FRAUD SUMMARY - ULAANBAATAR

UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000288

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP
DEPT FOR KCC WILLIAMSBURG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS KFRD CPAS CMGT ASES XP MG
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - ULAANBAATAR

REF: STATE 074840

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Fraud continues to be widespread and a serious
problem among Mongolian applicants. In addition to the persistent
low-level NIV fraud, post has been struggling with significant fraud
in asylum cases and in immigrant visa cases. Post has also
encountered several instances of applicants with legitimate
passports issued in fraudulent identities. The Government of
Mongolia has limited or ineffective checks and controls on its key
documents. Passports, civil registry documents, court degrees, and
school records are routinely issued with false information. The
Government of Mongolia has improved its passport issuances
procedures and is prosecuting the former head of the passport office
for fraud, but there are still a lot of false passports circulating
and false breeder documents are easy to come by. The fraud is
prevalent in all types of applicants and all socio-economic
categories from the obviously poor and unemployed to famous
musicians and even to Members of Parliament. The fraudulent
applicants are primarily economic migrants or individuals wishing to
visit family members illegally present in the United States. Post
has seen no evidence of fraud being used to cover terrorist or
organized criminal activity. Ulaanbaatar's new Fraud Prevention
Unit is now fully functional and working closely with the RSO and
with DHS. The unit has successfully identified several visa brokers
and forwarded their names to the police. However, the police do not
prioritize document fraud and have not prosecuted anyone. The Unit
has also identified fraud in several asylum, immigrant, and
petition-based NIV applicants leading to their revocation and has
blocked several small-scale attempts at alien smuggling (primarily
familial). (End Summary)

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A. COUNTRY CONDITIONS
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2. (SBU) Ulaanbaatar is a high fraud post in one of the poorest
countries in Asia. Unemployment is high and there is a wide-spread
belief in seeking improved fortunes abroad. Even well-off,
well-connected individuals, such as the children of members of
parliament, are eager to live in the United States. There are large
numbers of economic migrants in Russia, China, South Korea, and in
the United States. Current media estimates are that there are up to
30,000 Mongolians living in the United States - the overwhelming
majority presumed to be illegally resident. The largest Mongolian
communities in the United States are found in four cities:
Washington D.C./Arlington, VA, San Francisco/Oakland, Chicago, and
Denver. However, in response to the increasing illegal populations,
over the last few years the Embassy has been cracking down on fraud
and has improved adjudication standards. The Embassy has also made
a concerted effort to reach out to qualified applicants and
encourage them to apply and to highlight our fraud prevention
successes. These efforts have led to a reduction in the number of
unqualified applicants and lowered the overall refusal rate from 70%
to 50% over the last year.


3. (SBU) One additional factor that can create challenges in the
fraud environment is that prior to 2003 passports were inconsistent
in their transliteration of Mongolian names. Furthermore, in all
passports prior to 2003 the given and the patronymic names were
reversed. This inconsistency - especially in the transliteration of
names - can make matching identifies difficult. Post would
recommend that Mongolian name check algorithms be updated to reflect
the previous switching of given and family names and variance in
transliteration.

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B. NIV
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4. (SBU) There is wide-spread fraud in NIV applications - although
almost all of it focused on reaching the United States for economic
or familial motives. Fraud is prevalent in all visa categories.
False documents are endemic in all visa categories.


5. (SBU) STUDENT FRAUD: There is wide-spread fraud in student visa
applications. The most common form of fraud is in false bank
documents or in lying about family members in the US. Given the
fraud, we place very little faith in bank statements or even bank
books; instead we rely on more in-depth interviews to identify
whether their lifestyle is consistent with the claimed resources.
Perhaps the worst fraud is in students applying for English Language
Training in the United States which is an excellent route to work
illegally in the United States. These applicants rely on relatively
unsophisticated fraud and often include false bank statements,
employment letters, study contracts, etc. Applicants will
occasionally borrow money for a short period to boost their
balances. In response to the overwhelming fraud and abuse of this
category, post has essentially stopped issuing visas for ESL study
in all but the most exceptional circumstances.


6. (SBU) GROUP-FRAUD: It is almost de rigour for any group to
include non-qualified applicants as part of the group. These
add-ons are sometimes friends or family of the group organizer and
sometimes have paid to join in. As a result of this wide-spread
practice, we work closely with the Commercial and Public Affairs
section in screening groups very carefully.


7. (SBU) WORK VISAS: Post handles a very small number of H, L, P,
and O visas. However, this category is certainly not exempt from
fraud. Indeed, the fraud involved in work visa categories is
generally significantly more sophisticated than in other categories.
We have also seen fraud in P visas


8. (SBU) BUSINESS AND TOURIST VISAS: Given the poverty and economic
uncertainty in Mongolia, there is little legitimate tourist travel
to the United States from Mongolia. Most applicants are traveling
for business or to visit family. Often the fraud will include lying
about visiting family in the US - some otherwise qualified people
will lie about family in the US out of a misplaced fear that we
would refuse them or because a family member is there illegally.
Business conferences or tourist trips are a common route for
applicants attempting to disguise family members in the US.


9. (SBU) PERFORMER VISAS: We have also had several problems with
professional performers (including several famous musicians)
traveling on tourist visas to perform in the United States. We
carefully monitor Mongolian-language websites in the US where these
performers often advertise. Our efforts have led to the revocation
of visas and a finding of 6(c) for some top Mongolian performers.
Disturbingly, some of these applicants were assisted by officials
from the Mongolian Embassy in Washington.


10. (SBU) RELIGIOUS VISAS: We do not have any particular fraud
concerns relating to religious visas. There have been some isolated
fraud cases particularly with fake Buddhist lamas, but it does not
appear to be a popular route for fraudulent applicants.


11. (SBU) DIPLOMATIC VISAS: Mongolian diplomatic personnel stationed
abroad - both in the US and in third-countries - and other Mongolian
government officials have been linked to several fraudulent
applicants and to alien smuggling. Diplomatic personnel will often
attempt to claim extended family members as their children. We try
to review birth certificates carefully and to match travel patterns,
but this is a difficult fraud to catch. We have identified several
fraudulent applicants linked to "diplomatic" personnel in
third-countries. We urge all posts to exercise caution when
adjudicating Mongolian nationals in third-countries, even if they
are associated with the Mongolian Embassy or claim to be Government
officials. Mongolians seem to believe that they have a better
chance of qualifying in third-countries.

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C. IMMIGRANT VISA FRAUD
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12. (SBU) Ulaanbaatar began adjudicating immigrant visas at post in
September 2008. Previously immigrant visas were adjudicated at US
Embassy Seoul. To date, post has issued approximately 160 immigrant
visas (including Ks and DVs) and refused 28 applicants. Despite the
low number of refusals, fraud is a serious concern with immigrant
visas.


13. (SBU) FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRANT VISAS: We have serious concerns
relating to family-based immigrants visas. The majority of our
cases so far have been American husbands petitioning for the
children of their Mongolian wives. Many of the wives went to the
United States illegally and then were able to get legal status
through questionable marriages. Given the ease of acquiring false
documents (including divorce certificates) and the number of
Mongolians illegally present in the United States with children left
behind in Mongolia, we are concerned about the possibility of
family-based petitions as a route for alien smuggling. The
family-based cases filed at post seem to be significantly better
than petitions filed in the United States with little or no fraud
detected.


14. (SBU) We have also identified problems with fianc or IR/CR
cases. Several of the applicants have met the profile for Mongolian
prostitutes working in Beijing on short-term visas. Unfortunately,
we are unable to confirm or sustain any ineligibilities either under
212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude or under
(212(a)(D) Prostitution or Commercialized Vice. The Chinese
government does not do criminal record checks for individuals there
on short-term visas. We do not have sufficient evidence to revoke
the petition of these applicants.


15. (SBU) EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANT VISAS: We have adjudicated
only a handful of employment-based immigrant visas.
Misrepresentation of their prior experiences in order to qualify for
the visa appears to be common. The lack of good business and
employment records makes it difficult to confirm fraud in this
area.

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D. DV FRAUD
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16. (SBU) Fraud is generally not an issue with diversity visa
applicants. Some applicants may have presented false high school
certificates But it is very difficult to check those.

17. (SBU) One separate issue is that a lot of cases arrive at post
inappropriately flagged for fraud reviews based on name
discrepancies between the DV application and the DS-230. This
discrepancy is a result of a difference in translation relating to
family name. Mongolians typically have three names - their given
name, their patronymic/surname, and a clan or tribal name. The clan
name can also be considered their family name. We therefore do not
consider the name discrepancy to be a fraud indicator for Mongolian
applicants.

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E. ACS and PASSPORT FRAUD
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18. (SBU) We have yet to experience any fraud relating to passports.
Most Americans applying for Passports in Mongolia have a long
history of travel. We do pay particular attention to children of
Mongolian nationals born in the United States as we consider this
the most likely route for fraudulent applications.

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F. ADOPTION FRAUD
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19. (SBU) Post has no reason to suspect fraud in either individual
adoption cases or in the local adoption process. We meet often with
local officials responsible for adoptions, visit the key orphanage
and government officials and review police procedures regarding
abandoned children.


20. (SBU) The Government of Mongolia has revised their adoption
procedures to ensure greater government oversight of international
adoptions. GoM has vigorous screening procedures to ensure that
children placed for adoption are indeed orphans. The first step is
a search for the parents by the local police when a child is first
placed into an orphanage. The orphanage will occasionally request
additional searches as well. When a child is selected for adoption,
a review committee overseen by the Ministry of Social Welfare and
Labor will carefully screen children to confirm that they are indeed
orphans or otherwise eligible for adoption.
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G. USE OF DNA TESTING
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21. (SBU) Post has just begun limited use of DNA testing. We are
not aware of any social customs that would affect DNA testing, but
we are constrained by limited local testing ability.

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H. ASYLUM and OTHER DHS BENEFIT FRAUD
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22. (SBU) Visa 92/93s present some of the worst fraud of all visa
categories. Fraud is rampant and pervasive. We are repeatedly faced
with obvious fraud in the underlying asylum claim, and also fraud in
the relationships. We would urge much closer screening of asylum
claims. Many of the asylum claims could be easily verified or
disapproved if post were consulted in advance. Post stands ready to
assist in verifying these claims as requested.

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I. ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORIST TRAVEL
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23. (SBU) ALIEN SMUGGLING: Alien smuggling is a problem, but is not
organized. Alien smuggling is to done on a small scale by visa
brokers (assisting individual applicants),by family members, or
business colleagues.


24. (SBU) There is an active community of visa brokers and visa
centers who promise to help people apply for visas. Some of these
centers are legitimate and focus on translation and help with visa
forms, but many are brazenly fraudulent. They will openly advertise
online and in newspapers . Visa brokers, some of whom may have links
to organized crime, charge around $200 US to prepare the documents
with a bonus of $5,000 to $10,000 if the applicant is successful in
obtaining a visa. Visa brokers tend to pair applicants together for
purported business travel. The brokers then provide an entire
packet of information to the applicants. These applicants often
have contacts in the United States who have arranged a job for them,
but who are unable to otherwise qualify for visas.


25. (SBU) Family-based alien smuggling is a particular problem in
Mongolia. Family groups are large with custody often being shared
among various family members. Many families are also separated with
parents living and working illegally in the United States which
creates lot of incentive for relatives to attempt to smuggle the
child into the US. Given the unreliability of birth certificates,
this can be difficult problem to catch. One fraud indicator is if
the birth certificate has been recently re-issued (e.g. there is a
significant gap between the birth and the issuance date). Original
birth certificates are less likely to be fraudulent.


26. (SBU) Another group of alien smugglers is business people who
will arrange fake employment letters, sponsorship agreements, etc.
for friends or colleagues. It seems to be done more as a favor for
friends then in any systematic way to make money. We see similar
activities by government and/or diplomatic officials.


27. (SBU) TRAFFICKING: The consular section has not encountered any
cases of trafficking between Mongolia and the United States. See
the Trafficking in Persons Report for more background about
trafficking in Mongolia.


28. (U) ORGANIZED CRIME: Nothing to report.


29. (U) TERRORIST TRAVEL: Nothing to report.

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J. DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS
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30. (SBU) Post enjoys an excellent relationship with the RSO Office
which places a high priority on preventing visa and passport fraud.
We now have an in-house FPU, but continue to work closely with the
RSO and his team of two investigators. We handle routine fraud
in-house, and involve the RSO and his investigators in more serious
fraud including alien smuggling, passport fraud, or anything that
involves a potential criminal element.
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K. HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS, and CIVIL REGISTRY
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31. (SBU) Document fraud is rampant in Mongolia. This is true for
unofficial documents like bank statements, employment letters,
letters of invitation, and for official documents like birth
certificates, marriage documents, and even passports. The issuance
of official documents is dispersed among many different offices and
regions of the country and corruption is widespread. Falsely-issued
marriage, birth and divorce certificates, along with fake diplomas
and grades are easily available. The good news is that there is a
central civil registry that keeps accurate records of birth and
marriage certificates and they respond to written requests for
confirmation of a document. This can take several weeks, but their
response is largely trust-worthy.


32. (SBU) Passport fraud is prevalent in Mongolia. It was
especially rampant in 2003 - 2004, but revised procedures have made
fraudulently issued passports less common. The new passports are
more difficult to alter, but with little control of breeder
documents, passport fraud is still possible. The government is
currently prosecuting some officials involved in fraudulently
issuing passports. We are cooperating with local authorities, but
to limited effect.


33. (SBU) There is a small but active trade in passports with US
visas. These passports are often altered using photo-substitution
and used for travel to the United States. One applicant admitted
purchasing a passport with a U.S. visa for $3,500.

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L. COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES
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34. (SBU) Local government officials are not concerned with consular
related fraud and provide minimal support. We have referred several
visa broker cases to the police to no effect. The only exception is
when the cases involve false or fraudulently-issued official
government documents. Even in these situations, the police take
little action. We have raised this in our annual bi-lateral
negotiations, but we do not expect much change.

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M. AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN
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35. (U) Nothing to report.
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N. STAFFING AND TRAINING
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36. (U) The Unit consists of two individuals who work on fraud
part-time. The FPM is a second-tour officer with FSI training on
Fraud Prevention as well as previous experience as fraud prevention
manager in his previous consular tour. The investigator is an
experienced visa clerk who has received the relevant FSI training,
but would benefit from additional on-the-job training. We sent our
LES to Guangzhou last summer to review fraud practices. This was an
excellent learning experience.

Hill