SEMI-ANNUAL COUNTRY FRAUD SUMMARY REPORT - EMBASSY SUVA

UNCLAS SUVA 000386 SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/FPP; CA/VO/KCC DHS FOR CIS/FDNS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC CVIS CMGT CPAS KFRD FJ SUBJECT: SEMI-ANNUAL COUNTRY FRAUD SUMMARY REPORT - EMBASSY SUVA REF: 09 STATE 057623 ¶1. COUNTRY CONDITIONS The countries in Suva's diverse consular district (Fiji, Tonga, Nauru, Kiribati, and Tuvalu) are small and remote nations with struggling economies. Political uncertainty in some of these island states contributes to their respective economic instability. Fiji's military coups, currency devaluation, and continued political instability increase local anxiety and the urge to immigrate. The leading industries - tourism, garments, and sugar - continue to suffer from the local political situation and the global economic climate. In addition, Government media controls implemented following the abrogation of the constitution in April 2009 limit the diffusion of unbiased information. Fiji continues to have a high rate of emigration. Indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians are establishing a base of distant relatives in the U.S. and Canada who provide sponsorship to those looking for better economic opportunities. Post has seen an increase in young Indo-Fijian families trying to immigrate to the U.S. under NIV status and a significant number of applicants transiting the U.S. to join families in Canada. The predominant fields for potential work/stay risk applicants are home health care, nursing, rugby, and security. The Tongan economy remains negatively impacted by the global economic situation and continued political instability following the 2006 riots. The Tongan economy offers little in new employment opportunities. Tonga continues to rely on remittances from relatives for revenue. IMF estimates Tonga's remittance receipts equal 40% of Tonga's GDP. Another estimate shows 60% of all Tongan households have a least one migrant worker abroad and 90% of all households receive remittance. Post validation studies support these statistics. Local post research shows over 50% of Tongan NIV recipients stayed six months or more. The Tuvalu, Nauru, and Kiribati economies are reliant on foreign aid, fishing licenses, and worker remittances - primarily from seafarers working on foreign merchant ships. ¶2. NIV FRAUD Suva experiences low-level unsophisticated document fraud. However, recent activity in fraudulent student documents and identification cards suggests an increasing shrewdness on the part of visa fixers and document suppliers. Fiji immigration found a photo-subbing machine on the main island of Viti Levu and suspect another photo-sub machine is still in Fiji. Fiji immigration reports increasing numbers of young Pakistani adults entering Nadi, Fiji for English lessons at a private institution called Freebird Language Institution. Freebird's brochure states that the students can obtain Fijian passports after three months at the school. Recently, Post's RSO and AFU worked with Fiji Immigration to ensure 52 Pakistani students would not use Fiji as a jumping point to the United States. Fiji immigration now pays closer attention to Pakistani students entering Fiji. As of September 2009, Fijian officials deported 16 Pakistani students. Post continues to have problems with Tongan groups (dancing groups, rugby groups, mission groups, etc.) and has implemented procedures to combat related fraud. Even though post issues explicit instructions on applying as a group on our website, group organizers still allow additional group members who might not belong to or support the group's core function to apply under the auspices of the group for a visa. Some of the Kiribati seamen have submitted new passports with different names/birthdates. An i-Kiribati seaman recently tried to use his brother's passport to obtain a C1/D visa. There have also been some limited cases of Tuvaluan and i-Kiribati seamen being returned to their respective countries for possession of controlled substances. Post hosted the Carrier Liaison Program in September of 2008 (see January 2009 State Magazine, page 7). The program focused on detecting fraudulent travel documentation and imposters. Fijian, i-Kiribati and Tongan immigration and customs officers attended the training along with Fiji Air Terminal Services, Air Pacific, New Zealand High Commission and French Embassy staff. Over 150 people attended daily sessions over a period of a week. All attendees were grateful for the training and post still receives positive stories about how the training has helped with passenger boarding in one form or another. ¶3. IV FRAUD Post encounters only low-level fraud in IV. Post accepts and adjudicates about ten local CR/IR petitions each year, mostly for spouses of American citizens. Such cases are carefully reviewed for possible marriage fraud. The distance between islands in the consular district and Post's limited resources make it difficult to conduct on-site investigations of marriage fraud. Another type of IV fraud is the occasional principal applicant attempting to add a child as their own in family preference-based petitions as an "adopted" child. ¶4. DV FRAUD Post encounters some fraud in this area relating to academic achievements, professional skills, and work experience. Post uses local contacts to verify suspect documentation. Post has encountered no serious fraud concerns to date. ¶5. ACS AND U.S. PASSPORT FRAUD ACS fraud is not encountered in the district save for the rare fraudulent attempt via a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) application to transmit citizenship in order to bypass the immigrant visa process of a step child or adopted child. ¶6. ADOPTION FRAUD Although this is not an area of particular concern, post does encounter the occasional case of a naturalized citizen, unfamiliar with U.S. adoption laws, trying to adopt a child of a family member, primarily for economic/educational purposes. ¶7. USE OF DNA TESTING Post has very few cases requiring relationship proof. ¶8. ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD Post has not had a fraudulent case related to visas 92/93 cases. Some difficulties arise when interviewing family members of asylees who were granted status in the United States following local coups in Fiji. ¶9. ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORIST TRAVEL Post does encounter some fraudulent document production - predominately of support documentation, not travel (e.g. boarding passes) documentation. Typically, fraudulent documentation is submitted to support the applications of children whose parents are working illegally in the United States. Qualified relatives then take the children to the parents. Currently, Tongan child applicants falling into this category outnumber other district countries' child applicants in similar situations. Trafficking is entering the Fiji Islands. Three border control officials working for the Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority (FIRCA) were detained and are under investigation for their alleged involvement in a human trafficking scheme. The officials were logging into immigration computers and entering data of Indian nationals who entered the country illegally. The corrupt practice continued for some time as the Indian nationals remained in Fiji and information continued to be logged in that they were going in and out of the country. The scheme involved luring Indian nationals into Fiji for better jobs in return for thousands of dollars. The participants include a group in India, a company in Fiji, and some local officials. Thus far 3 local officials and 13 illegal Indian nationals have been detained. The illegal aliens are now assisting the police and immigration officials apprehend the others involved. Continental Airlines will begin flights from Guam to Nadi, Fiji in December 2009. These flights will connect the regional hub of Micronesia (Guam) with the regional hub for Melanesia and Polynesia (Nadi). Flights from Nadi to Hong Kong are also due to begin in December 2009. The addition of the Guam-Nadi link will make it significantly easier for travelers to move between Micronesia and the rest of the Pacific region. Nadi and Guam could be used as transit points to allow quicker and more direct travel between Micronesia and Polynesia/Melanesia. While this route will be appreciated by legitimate tourists and business travelers, it also presents opportunities to people smuggling/trafficking syndicates in the region. Until now it has been difficult for the syndicates organizing such enterprises to ply their trade between different parts of the Pacific due to a lack of easy access. The new flights are likely to be tested by traffickers and smugglers in both regions to further extend their operations. Currently, the most significant route for illegal immigration into Fiji (and onwards to the wider South Pacific) has been the Korean Air flight from Seoul's Incheon Airport to Nadi. The introduction of flights from Guam to Nadi and Air Pacific's new route from Hong Kong to Nadi (both beginning in December) make the region much more accessible from Asia and are likely to pose increased risks to not only Fiji, but the wider Pacific region. Should illegal immigration syndicates be successful in moving trafficked workers from Micronesia to Fiji or other Polynesian or Melanesian countries, it is likely that attempts will be made to facilitate secondary movement to New Zealand. This could be done through either visa case-load fraud, or through the use of false visa free passports. Given that most of the victims of people trafficking in Micronesia have been of east-Asian ethnicity, the visa free passports of Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea are the most likely candidates for fraudulent use. ¶10. DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS Post has very few referred cases. Since Suva is a small post, the consular fraud manager follows up with the RSO directly. ¶11. HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS, AND CIVIL REGISTRY Fiji issues machine readable passports, but the passports do not contain biometric information. Since Fiji has two "registrars" - one national and one tribal (for indigenous Fijians) - it is possible to get a new birth certificate from the tribal registrar to obtain a new birth certificate from the national registrar to get a new Fijian passport. Only Fiji Immigration in Suva can issue full validity Fijian passports. A recent discussion with the Fiji Immigration Director revealed Fiji's plans to make it's passports more secure with a new design. The new design includes a digital photo, machine readable bio information and other anti-fraud devices. Fiji immigration hopes to obtain funds to implement the design change soon. Fiji replacement (emergency) passports are usually issued for limited validity. Emergency passports are limited in duration and may be limited to one-way travel back to Fiji. Per ALDAC 067353, Fijian emergency passports are not authorized for visa issuance due to a lack of security. Fiji issues an emergency document called a Certificate of Identity (CI) with very basic information and a picture. Although the CI would allow a citizen of Fiji to board a flight to return to Fiji, it is not a document accepted for visa issuance by the United States. The CI lacks integrity due to poor security features. The document is produced using ordinary bond paper and issued manually (hand-written). The photo is glued on (easy photo substitution),and the control number on the biodata page is handwritten (number comes from the front cover). Two wet seals, easily counterfeited, are placed on the photo and on page 6 "endorsement/ observations." Although the INA does not contain passport security requirements, it defines a passport as a document issued by a competent authority that shows the bearer's origin, identity, and nationality (see INA section 101(a)(30)). In light of the lack of security features of the CIs, a consular officer cannot be confident a CI originated from a competent issuing authority. Furthermore, since the CI lacks basic, necessary security features and can easily be counterfeited, it does not credibly establish the bearer's origin, identity, or nationality. ¶12. COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES Post enjoys excellent cooperation with host governments in our consular district in all consular matters. The Embassy maintains and develops its working relationships through regular outreach, sharing of fraud information, and anti-fraud training programs at airports. A quarterly anti-fraud round table meeting involving the diplomatic community allows exchange of information about the fraud trends seen by other foreign missions. ¶13. AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN Economic conditions and political uncertainties in our consular district will continue to be an influential factor for NIV applicants. Post has seen an increase in the number of Fijian female NIV applicants who have no funds trying to get to California to work in home health care. Embassy Suva will begin a Laptop Non-Immigrant Visa (LNIV) program in Tonga late 2009. While the implementation of the program will provide valid benefits, it will also remove barriers that prevented unqualified applicants from attempting entry into the United States. After initial implementation, Post anticipates a rise in applications and fraudulent attempts to gain entry from Tonga. The anticipated increase will most likely come as a result of decreased cost and time necessary to apply for a NIV since applicants no longer need to spend the time and money necessary to travel to Fiji. Fiji does not require Chinese nationals to have visas or prior approval for entry into Fiji. With the increase in flights between Fiji and other East Asian countries, post expects there may be an increase in the number of Chinese or Filipino nationals attempting to transit Fiji and other South Pacific countries on false visa-free passports in the medium to long term. ¶14. STAFFING AND TRAINING The consular section at Embassy Suva is composed two full-time consular officers and one part-time consular officer. The section is supported by nine locally engaged staff. At the time of this report there is one vacancy in the office for a Consular Visa Clerk. All three Foreign Service Officers working in the Consular Section arrived in August, 2009. PRUETT