US opens portal to report suspected visa fraud

The US State Department has opened an online portal for reporting suspected visa fraud and misuse, the US Embassy in Islamabad said on Thursday. The portal, run by the department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, is meant to help US authorities identify and stop attempts to obtain or use American visas through fraudulent documents or unlawful purposes.

The embassy listed examples of suspected visa fraud, including falsified documents or travel plans, sham marriages, shell companies, fabricated job offers and arrangements linked to birth tourism. Information submitted through the portal can lead to visa revocations and, where appropriate, referral of cases to law-enforcement agencies for investigation, according to the embassy.

The State Department said reports can be filed anonymously through its official visa-fraud reporting system. It added that information from individuals had helped identify visa fraud cases and referred to tens of thousands of people held accountable for visa fraud since President Donald Trump began his second term.

The initiative comes as the United States continues to scrutinise visa applications and the use of visas after they have been issued. The new mechanism gives members of the public a larger role in bringing suspected fraud to the attention of US authorities.

The embassy’s announcement did not provide figures on how many visas issued through its consular operation in Pakistan had been revoked for fraud, or how many fraud cases originated among Pakistani applicants. It also did not say whether the new reporting system would change existing procedures for screening visa applicants in Pakistan.

Critics of the US visa process have argued that some genuine applicants are refused visas while people later accused of fraud have been allowed to enter the United States. The State Department has said such claims need to be assessed against individual cases and official visa and enforcement records.

Separately, the Federal Investigation Agency’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad arrested a suspect in an Australian visa fraud case and recovered Rs277,635 from the complainant, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The case was registered after Inquiry No. 644/2024.