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.

How they operate

Here is the usual plan:

• Find an American (any American will do, but the richer the better of course).

• Get married as soon as possible 

• Get access to his bank accounts, credit cards, etc. Start moving family finances under control.

• Build a network of other Russian immigrants in the area. Tell them tales of abuse, neglect and sufferings (they will serve as witnesses later on)

• Start looking for a boyfriend to taste (optional)

• Once change of status petition is filed, move into action:  

  • Stage a "confrontation" incident (may include a 911 call; some self-inflicted scratches and bruises; staged "confrontation" scene completed with overturned furniture and broken things)

  • Get police on the scene

  • Get the husband arrested

  • Get any "evidence" of abuse documented (scratches and bruises photographed)

  • Before he gets out of jail, get to a women's shelter

  • Tell everyone stories of life threats, abuse, intimidation, fear of calling police, etc.

  • Enlist the shelter's help in getting a protective warrant against the husband. 

• After the police report is filed, file a petition with INS to continue with the greencard paperwork to receive American residency without the husband's involvement.

• Once that petition is approved, start collecting welfare from the state

• Using the Affidavit of Support the husband filed prior to marriage, ask for maintenance during the domestic violence trial and later during divorce proceedings

Problems the victims of GCHs 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:

VOICE OF AMERICAN IMMIGRATION FRAUD VICTIMS advocacy group