Analysis and Views on recent student visa scams pertaining to US universities in context of:

Compliance requirements
Analysis and Views on recent student visa scams pertaining to US universities in context of:
Compliance requirements

Student Visa:

It is a document obtained at American embassy in India for allowing the students to enter
America as the port of entry to join American universities. The students who apply for Visa has
to present all the documents in embassy and get an approval for entering US in the form of
document called Visa.

Student visa fraud is a particularly serious problem in the U.S. largely because of "sham"
universities that issue visas to foreign nationals who are willing to pay for them in order to enter
the country. Although many of the people receiving the visas are personally committing the fraud
to gain entry, it's also true that many of the institutions are committing fraud against unwitting,
otherwise legitimate students.

People committing visa fraud are

Students who wants to get a visa without possessing required qualification, People
attempting to escape prosecution, Terrorists and Others who sell Visas for financial gain
In the US, F-1 student visas allow foreign students to enter or remain in the country as they
study.
Most recent Visa frauds are:
January 20, 2016: 3 Indian-Americans Sentenced For Student Visa Fraud
Three Indian-Americans have been sentenced by a US court to terms ranging from six months of
home confinement to a year in jail for involvement in a USD 7-million student visa fraud
scheme. The Manhattan court sentenced Suresh Hiranandaney, Lalit Chabria and Anita Chabria.
According to court documents, the three were associated with the Micropower Career Institute
(MCI), or the Institute for Health Education (IHE), both of which offered vocational, language,
and other classes to domestic students whose tuition was partially covered by Department of
Education, and foreign students who were allowed to stay in the US on student visas.

April 07, 2016: Indian Students, Among Hundreds, Face Deportation Over US Visa Fraud
21 suspects were arrested on felony charges that include conspiracy to commit visa fraud; they
could face multiple years in prison.

Federal investigators in 2013 set up the phony "University of Northern New Jersey", which had a
website that promised "exceptional" education for foreign students wishing to study in the US
and provided links to academic programs, a message from the "president," a Dr. Steven Brunetti,
Ph.D.; and photos of attractive young people sitting around a library table or consulting with a
faculty member. The suspects are accused of marketing their services to foreign nationals
primarily from China and India who entered the US on legitimate student visas and wanted to
stay on.

October 18, 2016: Indian-American Attorney Charged With Visa Fraud

A 39-year-old Indian-American woman attorney today pleaded guilty to visa fraud charges
related to students and H-1B visas, federal prosecutors said. Sunila Dutt, of Virginia, pleaded
guilty before US District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to an information
charging her with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and obstruct justice.

Sunila, an immigration attorney for two information technology companies - SCM Data Inc and
MMC Systems Inc -- admitted that she submitted phony documents and obstructed a federal
investigation as part of a scheme that fraudulently obtained foreign worker visas, US Attorney
Paul J Fishman announced.

Both IT companies recruited foreign nationals, often student visa holders or recent college
graduates and sponsored them for H-1B visas.

Sunila faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine.
Sentencing is scheduled for February 6, 2017.

Compliances on US Visa Frauds:

18 U.S. Code 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents

(a) Whoever knowingly counterfeits, alters, or falsely makes any immigrant or nonimmigrant
visa, permit, border crossing card or other document prescribed by statute or regulation for entry
into or as evidence of authorized stay or employment in the United States, or
Whoever, when applying for an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, permit, or other document
required for entry into the United States, or offers to sell or otherwise dispose of, or utters, such
visa, permit, or other document, to any person not authorized by law to receive such document;
or

Whoever knowingly makes under oath, or as permitted under penalty of perjury under section
1746 of title 28, United States Code, Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than

25 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism),
20 years (if the offense was committed to facilitate a drug trafficking crime),
10 years (in the case of the first or second such offense, if the offense was not committed
to facilitate such an act of international terrorism or a drug trafficking crime),
15 years (in the case of any other offense)

(b) Whoever uses

(1) an identification document, knowing (or having reason to know) that the document was not
issued lawfully for the use of the possessor,

(2) an identification document knowing (or having reason to know) that the document is false, or

(3) a false attestation,

for the purpose of satisfying a requirement of section 274A(b) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

Payment Compliance also need to be taken care of:

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary information
security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card brands
including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.

The students who pay the fee through electronic transfer need to have this security as they pay
huge sums involving lakhs.