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GREEN CARD HUNTERS (GCHs)
(by Maxx and Elena Garrett)
Recently we published "Classification
of Scammers" article on this web site. The The Green Card Hunters were mentioned there
briefly. However, the problem of CGHs is of much bigger concern to us than the
problem of the usual visa and tickets scammers we all know about. Read on and
you will know why.
What is the Green Card scam?
This is the most dangerous kind of dating scam that women
from Eastern Europe (as well as women from Asia) can potentially use on Western
men.
This type of scammer is
mainly after a possibility of an easy immigration into a highly desired country,
like U.S.A. or U.K, for example. This scam exploits the extensive protections
that most developed countries provide to women. Specifically, immigration laws
in many countries allow the immigrant women married to abusive husbands to
obtain a divorce while still retaining the right to apply for the citizenship or
greencard in the new country. Usually, some physical, sexual, or mental abuse has to be
proven, so in the absence of actual abuse these women can get creative in
fabricating the evidence of abuse. Sometimes these women even coach their
children to claim sexual abuse at the hands of their new Western dad. The courts
usually give the women a benefit of the doubt, even if the evidence of the abuse
is not particularly strong. Needless to say, such actions throw the families in
legal turmoil, and the husbands find themselves in an uphill battle fighting the legal system to
prove their innocence. Whether or not the men can prove their innocence in
court, the resulting divorce is usually very hard on them emotionally and
financially. The women usually walks out of the marriage with a green card and a
divorce settlement. It is not unusual for such women to clean out the husband's
bank account of savings, and his house of valuables before all the legal
procedures are over.
Warning signs:
- Often,
the woman has more than one previous marriage
- Her
children have noticeable behavioral problems, or she appears to be abusive
toward her children
- She
restricts your access to her documents (such as her divorce records,
children's birth certificates, her passport, etc)
- She
does not likes to be photographed or seen with you
- While
in Russia / Ukraine, you are not introduced to her friends, or your introduction is
abrupt and cold
- While
in Russia / Ukraine, you are either not introduced to the woman's family, or her
family seems cold and distant toward you
- Erratic
or inconsistent behavior on her part during dating, or one of her parents
exibits erratic behavior toward you
- During
dating, she often becomes snappy and cold
- Inconsistent
but overall reasonably good relationship before the marriage and a drastic change to the worse
after the marriage
- After
marriage she refuses sex except for times when she wants something from you (a
car, a credit card, a separate bank account, etc);
- She
demands
separate living arrangements (different bedrooms or even apartments); or separate credit cards and bank accounts;
- She
is very
unsatisfied about your social or financial status; demands expensive
purchases that she knows you cannot afford; gets angry, cold, or violent when
refused her demands
- Does
not socialize with your family or children; treat them with disrespect
- Does
not invite you to socialize with her friends
- Behave
in a secretive way; has friends that you find shady or unpleasant
How
they operate
Here is the usual plan.
This plan is for defrauding an
American citizen, but a similar plan have been used in several other countries,
for example, UK, Canada, Ireland.
-
Finding an American (any American
will do, but the richer the better of course)
-
Getting married as soon as
possible
-
After marriage, start getting access to the husband's bank
accounts and credit cards. The lady may demand her own bank account (so she
could later move money from family or savings account into her own), or that
her name was added to the hour and car titles, or that those valuables were
moved completely under her name, or that she was given her own car and
apartment or house.
-
Building a network of other Russian
immigrants in the area. That is usually accompanied by telling them
tales of abuse, neglect and sufferings (those Russian friends will serve as witnesses later
on)
-
She might start looking for a
local US boyfriend whose financial support she can depend on once she out of
the marriage relationship (optional)
-
After the police
report is filed, the woman then files a petition with INS to continue with the greencard
paperwork in a new status of battered wife.
-
Once that petition
is approved, she will probably be entitled to some welfare from the state
Problems that these dishonest women create for all of us:
- These
newly arrived immigrants are getting welfare or social service benefits at
the taxpayers' expense. To get these they need only to make the claim of
abuse to the INS (USCIS). They then receive these benefits while their
application forms (I-360) are being processed. This can take many months.
- They get United States Citizenship at an accelerated
rate. The fraud they commit, which is a Federal felony, is rewarded at a
faster rate than those immigrants who adhere to the law.
- The
INS' system of accepting the "evidence" of abuse only from the
petitioner as well as their lack of a system to receive "the other side
of the story" from the accused plus there being no hearing with either
party seems to indicate their wish to wink these cases through... Why?
Possibly to avoid a time consuming and costly appeal process through the
Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), the immigration courts.
- American
woman are now being targeted with marriage fraud and with it, it's false
abuse charges. The INS is gender neutral about this and grants foreign men
Legal Permanent Residency (LPR) status or a "Green Card" and
eventual US citizenship because these men claim that their American wives
abused and beat them.
- Many
INS personnel are sympathetic to American men and women caught in these
situations but are powerless to help them. As of 1996 all spousal abuse
petitions are handled by the Vermont Service Center. The local INS service
centers that are in the position to hear both sides of the case and receive
evidence from both the accuser and the accused are kept out of the process
by the V.S.C. and directives from Arlington, Virginia. Under directives they
are required to send the permanent files of the petitioner to the V.S.C.
This effectively ends their involvement with the petitioner in regard to
these abuse claims.
- By
INS directives, the accused is NOT permitted to find out what claims the
petitioner has made against him. Nor is he permitted to be a witness at her
trial if she has one. The accused is given no opportunity to defend himself
against her charges to the INS.
- The
accused, a United States citizen is labeled "The Abuser" by the
immigrant spouse in her or his INS petition and this is put into Federal
files and INS computers permanently .
American men who became victims of this scam has no place
to voice their complaints and no law to protect them. They suffer severe
emotional and financial damages trying to defend themselves against false accusations.
So, if you or anyone you know is planning a marriage to a
lady or a man from another country (not just FSU by any means), please keep this
information in mind. I hope shortly I will also be able to publish more info on
the typical GC hunters and how to identify them.
Cases:
Case of Lidiia Kolisnichenko vs.
Michael Wnuk
Resources:
NEW!
Special
Report: VAWA-Funded Immigration Fraud Costs Americans Taxpayers $170 Million a
Year NEW!
CSI CONSULTING
AND INVESTIGATIONS - U.S. consulting and investigation company that works
with the victims of immigration fraud. We were asked to forward to them
victims of the immigration fraud. VOICE OF AMERICAN
IMMIGRATION FRAUD VICTIMS advocacy
group
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