COLUMN: IMMIGRATION CORNER – Michael J. Gurfinkel- Warning: US embassy is charging crewmen with fraud, despite approved provisional waivers!

In a shocking and disturbing change in policy, the US embassy in Manila has begun charging crewmen with fraud when those crewmen return to Manila for immigrant visa processing after obtaining an approved provisional waiver.

Until this policy is reconsidered, I would caution crewmen against leaving the US for embassy processing of their immigration visa even if they have an approved provisional waiver. This is because they could be charged with fraud if the provisional waiver is voided, and they would have to apply for a fraud waiver for the 10-year bar and misrepresentation which could take the USCIS several additional months to process, while they are stuck in the Philippines.

The reason or grounds for the fraud finding is based on the fact that the crewman merely overstayed his visa and/or began working in the US soon after arrival. This is the case even if the crewman arrived in the US decades ago! As the embassy explains its fraud findings, the crewman entered the US on a C-1/D visa, “and engaged in conduct inconsistent with his nonimmigrant visa status within 90 days of his entry by engaging in unauthorized employment and by failing to depart the United States within 29 days as required on a C-1/D visa.”

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Under the embassy’s reasoning, it would be legally impossible for any crewmen to now qualify for a provisional waiver, even though the provisional waiver regulations expressly state crewmen are eligible for provisional waiver, and even though, in the past, crewmen had routinely been granted provisional waivers, returned to the Philippines, had their immigrant visas issued, and then they returned to the US. I myself have written about provisional waiver for crewmen and featured several crewmen on Citizen Pinoy, who went back to the Philippines, were processed for their immigrant visa, and safely returned to the US.

It appears the reason for this change in policy is the US State Department’s recently imposed “90-day rule,” by which if a person enters the US on a nonimmigrant visa, and then engages in conduct inconsistent with that visa within 90 days of entry, they have committed fraud. Therefore, if a crewman (or even a visitor who overstayed) entered the US, and started working within 90 days of arrival, they have committed fraud. If they now return to the Philippines on a provisional waiver, they risk being charged with fraud. In addition, the maximum time a crewman may remain in the US is 29 days. Therefore, it could be considered fraud if they merely overstay beyond the 29 days or began working within 90 days of their arrival.

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