U.S. Laura Asatryan was interviewed in a private room where no one could overhear the conversation. ¶6. (SBU/NF) Post issued Ms. Asatryan and her three children their YY transportation foil as they qualify for Visa 92 following-to-join status in all other respects. Their information is as follows: Ms. Laura Asatryan (wife),DOB 08 OCT 1976, Alien Registration Number 89702895; Ms. Emma Asatryan (daughter),DOB 17 NOV 1998, Alien Registration Number 89702896; Ms. Angela Asatryan (daughter),DOB 11 JUN 2001, Alien Registration Number 89702897; and Mr. Sergey Asatryan (son),DOB 15 NOV 2007, Alien Registration Number ¶89702898. The Asatryan family's intended address in the United States is c/o of the petitioner Mr. Vahram Asatryan at 631 Magnolia Blvd #103; Burbank, CA 91501. ¶7. (U) Post point of contact is Vice Consul Brian T. Smith, smithbt@state.gov. YOVANOVITCH