VZCZCXRO8213
RR RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #1118/01 2731558
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301558Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2721
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH NH
INFO RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 0243
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 4023
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 3812

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ROME 001118 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC CVIS CPAS CMGT KFRD
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - ROME 
 
REF: STATE 00074840 
 
- - - - - - - - - - 
Country Conditions 
- - - - - - - - - - 
¶1. (U) Italy is a highly developed European nation.  Despite recent 
negative economic growth, Italy remains a popular destination for 
labor coming from eastern European countries, especially Romania. 
 
 
¶2. (U) In the past two years, the population of Romanian residents 
in Italy has almost doubled, reaching a high of more than 780,000 
individuals.  The next largest immigrant groups by nationality are: 
Albanians (440,000), followed by Moroccans (400,000) and Chinese 
(170,000).  According to the National Institute of Statistics 
(ISTAT) 1 in 22 persons living in Italy is foreign-born. 
 
¶3. (U) Economic migrants travel to Italy for work and generous 
social welfare provisions.  Benefits include free health care, 
unemployment compensation, and subsidized education through the 
university level.  Though immigration and asylum laws in Italy have 
become increasingly restrictive in recent years, the elimination of 
EU visa requirements for certain eastern European countries has 
allowed for easier circulation. 
 
¶4. (U) The 75 percent increase (compared to 2007) in illegal 
immigration during 2008  --  36,900 illegal aliens arriving by sea 
alone (according to the National Institute for Statistics ISTAT)  -- 
  led Italy to pass on May 5, 2009 a new Security Law that imposed 
stricter rules against illegal immigration.  The law makes illegal 
immigration a crime punishable with a maximum fine of $14,000 and 
raises to six months the amount of time that illegal immigrants can 
be detained in holding centers before being removed from Italy. 
Housing an illegal immigrant is now a crime punishable with 
incarceration.  The bill also denies illegal immigrants the right to 
access basic medical services and forces hospitals to report to the 
police all illegal immigrants that seek medical care. 
 
¶5. (U) Italy has relatively few instances of fraud in connection 
with consular services.  Italians, who enjoy a developed economy and 
access to the Visa Waiver Program, find little reason to commit 
fraud in obtaining visas.  The Italian government has a relatively 
secure system for ensuring the integrity of official civil documents 
such as birth certificates, passports, and national IDs, and 
maintains extensive records of the documents issued. Fraudulent use 
of genuine, photo-substituted and/or otherwise altered passports 
appears more often in cases of third country nationals (TCNs), 
especially Albanians, who seek to board flights to western European 
countries or to the United States.  A growing number of illegal 
aliens are attempting to transit or stage in Italy en route to their 
final destination in the United States.  Those apprehended usually 
possess counterfeit "old style" (paper and ink) national identity 
cards made to match their passport data. 
 
- - - - - 
NIV Fraud 
- - - - - 
¶6. (U) Since most Italians can travel to the United States on the 
Visa Waiver Program, fraud is rare and generally comes from TCN 
applicants.  Most NIV fraud is easily detected at the time of the 
interview and usually involves unsophisticated attempts to convince 
officers that the applicant has spent more time in Italy or has 
greater assets than is in fact the case. Post also conducts periodic 
validation studies and field investigations for all those cases that 
warrant additional scrutiny.  Post periodically encounters low 
quality fraudulent documents submitted in support of visa 
applications, which are resolved locally.  During the reporting 
period the Mission Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) did not refer any 
cases to the RSO for further investigation. 
 
¶7. (U) Mission Italy's adjusted NIV refusal rate of 16 percent for 
the period between 01-Sep-2008 to 31-Aug-2009 is heavily skewed by 
TCN refusals. The refusal rate for Italian nationals is only 2 
percent;  the refusal rate for all other nationalities is 28 
percent. TCN NIV applications account for approximately 41 percent 
of total Mission Italy NIV requests for the period reported above. 
Requests for B1/B2s account for the largest percentage of Mission 
Italy's workload.  The most significant TCN groups for each 
consulate are as follows: 
 
Florence     Milan         Naples        Rome 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
India        Albania       Nigeria       Philippines 
Ghana        India         Philippines   Romania 
Albania      Ecuador       Ukraine       India 
Nigeria      Ghana         Turkey        Nigeria 
Romania      Romania       Romania       Albania 
Philippines  Peru          Israel        Bangladesh 
 
ROME 00001118  002 OF 005 
 
 
Iran         Philippines   Iran          Brazil 
Ecuador      Senegal       Albania       China 
 
¶8. (U) In comparison to 2008, the Consulate General in Milan has 
seen a 50 percent increase in the number of Indian applicants and a 
47 percent increase in the number of Nigerian applicants. 
 
¶9. (U) Most of fraud for the reported period involved B1/B2 visa 
applications and consisted of basic attempts to demonstrate 
stronger-than-actual ties to Italy, generally better financial 
solvency, and/or longer time in country.  During the month of August 
the Consulate General in Milan saw a brief, but significant increase 
in fraudulent documents that were being presented for visa 
processing.  All documents were presented by TCNs.  Fraud was mainly 
unsophisticated and was easily detected at the time of application. 
 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Student and Exchange Visitor Visas 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶10. (U) Mission Italy finds that the Student and Exchange Visitor 
Information System (SEVIS) has made it very difficult for mala fide 
applicants to successfully present fraudulent documentation. 
Italy-wide refusals of J, F and M visas were 5 percent of total J, F 
and M applications over the past year. 
 
- - - - - - - - 
Religious Visas 
- - - - - - - - 
 
¶11. (U) As the world's headquarters for the Roman Catholic Church, 
Mission Italy -- especially, Embassy Rome, issues a significant 
number of R visas.  Historically, Post has interviewed R-1 visa 
applicants, who would present their own documentation proving their 
religious credentials.   A small percentage of these R visas would 
be refused, mostly non-Catholic cases where the applicant was unable 
to establish required ties to the church or other religious 
organization.  Under the new Department of Homeland Security 
regulations self-petitions are no longer accepted and all R-1 visa 
applicants must have their employer file I-129 petitions, which can 
be easily verified by Post through PIMS(Petition Information 
Management System).  This has eased the burden on Post of conducting 
in-depth investigations of R-1 visa cases.  Post occasionally sees 
TCN Religious workers attempt to work in the U.S. on B1/B2 visas 
because applicants prefer not to seek a petition; when appropriate 
Post instructs them to reapply for the R-visa. 
 
- - - - - 
IV Fraud 
- - - - - 
 
¶12. (U) Naples is the only immigrant visa issuing post for Italy and 
Malta.  It is also one of a handful of posts designated to process 
Iranian IV cases.  A large percentage of Naples' IV cases are for 
the U.S. military community based in Italy.  Historically, IV fraud 
on the part of Italian and other visa waiver country applicants has 
not been a problem.  While no one in the Naples IV Unit speaks or 
reads Farsi fluently, the Fraud Prevention Manager in Naples took a 
distance learning course in Persian Farsi with the Foreign Service 
Institute. As a result, she is able to read documents and confirm 
relationships as needed.  Naples received MRV funding in 2008 to 
hire a contract Farsi interpreter to assist on IV interview days 
(twice a week).  In general however, the IV Unit staff has developed 
a familiarity with Iranian documents and is reasonably confident 
that there is little fraud among Iranian IV applicants. 
 
¶13. (U) During the reporting period, IV fraud on the part of Italian 
and other visa waiver country applicants has not been a problem.  IV 
Unit personnel occasionally identify unfamiliar supporting documents 
among Albanian, Eritrean, Ghanaian and Nigerian IV applicants and in 
those cases follow up with U.S. missions in the applicants' home 
countries for required clarification.  The Fraud Prevention Unit 
also routinely uses LexisNexis to verify information or to create a 
new line of questioning during an interview. 
 
- - - - - 
DV Fraud 
- - - - - 
 
¶14. (U) Naples is the only Diversity Visa issuing post for Italy and 
Malta.  DV fraud is minimal, but when encountered it is usually 
related to TCN educational certificates.  Submission of unfamiliar 
supporting documentation routinely requires follow-up with U.S. 
missions in the applicants' home countries.  Naples has seen an 
increasing number of suspect documents involving applicants from 
Ghana. 
 
 
ROME 00001118  003 OF 005 
 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
ACS and U.S. Passport Fraud 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶15. (U) Italy attracts millions of tourists annually, thousands of 
whom are targets of criminals eager to get their hands on cash and 
credit cards. In the process, criminals often end up stealing U.S. 
passports and other travel documents. Many of the passports are 
quickly discarded; some are found by law enforcement agencies and 
returned to post.  In some cases, it appears that stolen documents 
end up in the hands of professional smugglers, who alter them in an 
attempt to transport mala fide passengers to the United States and 
other desirable ports of entry. 
 
- - - - - - - - 
Adoption Fraud 
- - - - - - - - 
 
¶16. (U) The Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and 
Immigration Services (DHS/CIS) office in Rome is the sole office 
responsible for adjudicating adoption cases within Mission Italy. 
DHS/CIS in Rome does not currently maintain centralized statistics 
relating to adoption fraud, but has not found incidents of fraud in 
the recent past.  No IR-3 or IR-4 visas for adopted children are 
processed in Italy, because under Italian law, foreigners who intend 
to adopt children from Italy are required to reside with the 
children in Italy for three years before the adoption is finalized 
and the children are allowed to depart the country.  By that time, 
the child would qualify for IR-2 status. 
 
- - - - - - - - - 
Use of DNA Testing 
- - - - - - - - - 
 
¶17. (U) DNA testing in U.S. citizenship determination cases is used 
rarely.  As such, Mission Italy has no operational concerns. 
 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Asylum and Other DHS Benefits Fraud 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶18. (U) DHS/CIS office at Embassy Rome is solely responsible for 
adjudicating refugee and asylum cases and other immigration cases in 
the region.  DHS/CIS is not aware of any recent asylum cases 
involving fraud. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - 
Alien Smuggling, Trafficking, Organized Crime, Terrorism 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶19. (U) Italy is geographically vulnerable to illegal aliens 
arriving via cargo ship from the Balkans, Africa and Asia.  Once in 
Italy, many illegal immigrants stay or use Italy as a bridge to 
other countries in the European Union and to the United States.  In 
2008, Italy received 36,900 illegal aliens by sea, an increase of 75 
percent over 2007.  The most significant undocumented TCN groups (20 
percent) arriving in Italy by sea depart from the Libyan coast and 
are from, in declining order, Egypt, Eritrea, Morocco, Algeria, and 
Tunisia. Of the nearly 32,000 who arrived on Lampedusa (the Italian 
island nearest to Africa) in 2008, 6,800 were Tunisians, 6,000 
Nigerians and 4,000 Somalis. 
 
¶20. (U) Because at least 20 percent of the illegal immigrants last 
year arrived from Libya, the Italian government on May 5, 2009 began 
implementing a Treaty signed with Libya in 2008, which allows for 
joint Italian-Libyan naval patrols of the Libyan coast.  The treaty 
permits Italy to return those rescued at sea directly to Libya. 
Since the implementation of the joint operation there has been a 
decrease of 92 percent in the number of illegal immigrants arriving 
via sea.  Specifically, 1,345 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by 
sea since May 5 of this year.  Of these 1,300 departed from the 
Libyan coast.  During the same period of 2008, approximately 14,220 
illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by sea. Of these 14,000 had 
departed from Libya. 
 
¶21. (U) In December 2008, the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center 
(HSTC) notified FPM Rome that a suspect group of 6 Chinese 
nationals, headed for the U.S., were transiting Italy en route to 
Mexico with potentially false Mexico-entry documents.  This use of 
Italy as an East-West transit point is not a new trend, but does 
appear to be growing, at times utilizing Cuba as well as Mexico. 
Post is working with Italian authorities to monitor suspect travel 
patterns, as well as to share alerts and develop expertise in 
identifying suspect documents. 
 
¶22. (U) In March 2009, Italian law enforcement officials announced 
the dismantling of a smuggling ring that they say moved hundreds of 
 
ROME 00001118  004 OF 005 
 
 
Indians and Pakistanis into northern Italy through Russia and other 
eastern European countries.  The operation, called Goldfish 2, 
resulted in nine arrests.  Indians immigrants, and to a lesser 
extent Pakistanis, comprise a significant percentage of the TCN NIV 
applicant pool, particularly at the Consulate General in Florence. 
 
- - - - - - - - 
Organized Crime 
- - - - - - - - 
 
¶23. (U) There are five known mafia organizations in Italy, all based 
in southern Italy.  The Sicilian mafia, `Ndrangheta and Camorra are 
the oldest: they started to develop around 1850.  Recently, two new 
organizations, Stidda and Sacra Corona Unita have emerged. 
Furthermore, because of immigration, some foreign mafias, from 
eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, have started to develop in northern 
Italy and central Italy, which were historically free from organized 
crime elements. 
 
¶24. (U) In October 2007, the Italian Association of Small Businesses 
(Confesercenti) released a report regarding organized crime in 
Italy. The report noted that organized crime in Italy represents the 
biggest segment of the country's economy, accounting for an 
estimated USD 127 billion, compared to an estimated USD 106 billion 
in 2006.  Italian businesses most afflicted by organized crime are 
in the south, particularly in Sicily, Campania, Calabria, and 
Puglia.  The report also noted that 80 percent of the businesses in 
the Sicilian cities of Catania and Palermo regularly pay protection 
money. 
 
¶25. (U) In a temporary measure implemented in August of 2008, the 
Italian government deployed 3,000 soldiers to strategic sites across 
Italy to improve security and free up State Police units to perform 
investigations.  The soldiers provide static guard postings, operate 
roadside vehicle spot checks and patrol streets in areas believed to 
be under the control of organized crime.  The program was scheduled 
to finish in August 2009, but it has been extended by the Ministry 
of the Interior, with its termination date not finalized as of 
September 2009. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
DS Criminal Fraud Investigations 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶26. (U) Mission Italy's Consular Sections and Regional Security 
Officers (RSOs) work closely to investigate fraud. Cooperation often 
consists of verifying passports and investigating applicants with 
criminal hits or warrants in the United States.  During the reported 
period no passport or visa fraud case was referred to Mission Italy 
RSOs. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - 
Host Country Passport, Identity Documents, and Civil Registry 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - 
 
¶27. (U) The Italian government has a relatively secure system for 
ensuring document integrity for official civil documents, such as 
birth certificates, passports, and national IDs.  AFU contacts 
within the Government of Italy (GOI) report the most frequent 
fraudulent use of genuine, photo-substituted, and/or otherwise 
altered passports involves TCNs already in Italy, particularly 
Albanians, who seek to board flights to western European countries 
or to the United States. 
 
¶28. (U) Until recently, Italian temporary and permanent residency 
permits for TCNs were paper-based, with ink-jet-printed biometric 
information and a stapled-on photograph.  Notoriously insecure, 
these documents were hand-stamped and signed by government officials 
and in recent years incorporated lamination over the photo.  During 
the reporting period, however, Italy began replacing the paper 
version and began issuing plastic residency cards, similar in size 
and putative technological capability to U.S. Legal Permanent 
Resident 'green cards.'  While substantially more difficult to 
counterfeit, the card requires a specialized reader to access the 
biographical information.  Since the readers are closely controlled 
by the GOI, visa officers interviewing applicants cannot verify that 
the bearer of the card is in fact the owner, nor can the officers 
determine when or why the TCN first entered Italy - information 
readily available on the old paper versions. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
Host Country Passport 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶29. (U) The rollout of the new Italian e-passport began in October 
¶2006. The passport incorporates the security features of earlier 
versions and adds an RFI-enabled chip embedded in the back cover. 
The chip stores the same data visually displayed on the photo page 
 
ROME 00001118  005 OF 005 
 
 
of the passport and includes a digital photograph.  The inclusion of 
the photograph will enable biometric comparison through the use of 
facial recognition technology.  Other security features include 
optically-variable ink (OVI), microprint run-on patterns in the 
machine-readable zone and security thread throughout the paper 
stock. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - 
Identity Documents 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶30. (U) During the reporting period, the GOI also introduced a new 
ID card for citizens.  It replaces the previous paper-and-ink 
version and is commensurately more difficult to counterfeit.  The 
Italian government expanded the security authorization process prior 
to issuing these cards, incorporating multiple levels of 
government-controlled approvals between each stage of card 
production, registration, activation, and issuance.  Each card 
contains a secure, optical memory stripe containing an individual's 
color photo, digitized signature, fingerprints, and other 
biometrics.  When an applicant picks up his card from the issuing 
agency, he or she must verify that his or her identity matches that 
on the card through electronic finger-scanning.  The new national ID 
cards comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization 
(ICAO) standards and offer international interoperability at the 
level of the card's digital data.  According to the Italian Ministry 
of Interior, the new national ID card has been recognized as a valid 
travel document for border entry by some 32 European and North 
African countries. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Cooperation with Host Government Authorities 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶31. (U) Mission Italy has strong liaison relationships with Ministry 
of the Interior officials and police units at airports, borders and 
police offices country-wide.  As a result of our outreach efforts, 
we now receive regular alerts on counterfeit travel documents and 
mala fide travelers, as well as same-day responses to immigration 
and law enforcement inquiries.  Cooperation has facilitated 
info-sharing relating to new fraud trends, counter-fraud measures 
and informal criminal history confirmation on visa applicants. 
Mission Italy continues to seek ways to build relationships with 
members of the Italian law enforcement community. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Areas of Particular Concern 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶32. (U) The 75 percent increase (in comparison to 2007) in illegal 
immigration during 2008 - 36,900 illegal aliens arriving by sea 
alone - coupled with the increasing use of Italy as a transit point 
for East-to-West alien smuggling and the global economic downturn, 
mean that Mission Italy must be alert to a potential increase in 
fraud in the coming years. 
 
DIBBLE