INS Reports Problems with Educational and Employment Records from India
Posted Oct 18, 1998

It has come to the attention of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy that the four INS Service Centers have begun confirming the validity of educational and employment records submitted in connection with H1B petitions. INS can fax the documents to the U.S. Consulates in India for investigation. The Consulate the responds to INS requests within 2 to 4 weeks. When the documents are determined to be authentic, the INS processes the H1B petition promptly.

The Nebraska Service Center has provided the following alarming statistics. The Consulate has found 32% of the educational documents and 74% of the experience letters for H1B Petitions from Indian candidates to be fraudulent.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy questions such statistics. We recently have been involved in addressing a case in which the H1B candidate had mentioned the name of a prior employer on his resume. The U.S. Consulate at Chennai (Madras) attempted to verify if the H1B Beneficiary had worked there. Since the prior employer had moved its location and there was a change of address and telephone number, the Consulate was not able to contact the employer at the telephone number provided on its old letterhead, and thus concluded the experience letter to be fraudulent. In fact, the company still exists but the Consulate has denied the candidate the H1B visa on the basis that the experience on the resume is fraudulent.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy has contacted the U.S. State Department Visa Office and is attempting to resolve this issue with the Chennai consulate.

Such instances are not uncommon and the Law Office of Sheela Murthy has been involved in a variety of situations with Consulates all over the world when erroneous decisions are rendered. Certainly, fraudulent documents are a significant problem worldwide for U.S. Consulates, and those who submit fraudulent documents could be subject to a permanent bar against entry into the U.S.