Feds checking visa
fraud for religious workers
By AP from the Home
News Tribune Online (thnt.com) April 20, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The federal
government is inspecting churches and religious groups to clamp down on fraud in
a visa program for religious workers, government officials said Thursday.
The visits are part of an effort by Citizenship and Immigration Services, a
division of the Department of Homeland Security, to tighten rules for the
religious-worker visas after finding fraud in about 33 percent of applications.
Every religious organization that files visa applications for its workers will
be visited before the application is approved.
The review uncovered churches that did not exist and applications filed falsely
under the name of a legitimate church that did not petition for the worker, said
Janis Sposato, an associate director of CIS who led the fraud review.
"This is an ongoing program. There is no start date. We are doing
the site visits," Sposato said.
Costs for the federal inspection would be absorbed in fee increases proposed by
Citizenship and Immigration Services. Eventually, federal contractors
would do the inspections, she said.
The program continues even as officials consider proposed rule changes.
The agency reviewed the religious-worker-visa program and found the 33 percent
fraud rate, officials said Thursday.
The Government Accountability Office reported fraud in the religious-visa
program in March 1999, finding churches applying for hundreds of visas for
people who planned to stay in the country illegally.
The visas, which are temporary, are for foreigners who will work in the country
as religious ministers, in a professional religious vocation or job or someone
working for a nonprofit religious organization.
Immigration officials want to limit the visas to one year, renewable twice for
two years each time. Workers would be required to prove they worked for
the religious organization with a W-2 wage statement before a visa can be
renewed. Filing of visa applications by individuals at embassies or
consulates would end.
The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rules.
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