MySpace and Facebook are Fraudulent Activities Breeding Grounds for Immigration Marriage Fraud Cases

Houston, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 28, 2011 – One of the missions of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a Fraud Detection and National Security proponent, is maintaining the integrity of the legal immigration system. They perform a variety of fraud detection methods, such as conducting interviews and investigations of immigrants seeking citizenship. One method of fraud detection tools they now use is searching social networking sites such as Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Classmates.com, and others, to mine for information.

People use these sites to stay connected with friends and families and in some cases to feed their narcissistic tendencies just to see how many “friends” they can add on their list without even knowing them. However, some people think that their identity and information and pictures they share remain within their close network, so they tend to speak honestly and openly, interacting with their friends through instant messages or blogs, posting recent pictures of themselves and others, unknowingly revealing fraudulent-looking activities for FDNS. This gives them evidence of any invalid relationships that were revealed through these social networking sites.

There are international versions of these networking sites that FDNS are also aware of and closely monitors. Inconsistencies are what USCIS look for at the fraud unit. Things that trigger suspicion for fraudulent marriages are large differences in age, language barriers between supposed couples, or different living arrangements.

“USCIS officers use many tactics to try to get information from spouses of suspected fraudulent marriages, such as intimidation tactics, or having those sign statements to withdraw their visa applications,” said Annie Banerjee, a Houston immigration lawyer. “So these social networking sites are new territory, and people should seek out immigration lawyers who know immigration law if they are called in for an interview under grounds for suspicion.”

If you are called in for an interview at the fraud unit, there are general questions officers ask to determine and prove whether the marriage is legitimate or not. They range from the details of the development of your relationship, information about you and your spouse, details of your wedding, your relatives and children. If you get an advance notice for an interview, it is advisable that you seek advice from a qualified immigration attorney.

Annie Banerjee is a Houston immigration attorney in Houston Texas with a practice that focuses on helping people become United States citizens. The law offices assist in Visas and other legal immigration requirements as well.

To learn more, visit http://www.visatous.com.

Law Offices of Annie Banerjee
131 Brooks Street Suite #300
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone: (281) 242-9139