VZCZCXRO7965
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHTH #1774/01 2731315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301314Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0765
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 0002
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0014

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ATHENS 001774 
 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP (LEDESMA-LEESE) 
DEPT PLS PASS KCC WILLIAMSBURG 
DHS FOR CIS/FDNS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC GR
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY ATHENS 
 
REF: STATE 57623 
 
------------------ 
COUNTRY CONDITIONS 
------------------ 
 
¶1.  Over the past 20 years Greece has seen a remarkable 
improvement in its standard of living.  This is primarily due 
to the long-term convergence plan of the European Union for 
socioeconomic uniformity among member states.  This, together 
with its geographic location, has made Greece an attractive 
option for economic migrants of poor neighboring countries and 
the Middle East. 
 
¶2.  While other European countries seem headed towards 
economic recovery, Greece, having experienced an economic 
shrinkage since before the onset of the global downturn, 
appears to face a still deepening recession in the coming 
months.  The economic slowdown has further highlighted chronic 
problems such as low wages, high taxes, unemployment, 
cumbersome bureaucracy, and corruption. 
 
¶3.  Generally speaking, Athens is a low fraud post.  Fraud 
cases are overwhelmingly of third country nationals and are 
almost exclusively immigrant and non-immigrant visa cases. 
 
--------- 
NIV FRAUD 
--------- 
 
¶4.  NIV fraud at post is relatively low.  Of the approximately 
40,000 non-immigrant visas post processes annually, well over 
90 percent of the applicants are Greek nationals for whom the 
refusal rate is one percent.  A 2007 validation study showed 
that over 99 percent of host-country nationals issued visas 
used their B1/B2 visas and returned to Greece within the legal 
time frame.  A FY 2007/FY2008 validation study (completed in 
2009) of NIV referral cases revealed a 98 percent return rate, 
with the remaining two percent deemed inconclusive.  There is 
a lower issuance rate for other applicant nationalities 
including Albanians, Bulgarians and Russians.  Due to their 
recent arrival in and weak ties to Greece, these applicants 
were most often refused under Section 214(b).  Nonetheless, a 
2008 validation study of TCNs revealed an overstay rate of 7.4 
percent, which was a decrease from 11.3 percent in a similar 
2004 study. 
 
¶5.  Non-immigrant visa fraud is more easily categorized by 
nationality than by visa classification in Athens.  Post sees 
little employment-based fraud for Greek nationals, as Greeks 
are rarely interested in the more fraud-ridden visa 
classifications, such as the J-visa "summer-work-travel" 
program for jobs in the agricultural or service industries. 
 
-------- 
IV FRAUD 
-------- 
 
¶6.  Immigrant visa fraud is generally seen with Nigerian, 
Albanian and Iraqi applicants providing false supporting 
documents or engaged in sham relationships.  During FY2009, 
FPU detected seven fraudulent IV cases involving counterfeit 
supporting documents and/or misrepresentation. 
 
------------------------- 
DIVERSITY VISA (DV) FRAUD 
------------------------- 
 
¶7.  Few Greek nationals enter the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. 
TCNs from Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Albania who reside in Greece 
pursue DV applications in greater numbers, but frequently lack 
valid supporting documents.  DV refusals rates are low, with 
most due to either to insufficient education credentials or 
misrepresentation.  The most common counterfeit documents seen 
at post are birth, marriage and school certificates.  During 
FY09, 10 Albanian DV applicants presented education 
credentials that were either completely counterfeit, genuine 
with alterations, or genuine documents suspected of being 
fraudulently issued by education officials.  FPU Athens 
maintains a library of information on counterfeit and genuine 
documents from countries around the world.  In addition, 
post's relationships with other fraud prevention units, 
especially Tirana and Addis Ababa, provide the necessary 
support for investigating suspicious documents. 
 
ATHENS 00001774  002 OF 004 
 
 
--------------------------- 
ACS AND U.S. PASSPORT FRAUD 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  Post rarely encounters fraud in the passport or ACS units. 
Unusual or suspicious cases of passport abuse may arise once 
every year or less.  In a recent case of a Mexican-born Amcit 
reporting the loss/theft of his U.S. passport to post, ADIS 
checks revealed the subject travelled from the U.S. to Greece 
on his Mexican passport.  The applicant subsequently admitted 
to not possessing or travelling on his U.S. passport from the 
U.S. and said he must have lost it shortly before departure to 
Greece.  The case was reported to stateside authorities for 
their discretionary action and an S lookout [suspicious 
activity in connection with previous lost/stolen passports] in 
PLOTS was immediately entered at post. 
 
-------------- 
ADOPTION FRAUD 
-------------- 
 
¶9. Adoptions of Greek children by parents outside of Greece 
are extraordinarily rare as extended family members almost 
always take in children if parents are unable to care for 
them.  Post sees approximately 2-3 adoption cases per year, 
and has no suspected fraud cases to report. 
 
------------------ 
USE OF DNA TESTING 
------------------ 
 
¶10. In the past year, post encountered one IV case that 
required DNA testing.  Post used our panel physician and 
followed Department guidance for appropriate testing 
facilities.  A second upcoming case with multiple fraud 
indicators may also require testing.  Post has not identified 
patterns of groups which would necessitate an increase in the 
need for testing.  There are no known operational concerns 
which might compromise the validity of DNA testing. 
 
---------------------------------- 
ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFIT FRAUD 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  ICE Athens has not seen an unusual number of lost or 
stolen 
I-551s, and USCIS Athens has not processed many Visas 92/93 
applications.  Familial relationships in most Visas 92/93 
cases are documented, but in instances where document 
authenticity is questioned, the USCIS sub-office consults its 
contacts at the Rome District office and the Forensic Document 
Lab for guidance. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME 
AND TERRORIST TRAVEL 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶12.  Greece is struggling to control the ongoing influx of 
economic immigrants.  The number of illegal immigrants 
intercepted by Greek authorities jumped from 66,000 in 2005, 
to 146,000 in 2008.  While the majority of immigrants still 
come from Albania, Greece has witnessed a dramatic increase in 
the number of Iraqi and Afghani intercepts during that same 
period - with Iraqi numbers increasing from 1,064 to 15,940 
and Afghani numbers jumping from 1,771 to 25,577.  In a period 
of ten years, the government has introduced amnesty for legal 
residency twice. 
Although most immigrants welcomed this opportunity, those 
involved in illegal practices such as substance smuggling, 
prostitution, and document forgery have avoided this process. 
 
¶13.  The GoG announced strict measures in July 2009 for the 
confinement of illegal migrants in detention centers.  Police 
contacts have advised us that this measure is purely aimed at 
discouraging would-be illegal immigrants from entering Greece 
rather than containing the hundreds of thousands of immigrants 
currently in Greece.  The number of immigrants intercepted in 
the first seven months of 2009 reached just over 65,000. 
 
¶14.  Although some illegal migrants choose Greece as their 
final destination, many continue traveling to countries in 
Western Europe, Latin America and eventually the United 
 
ATHENS 00001774  003 OF 004 
 
 
States.  The prevalent itinerary seen by authorities 
intercepting migrants at the Mexican-US border is Turkey- 
Greece-Spain-Mexico.  Migrants of Middle Eastern descent, 
particularly Iraqis, used to carry the old version of the 
Greek passport as their fraudulent nationality of choice, but 
have ceased to do so with the heightened security features of 
the new e-chip Greek passport (see below).  The new and more 
secure Greek passport appears to be a deterrent to smugglers 
who now provide travel documents of alternative nationalities 
such as Norwegian, Austrian, Danish, and Bulgarian passports. 
 
--------------------------------- 
DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  Although the Consular Section rarely encounters cases 
warranting DS involvement, CONS enjoys a good working 
relationship with RSO.  Exceptional circumstances such as 
Interpol red alerts appearing in CLASS and suspicions of 
passport abuse by Amcits would require immediate consultation 
and intervention by DS agents.  FPU and RSO work in concert 
with law enforcement authorities on cases involving possible 
applicant apprehension by police. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTRY 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶16.  Greek passport issuance became more formalized and secure 
when the Greek police authorities assumed this responsibility 
from municipality offices across Greece in 2006.  All Greek 
citizens, regardless of age, must appear before a police 
officer when applying for a passport.  At this stage, 
supporting documents are scrutinized and criminal checks are 
performed, sometimes resulting in "on the spot" arrests. 
 
¶17.  The new Greek passport meets ICAO standards and is 
considered among the most secure passports in Europe.  All 
previously issued passports were rendered invalid when the new 
passport took effect in January of 2006.  These new passports 
were embedded with electronic microprocessors beginning 
August 16, 2006.  While pre-2006 versions of old Greek 
passports lacked security features and were frequently altered 
for immigration or criminal purposes, few incidents of bio- 
page substitution have occurred with the new passport. 
 
¶18.  Post has no reason to believe that feeder documents such 
as Greek birth certificates are suspect.  Birth certificate 
issuance by the Greek Civil Registrar is fairly 
straightforward:  a satellite birth registrar is located in 
every public and private hospital where certificates are 
issued during the child's discharge.  This information is also 
transferred to the city's vital records office located in 
every town hall.  Although registration papers are 
traditionally hand-written in large binders, many 
municipalities are slowly moving to electronic records though 
still maintaining binders as a back-up mechanism.  There is no 
national or centralized birth registrar database, but 
nonetheless, post believes fraud is limited in the issuance of 
birth registration papers. 
 
¶19.  The GoG recently toughened its naturalization procedures 
by enforcing stricter controls on document verification and 
applicant interviews.  Legislation has now specified the 
criteria of age, family relations, and employment history as 
pre-requisites for obtaining citizenship.  These measures put 
Greece in closer conformity to other EU member states.  Post 
has worked with the GoG to investigate a limited number of 
cases with questionable claims to Greek passports. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶20.  Post has a strong working relationship with the Hellenic 
Police, particularly the passport issuing agency, where lost 
and 
stolen passport (LASP) data are collected on a monthly basis. 
Likewise, 2008 witnessed increased cooperation and 
communication between the Embassy and Greek Police and Coast 
Guard, specifically in regards to exchanging details of those 
arrested and convicted for smuggling immigrants. 
 
¶21.  As a result of the Greek police successfully taking on 
 
ATHENS 00001774  004 OF 004 
 
 
passport issuance, the Greek police likewise began issuing the 
new driver's licenses in February 2009, although the Ministry 
of 
Transportation still reviews the applications.  Discussions 
are also underway for the issuance of an electronic Greek 
identity card with no specific date of production announced. 
Authorities are proceeding with great caution over the 
issuance of electronic identification cards given the public 
outcry about potential privacy violations.  Currently, the 
Greek ID is a laminated paper the size of an index card with 
little to no security features. 
 
--------------------------- 
AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN 
--------------------------- 
 
¶22. Post sees no exceptional areas of concern pertaining to 
consular fraud. 
 
--------------------- 
STAFFING AND TRAINING 
--------------------- 
 
¶23.  Post is fortunate to have both DHS/ICE and DHS/CIS 
offices on site and the Consular Section enjoys close working 
relationships with both offices, along with posts RSO. 
Standard operating procedures for cooperation are in place and 
informal discussions of relevant issues occur as needed. 
 
¶24.  Posts new Fraud Prevention Manager (FPM) is Adair 
Hamilton who assumed duties in August 2009.  The FPM position 
in Athens is part-time, with the incumbent also performing 
regular consular functions, including adjudicating visa 
applications. 
 
¶25.  Fraud Prevention Unit Investigator (FPU/I), Telly Bousios 
traveled with the DHS Visa Waiver Assessment team in July 2009 
to Chios island and to the north-eastern border town of 
Alexandropoulos, and took advantage of the opportunity to 
establish new police contacts and reaffirm ties with previous 
acquaintances. 
McCarthy