VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEK #1140/01 2940203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210203Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2751

UNCLAS BISHKEK 001140 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP AND CA/VO 
DEPT PASS TO KCC 
POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS 
FRANKFURT FOR KBROUGHAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC KG
 
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN FRAUD SUMMARY MARCH - SEPTEMBER 2009 
 
¶1.  Country Conditions:  Kyrgyzstan is a Central Asian republic of 
five million people.  Agriculture plays an important role in the 
Kyrgyz economy, which has not been as heavily affected by the global 
economic downturn as some neighboring countries.  Nonetheless, 
poverty and high unemployment lead many to pursue work abroad. Most 
migrant workers are in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, and 
Turkey.  Experts report that approximately 10% of Kyrgyzstan's 
citizens are living abroad.  According to the World Bank, in 2008 
overseas Kyrgyz sent $1.45 billion in remittances to family members 
in country - an amount equivalent to 29% of the national GDP. 
However, remittances declined approximately 30% in the first half of 
2009 compared to the previous year.  Inflation jumped to 
approximately 30% in 2008, and increases in food and fuel prices 
made conditions difficult. In 2009, the inflation rate is projected 
to be 8%.  Unemployment is estimated to be 12 - 18%.  Travel to and 
from Kyrgyzstan is difficult and expensive.  The majority of Kyrgyz 
vacation within Kyrgyzstan rather than abroad.  It is uncommon to 
encounter an NIV applicant who has traveled to destinations other 
than Kazakhstan or Russia. 
 
In the mountainous north of the country, the majority of the 
population is Kyrgyz, while the south, which contains part of the 
Ferghana valley, has a significant Uzbek population.  Kyrgyzstan's 
ethnic minorities also include Russians, ethnic Germans, Koreans, 
Tajiks, Kazakhs, and Uighurs.  Members of these groups have made 
asylum claims in the U.S. based on religious and political 
foundations, though there have been no serious conflicts or 
organized ethnic repression in Kyrgyzstan in the recent past. 
 
¶2. NIV Fraud: NIV fraud primarily consists of fraudulent supporting 
documents, such as bad letters of invitation, false bank statements, 
or fake job letters.  Many applicants open bank accounts a few days 
before their visa interview and temporarily deposit a large sum of 
borrowed money.  Post continues to see a steady stream of applicants 
wishing to study at community colleges or in English as a Second 
Language (ESL) programs that are low cost and located near friends 
or relatives in the US.  Most student visa applicants do not plan to 
study in fields related to their majors, as required by their local 
universities in order to receive study abroad credit. New York 
remains the destination of choice for both students and tourists who 
apply for NIVs. 
 
Post has received unsubstantiated reports that fraudulent Kyrgyz 
diplomatic passports have been issued and that slots to 
'participate' in official delegations have been offered for sale. 
Post has not yet encountered any fraud in diplomatic or official 
visa applications, but does carefully review all such applications. 
 
Post generally processes about 1,000 Summer Work and Travel (SWT) 
applications.  Though the incidence of fraud among students is 
usually low, post did discover an agency providing fraudulent 
student documentation for SWT applicants.  During its routine 
procedure to verify the student status of all SWT applicants, post 
discovered documents from various school administrators with 
strangely similar signatures.  The documents came from students at a 
school from which post had never received applications before.  Post 
confirmed with the university that the documents were not 
legitimate.  Upon detailed questioning, several applicants admitted 
that they had paid an agent for the fake documents.  The owner of 
the Silk Road agency providing the documents is a naturalized 
American citizen from Kyrgyzstan.  With assistance from RSO, Kyrgyz 
authorities moved quickly to arrest the woman.  However, she was 
released later the same day, presumably based on her personal ties 
with the Prosecutor's Office. 
 
A validation study conducted on SWT applicants revealed that 25% of 
issued students failed to return, about half of whom legally changed 
to F-1 status.  The majority of these students had been attending 
prestigious Kyrgyz universities and enrolled in less expensive 
community colleges in the States. 
 
Post has recently begun receiving calls from locals inquiring 
whether their visas were ready, despite the fact they had never 
applied with post or come in for interviews.   They apparently had 
gone through an agent who had told them the agency could, for a fee, 
arrange 'work visas' for the U.S.  The callers usually hang up 
before consular staff is able to elicit more detailed information. 
Post will continue to attempt to get more information on the 
situation from callers. 
 
¶3. IV Fraud: Post does not adjudicate immigrant visas but does 
accept petitions for processing in Almaty.  The majority of 
petitions involve Kyrgyz women marrying US citizens who are 
contractors or servicemen at the Manas Transit Center. There have 
been no significant trends in IV fraud, though post has seen an 
increase in the number of U.S. petitioners who "forget" to list 
previous marriages in order to avoid having to secure divorce 
records. 
 
¶4. DV Fraud: Post does not process diversity visas. 
 
¶5. ACS and Passport Fraud: Though overall passport and CRBA issuance 
is relatively low in Bishkek, the level is rising due to the large 
number of contractors working at the military transit center. 
During the reporting period, post encountered one CRBA application 
where the U.S. citizen claimed to be the biological father for the 
child who was born out of wedlock in 1998. Interviewing officer 
realized that travel dates indicated that the supposed father and 
mother were not in the same place at the time of conception.  Upon 
further questioning and suggestion of DNA testing, the Kyrgyz 
biological mother confessed that the father on the application was 
not the biological father. 
 
Post has seen an increase in internet 'dating fraud' against U.S. 
citizens.  After making contact and developing a relationship 
online, the person in Kyrgyzstan begins making requests for money -- 
usually to pay for visa applications, air tickets, or even emergency 
medical bills.  The scammer is not planning to travel to meet the 
American citizen and is simply keeping the money that is sent.  Post 
worked with RSO on these investigations and informed inquirers of 
the dangers of money transfer to unknown parties. 
 
¶6. Adoption Fraud: Post did not process adoption cases during the 
reporting period.  In October 2008, the Kyrgyz government instituted 
a moratorium on international adoptions, citing the need to root out 
corruption.  There are currently 65 U.S. families whose in-process 
adoptions have been held up by the moratorium. 
 
Though violation of Kyrgyz laws by local adoption agencies prompted 
the government's moratorium and investigation, post saw no fraud in 
relation to U.S. visa regulations.  In the past two years, post 
found no cases involving intra-family adoption for educational or 
economic purposes, forged birth-parent signatures, or children that 
did not meet orphan classification according to 9 FAM.  The 
corruption that led to the moratorium generally involved local 
adoption agencies not following mandatory wait times designed to 
allow local citizens exclusive rights to adoption during a child's 
first three months. 
 
¶7. Use of DNA testing: During the reporting period, post did not 
have any cases that required DNA testing.  In general, post rarely 
has the need to recommend DNA testing. 
 
¶8. Asylum and other DHS benefit fraud: Post does not normally 
process asylum cases but is occasionally called upon to verify 
locally issued documents supporting asylum and immigration 
applications at other posts. 
 
¶9. Alien Smuggling, Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Terrorist 
Travel: Kyrgyzstan is a country of origin and transit for human 
trafficking.  As outlined in Bishkek's 2009 Trafficking in Persons 
report, trafficking occurs for both forced labor and sexual 
exploitation.  The majority of victims travel to Kazakhstan, Russia, 
Turkey or the UAE. 
 
Due to the widespread fraudulent sale of the pre-2004 Kyrgyz 
passport, the US government ceased to recognize it as a valid travel 
document.  This old version of the Kyrgyz passport was discovered to 
be a key tool for traffickers in transporting victims out of 
Kyrgyzstan. Citizens of CIS countries do not need a passport to 
enter Kyrgyzstan - only an ID card. 
 
The Embassy places restrictions on USG personnel for travel to 
Batken Oblast due to security and terrorism concerns.  In May 2006, 
suspected militants attacked a border post in that region. Six 
members of government security forces were killed.  The Islamic 
Movement of Uzbekistan and other terrorist organizations remain 
active in Central Asia.  In June 2009, Kyrgyz government forces 
arrested members of suspected Islamic Jihad Union - affiliated 
terrorist cells in Jala-abad and Osh.  One government soldier was 
killed along with at least three militants in the incidents.  Last 
spring several gunfire exchanges occurred across the Kyrgyz-Uzbek 
border which were believed to involve Islamic militants.  Local 
press has also reported on "invasions" by Tajiks into Kyrgyz 
valleys. 
 
¶10. DS Criminal Investigations: Post does not have an RSO-I but 
works well with the RSO on related cases.  Post has not referred any 
cases to RSO for investigation during this reporting period. 
 
¶11. Host Country Passport, Identity Documents, and Civil Registry: 
Practically any document issued in the country can be fraudulently 
obtained for a price.  The procedures for issuance of civil 
documents are similar to those in the Russian Federation and other 
former Soviet Republics.  A birth or death is recorded on a 
certificate issued by a hospital.  This certificate has no security 
features other than a stamp.  The bearer then files it with their 
regional Vital Records Office.  The only record of birth for 
foreigners is the certificate issued by the hospital where the birth 
occurred - a document that is vulnerable to fraud. 
 
Negligence and corruption in the Kyrgyz passport agency led to 
large-scale sale of fraudulent passports.  Authorities de-recognized 
the 1994 Kyrgyz passport and replaced it with a significantly more 
secure document in 2004.  In recent years, post received reports of 
government officials selling passports and birth certificates.  The 
previous head of the Kyrgyz Consular Department was dismissed in 
December 2008, reportedly for selling official passports to citizens 
not affiliated with the government. 
 
¶12. Cooperation with Kyrgyz authorities: Cooperation with the host 
government on visa and immigration matters is good.  Post continues 
to build its relationship with the airport Border Guards and 
officials at the Public Records Office. 
 
¶13. Areas of particular concern: Post's main area of concern is 
possible fraud related to the Summer Work and Travel Program.  Post 
will continue to closely monitor SWT to assure that all applicants 
are genuinely qualified students. 
 
¶14. Staffing and training: Currently, the Fraud Prevention Unit is 
staffed by the Consular Section Chief, who is the sole consular 
officer at post, and a Fraud Investigator.  The Fraud Investigator 
has completed CA's on-line fraud training, is in the process of 
completing the consular correspondence courses, and has attended 
Anti-Fraud Training at FSI. 
 
GFOELLER