VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #1209/01 1311239
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111239Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8834

UNCLAS KABUL 001209 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: CMGT CASC CFED CJAN CPAS CVIS AF
SUBJECT: AFGHAN FRAUD SUMMARY 
 
¶1. Afghanistan has suffered three decades of civil war and unrest. 
It lacks good road, water, or power systems.  International efforts 
to help rebuild the country are hampered by insurgent attacks, 
mountainous and difficult terrain, the lack of ingrained government 
institutions, and the absence of a large, educated workforce.  A 
majority of both men and women are illiterate.  There appears to be 
little document integrity, both because corruption is an enormous 
problem and because the Government of Afghanistan does not yet have 
dependable system to produce reliable documents.  Many Afghans are 
born at home; there is no reliable civil registry of births and no 
cultural emphasis on precise, repeated use of personal data. 
 
¶2. Islamic "Sharia" law governs most social law, including marriage, 
divorce, inheritance, and adoption, and civil institutions operate 
within this framework.  To provide an example, the consular section 
has learned of a single- national American citizen (i.e. not 
Afghan-American) who obtained an Afghan refugee document. Similarly, 
the consular section knows of a local employee whose Embassy 
personnel records list one date of birth while his Afghan passport 
lists another.  This FSN has decided to get his passport changed, 
since he thinks it will be easier than getting his Embassy records 
corrected, and he is not at all disturbed if his official documents 
do not reflect his true date of birth. 
 
 
 
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NIV FRAUD 
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¶3. Post expanded beyond A and G visas and began additionally issuing 
B1/B2, J, F, and C visas in February 2009. The vast majority of 
applicants are very unsophisticated and do not appear to attempt 
fraud. Instead, they freely admit to the officer that they have 
little or no ties to Afghanistan. While significant instances of 
fraud have not yet been detected, one cause of concern is that visa 
applicants frequently present passports in which their names are 
spelled differently, or only some of their names are included, or 
where their date of birth recorded differently from a previous 
passport or other records. They shrug when confronted with the 
disparity, and often claim that it is too troublesome to try to get 
the government to provide them with an accurate passport. Some false 
documents have been detected that were purported to be evidence of 
contracts with the US military, a significant source of money in 
this country. 
 
 
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IV FRAUD 
-------- 
¶4. Post does not adjudicate IVs. 
 
 
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DV FRAUD 
-------- 
¶5. Post does not process diversity visas, but does provide public 
information about the DV and warns Afghans not to be duped by 
scams. 
 
 
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ACS AND PASSPORT FRAUD 
--------------------- 
¶6. Adoption is not legal in Afghanistan, although guardianship is 
permitted in some cases.  The Consular Section has occasionally 
encountered American citizens trying to pass off as their own child 
a baby born to other parents. 
 
 
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ADOPTION FRAUD 
-------------- 
¶7. Adoption is not legal in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has no 
provisions for international adoptions but the Government of 
Afghanistan has indicated some support for guardianship on a 
case-by-case basis. Consular is working with the GoA to establish 
guidelines for the acceptance of guardianship cases. A proven 
guardianship, as defined by Afghan law, has been determined by 
Consular Affairs to be grounds for adoption by an American parent. 
Adoption cases are currently handled out of Embassy New Delhi. 
 
 
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USE OF DNA TESTING 
------------------ 
¶8. DNA testing is not available in Afghanistan.  The possibility of 
relationship fraud exists through the culturally accepted practice 
of polygamy in Afghanistan. 
 
 
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ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD 
----------------------------------- 
¶9. Not applicable. 
 
 
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ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORIST TRAVEL 
---------------------------- 
¶10. Post has not seen evidence of fraud to support nefarious travel. 
 Counterfeiting and fraudulent document production is remedial at 
best in this country and those fraudulent documents that have been 
found have been produced in support of travel of intending 
immigrants, not criminals. 
 
 
 
------------------------------- 
DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATION 
------------------------------- 
¶11. RSO and Consular have a very good working relationship and 
collaborate frequently on a variety of issues.  One case of 
suspected fraud on the part of an NIV FSN was reported to RSO this 
year and the security clearance of the FSN was subsequently revoked. 
RSO and CON are currently conducting an investigation into 
allegations that PAS FSNs have been soliciting bribes from Fulbright 
applicants. 
 
------------------------ 
HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, INDENTITY DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTRY 
----------------------- 
¶12.  Afghan passports lack lamination and can be easily altered with 
a pen.  When a legitimate change is made to a passport there will be 
an official Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp on a page of the 
passport along with a handwritten note relating the change to name 
or date of birth.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues passports 
and post has frequently noted the distribution of official passports 
to Afghans who are not government employees.  National ID cards 
called "Taskera" are issued by local police stations and can easily 
be obtained fraudulently. 
 
 
---------------------- 
COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES 
----------------------------- 
¶13.  Post has felt that given the lack of a complete criminal legal 
code, the corruption issue, and cultural mores that do not emphasize 
preciseness of personal data it will be a challenge to engage the 
government on fraud and related issues. 
 
 
-------------------------- 
AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN 
-------------------------- 
¶14.  Afghanistan's borders are far from secure.  For example, the 
consular section is aware of many visa applicants who are able to 
travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan without passports. Naming 
conventions also play an important role in providing Consular 
services in Afghanistan.  It is not uncommon for Afghans to use 
different names for different circumstances.  For example, an Afghan 
may be known by one name to family and friends, and another to 
his/her employer.  Most Afghans identify themselves just by one name 
and, occasionally, what appears as a surname is often the last part 
of a long, single name that was broken up.  An Afghan man sometimes 
identifies himself by his first name and his father's first (or 
only) name.  Sometimes, he chooses as his surname the name of his 
tribe, or his family's home region, or simply a word whose 
definition is a positive characteristic.  It is not uncommon for an 
Afghan to invent a surname, often based on a word with 
characteristics the individual likes (such as excellence, religious 
connotations, etc.).  Women before marriage follow the same naming 
practices.  After marriage, a woman either replaces her last name 
(if she has one) with her husband's, or adds it after her original 
surname (if she had one) or does not take a surname at all.  During 
the regime just before the communists took over (President Daoud's 
regime), it was illegal for Afghans to use their tribal name as a 
surname.  When the communists took over (1978), many Afghans who 
wanted to use this affiliation returned to it. 
 
 
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Staffing and Training 
--------------------------- 
¶15. Kabul's Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) consists of one part-time 
officer Fraud Prevention Manager (FPM), and one part-time Fraud 
Prevention Eligible Family Member (EFM) investigator.  The Consular 
chief has also completed fraud training at FSI. 
 
Titles and training history are as follows: 
 
Kevin D. Nelson 
Vice Consul and Fraud Prevention Manager (part-time) 
Departs 10/09 
 
Katya Ilieva-Stone 
FPU EFM Investigator (part-time) 
Departs 08/09 
 
EIKENBERRY