VZCZCXRO2119
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHCG #0173/01 1560046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050046Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2306
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3699
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5381
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1105
RUEHNEH/AMCONSUL HYDERABAD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000173 
 
CA/FPP FOR JILL NYSTROM 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CMGT ASEC IN
SUBJECT: Chennai P-3 Performers: Well Scrutinized and Well Behaved 
 
Ref:  A) 08 MUMBAI 0111, B) 08 CHENNAI 0091, C) CHENNAI 0157 
 
CHENNAI 00000173  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY. Consulate General Chennai adjudicated 577 P-3 cultural 
performance non-immigrant visas in FY08.  Despite this relatively 
low number, to rule out concerns about possible alien smuggling and 
misuse of P-3 visas, ConGen Chennai instituted a vetting system to 
screen for potential fraud indicators.  The data gathered for the 
last fiscal year show that over 99 percent of the issued P-3 
applicants returned to India. END SUMMARY 
 
---------------------------- 
DEMOGRAPHICS OF ENTERTAINERS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  P-3 groups adjudicated in Chennai generally consist of two main 
categories:  folk singers and musicians traveling during the summer 
for cultural events sponsored by such organizations as the Telegu 
Association of America, and well-known television and film stars 
going to perform at variety shows.  The musical groups typically 
consist of local professionals with many years of performing 
experience in South India and South Asia.  Although not as big as in 
Bollywood, the movie stars from the smaller film and entertainment 
industries in South India of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala 
attract a significant following and target cities in the U.S. with 
large Indian communities. 
 
-------------- 
Best Practices 
-------------- 
 
¶3. Other posts in India have had significant fraud concerns with P-3 
groups, and both Mumbai and New Delhi will report on P-3 fraud 
septel.  In South India, Post encountered little evidence of fraud 
or alien smuggling but received many poison pen letters from third 
parties alleging visa fraud in P-3 cases.  Most poison pens appear 
to come from rival P-3 organizers.  However, because actors and film 
directors were previously implicated in a large-scale smuggling 
operation in Chennai (ref B), Chennai, like Mumbai and New Delhi, 
has established a pre-screening program for all P-3 applications. 
 
¶4. Chennai requires that all P-3 groups contact the Consulate 
directly to schedule a group appointment, and all members must be 
interviewed at that time.  When the group arrives at the consulate, 
the Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) collects all the applications and 
passports prior to interview.  FPU then researches the petitioner 
and the Indian sponsor using Google, PIMS and the CCD for 
information on the proposed venues, adjudicating history and trends 
of the petitioner.  FPU has collected an extensive repository of 
troublesome petitioners and sponsors and uses this resource to 
cross-reference each new group that applies.  In addition to 
scrutinizing the petitioners and sponsor, FPU reviews the passports 
and prior travel of each member of the group.  The information is 
collected, reviewed by the FPM, and passed on to the adjudicating 
officer as background information. 
 
¶5. Each member of the group is interviewed individually by one or 
two adjudicating officers, depending on the size of the group.  If 
there are any concerns or possible smuggling issues, the case is 
reviewed again with the Fraud Prevention Manager.  In FY08, a total 
of 577 P-3 applicants were interviewed and 472 were issued. 
 
------------------ 
Validation Results 
------------------ 
 
¶6. Post utilized the USVISIT program to validate the ADIS entry/exit 
records of the 472 applicants issued visas in FY08.  Of all the 
applicants that traveled, all but four had exit records consistent 
with credible travel. 
 
   Total Issued P-3s:  472 
   Travel and Return: 468 
   In Status but Irregular Travel: 2 
   Potential Overstays: 2 
 
¶7. Of the four travelers, the most egregious appears to have 
overstayed in excess of 400 days.  The applicant is a well-known 
supporting actress who co-starred in several Malayalam films.  The 
applicant who overstayed more than 50 days had previous U.S. visas 
associated with the same petitioner.  The third traveler has been 
located in India and did not have a registered overstay, but his 
entry/exit records indicate extensive travel during the validation 
period with most stays of only one or two days.  FPU is 
investigating this particular traveler further. 
 
¶8. The fourth traveler is of Tibetan origin and entered the US in 
December 2007.  Although P-3 petitions should only be valid for up 
to one year, this petition from Emaho Foundation Inc. is valid until 
 
CHENNAI 00000173  002 OF 002 
 
 
April 2010.  Although technically the applicant is not out of 
status, she did receive a one-entry/three-month visa because of her 
stateless status, yet has been in the US over 400 days.  A recent 
validation study of B1/B2 Tibetan applicants indicated that the 
majority of them overstayed their visas (ref C). 
 
----------------------------------- 
CONCLUSION: OVERALL SOUND ISSUANCES 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  The low number of overstays or misuse of the P-3 visa in Chennai 
suggests that our prescreening procedures and mandatory group 
interviews are proving effective.  In addition, the highly 
publicized South Indian film industry scam, and the related arrest 
of a semi-famous Telegu actress on charges of alien smuggling, have 
made known to the general public and entertainment industry that 
Post closely scrutinizes such cases.  The results of the current 
validation study also indicate that adjudicating officers in Chennai 
are generally making good overall decisions in the P-3 category. 
 
KAPLAN