R 071214Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8508
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
NVC PORTSMOUTH

UNCLAS DOHA 000852 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC QA
SUBJECT: Fraud Report - Doha 
 
¶1. (U) COUNTRY CONDITIONS:  Qatar's population consists of a large 
majority of third country nationals (TCNs).  NIV applicants from 
Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, 
Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen account 
for a large portion of post's visa workload.  No one nationality 
accounts for more than 30 percent of post's applicant pool.  Our IV 
applicant pool is small but similarly diverse and growing.  Post's 
fraud investigator verifies the documents of IV applications against 
known exemplars and conducts investigations of NIV applications as 
referred by interviewing officers. 
 
Thanks to large natural gas and petroleum resources, Qatar's economy 
continues to grow at a record pace, with a population now estimated 
at upwards of 1.7 million.  This growth has brought a tremendous 
influx of new people to Qatar and, combined with Qatar's expansion 
of its natural gas exports, also fueled inflation to double digits 
five years in a row.  With this growth and economic pressure on the 
working and lower classes in particular, Post's fraud workload and 
concerns continue to grow. We receive applications from all across 
the economic spectrum, from white collar to unskilled laborers.  The 
FPU has seen growth in the number of NIV, DV and U.S. Passport fraud 
schemes reported in Qatar. 
 
Post's fraud investigator resigned early in the year to accept a 
position in another office of the embassy.  We have been without 
fraud support for most of the reporting period.  Post welcomed the 
arrival of the new Fraud Investigator last month, and investigations 
and fraud review resumed. 
 
2.(U) NIV FRAUD:  There is generally little fraud associated with 
applications from citizens of Qatar, with the exception of 
naturalized Qataris.  A recent application from a family of 
naturalized Yemeni-Qataris appeared to be the usual shopping trip, 
until a review from IAFIS revealed that one of the party had been 
working in a liquor store in the United States and had been arrested 
for selling to a minor, and another member of the group had been 
arrested in the US for petty theft.  The applicants received a 
second interview and were refused the visa. 
 
Among the expatriate community that applies for visas, fraud appears 
to be generally unsophisticated, usually involving questionable 
letters of employment.  We have only rarely seen photo-substituted 
documents.  Many of the oil and gas businesses in Qatar send TCN 
employees to the U.S. for training.  Verifying the employment of the 
applicants is often required.  Post still has problems contacting 
appropriate officials, and it can take many days and phone calls to 
confirm simple facts. 
 
H-1B and L-1 visa fraud remain areas of concern.  Post continues to 
receive applications from Indian nationals who exaggerated their 
work experience when filing for an H1-B petition through friends or 
family in the United States.  FPU returned files to DHS for 
companies suspected of benching, as anecdotal evidence from visa 
interviews suggests some applicants don't know exactly for whom they 
will be working and are often sent out to other companies upon 
arrival in the U.S.  FPU/I works with the FPUs in Chennai and New 
Delhi to verify educational documents and other qualifications. 
Petitioners are also checked for applicants who have been submitted 
for revocation by Chennai and New Delhi for possible indicators of 
fraud for current cases in Doha. 
 
Post processes a high number of non-immigrant visas for domestic 
employees of Qatari families and government officials.  These 
domestic employees routinely travel with their employers to the U.S. 
 Post is aware of one specific report of domestic servant abuse 
involving a Qatari diplomat but otherwise has received no reports of 
trafficking in A3, G5 and B1 Visas.  Post adheres to Department 
policy in requiring a signed contract between employers and their 
domestic employees that shows the employee is treated according to 
U.S. Labor Law standards. 
 
As part of our SOP with Qatar Airways, Post revoked the visas of 
over 50 Qatar Airways crew members who had resigned or were 
terminated. 
 
3.(U) IV FRAUD:  All IV petitions and applications received at post 
involve TCNs.  Most IV beneficiaries are citizens of the Philippines 
or South Asian or Arab countries.  All IV cases are screened by the 
Fraud Investigator against FPU and other post exemplars.  The Fraud 
Investigator relies heavily on the FPUs in Manila, India, Thailand, 
Yemen, and Sudan, among others.  Typical IV fraud usually involves 
applicants trying to conceal prior marriages, or in one case a 
marriage that had not been terminated prior to the subsequent 
marriage to an American.  Post has had several cases of 
beneficiaries or petitioners being married to more than one person 
at the same time. 
 
4.(U) DV FRAUD:  FPU verified 10 DV visa applications during the 
current period.  DV applicants in Doha are all TCNS who are often 
from high-fraud countries such as Bangladesh, Somalia, Sudan and 
Yemen.  FPU works with U.S. Embassy counterparts in Dhaka, Sanaa, 
Katmandu and other posts to verify documents, especially birth 
certificates and education certificates.  Fraud has been detected 
most often in the educational documents submitted to support a 
baccalaureate degree.  Upon examination by FPUs in the country of 
origin, many are quickly identified as fabricated or altered to 
cover their lack of the required education qualification. 
 
5.(U) ACS AND US PASSPORT FRAUD:  Post continues to receive requests 
from foreign citizens to authenticate suspect academic credentials 
from online institutions who are not accredited and for whom it is 
difficult to determine if the "degree" holder actually earned the 
qualifications.  "Degrees" are often notarized or certified as true 
copies by a notary public in the U.S. rather than through a school 
registrar.  We recently received authentications from "Capitol 
University."  These "degrees" are then used by the recipients to 
claim qualifications they do not hold and to earn a higher salary 
rate under Qatar's labor laws. 
 
6.(U) ADOPTION FRAUD:  None.  Post received no adoption applications 
today in FY 2008.  Adoption is not allowed in Qatar for non-Muslims. 
 Muslims are allowed to adopt in Qatar, but this generally does not 
occur due to the extended nature of Qatari families and that orphans 
are treated as Qatari citizens upon abandonment.  As such, only 
Muslim Qatari citizens can adopt.  In limited cases, the Family 
Court of Qatar grants guardianship if the orphan's religious, 
national and cultural background matches with that of the guardian. 
 
7.(U) ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS:  Post receives few V92/93 cases 
or other DHS benefits cases.  However, with the launch of Qatar 
Airways flights to Newark and Washington-Dulles International 
Airports, Post receives an increasing number of calls from Airport 
Immigration and Qatar Airways Transit Unit to verify the travel 
documents, visas and passports of transit passengers headed to the 
U.S. 
 
8.(U) COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES:  The FPU and 
Consular Section maintain close ties with a wide range of host 
country officials, including Airport Immigration, the Capital 
Police, Qatar Airways, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry 
of the Interior, Qatar's prison system.  Cooperation is very good 
for TCN visa fraud.  Punishments for fraud usually include possible 
jail time, loss of sponsorship and deportation from Qatar.  Fraud 
among Qatari citizens is very low. 
 
9.(U) AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN:  An area of particular concern is 
fraud emanating from third countries perpetrated by TCNs either 
resident in Qatar or visiting here.  Qatar's current TCN population 
accounts for anywhere from 75 to 90 percent of Qatar's population. 
The Visa Unit received NIV applications from over 100 different 
nationalities during the previous year.  Many IV cases come from 
high fraud countries and, as noted above, have increased in 
complexity and number. 
 
Post continues to see fraudulent letters for crew work on Norwegian 
cruise lines, although this has decreased significantly.  Post 
received one authentic petition for a worker on Norwegian, which was 
probably the most scrutinized offer Norwegian has ever submitted. 
After thorough investigation it was found to be legitimate and the 
visa was issued. 
 
10.(U) STAFFING AND TRAINING:  FPU consists of one-part time Fraud 
Prevention Manager and one full-time Fraud Investigator (FPU/I). 
FPM is K. Quinn Andrus, Vice Consul, who also serves as Visa Unit 
Chief.  FPU/I is Arshad Karim.  FPM attended the FPM course at FSI 
in 2007. 
 
LEBARON