Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’
After recent FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) litigation, practitioners obtained an internal USCIS memorandum about the use of social networking sites in fraud investigations. In the memo, the USCIS explains to its staff that sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, Classmates.com, etc., provide the USCIS fraud unit a great opportunity to uncover fraud being committed by visa applicants.
The process is simple – the USCIS browses social networking sites for applicant information and requests that the applicant become a “friend.” Once the applicant accepts the friend request, the USCIS scours the profile for inconsistencies about relationships, jobs, residence locations, etc. The memo calls this type of research a “cyber site visit.” The memo also comments that “narcissistic tendencies in many people fuels a need to have a large group of “friends” linked to their pages and many of these people accept cyber friends they don’t even know.” The USCIS advises its staff to capitalize on these tendencies for fraud purposes by sending out friend requests to visa applicants.
All foreign nationals in the U.S., nonimmigrant and immigrant alike, should be extremely cautious when posting personal information online. Big brother is surely watching. Please contact our San Francisco immigration law firm if you have any concerns about the above.
Tags: Facebook, MySpace, social networking, USCIS, visa applicants
Posted in Alerts, Immigrant Visas, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS | Read More »
We’ve received a number of reports over the last couple of years that some consular officials as well as USCIS officers look for information on Facebook about a person before adjudicating their case. It appears that they are looking for any information that contradicts what’s stated on the application. This should serve as a little reminder to keep your settings on Facebook private, and watch what you tweet.
Tags: consulate, Facebook, immigration, privacy, Twitter, USCIS
Posted in Uncategorized | Read More »
