would this be fraud?

[worldcup 0]

I would really appreciate to receive some input on this issue. One of my friends has been emailing my sister in my native country for some time. He saw her picture in my house and asked me about her. She was involved in a relationship at the time, so he started emailing her after that relationship ended.They are the same age and seem to have lots of things in common. He is considering visiting her soon, but as he does not have enough money for the airfare, I will help him pay for it. He is saving his money because he will be attending a semester abroad in my region of the world next year, so he does not have a lot of money now. They want to meet in person and see if the spark they have online translates into face-to-face interactions. Now, I may be jumping the gun here, as they may not feel attracted to each other, but I am starting to think that if their interactions go well and the relationship continues to develop, would the fact that he is my friend and that I paid his ticket be construed as fraud? I'm not going to lie, I'm hoping that they do like each other, but I have not paid nor do I intend to pay my friend to engage in a sham marriage. I am really scared about the legal implications of fraud and about jeopardizing my sister's chances of ever coming here, so I am not going to do it. But I wonder if my facilitating the introduction and the visit will be viewed as fraud. Hope this makes sense. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Edited June 12, 2010 by worldcup

[aleful 1,905]

I would really appreciate to receive some input on this issue. One of my friends has been emailing my sister in my native country for some time. He saw her picture in my house and asked me about her. She was involved in a relationship at the time, so he started emailing her after that relationship ended.They are the same age and seem to have lots of things in common. He is considering visiting her soon, but as he does not have enough money for the airfare, I will help him pay for it. He is saving his money because he will be attending a semester abroad in my region of the world next year, so he does not have a lot of money now. They want to meet in person and see if the spark they have online translates into face-to-face interactions. Now, I may be jumping the gun here, as they may not feel attracted to each other, but I am starting to think that if their interactions go well and the relationship continues to develop, would the fact that he is my friend and that I paid his ticket be construed as fraud? I'm not going to lie, I'm hoping that they do like each other, but I have not paid nor do I intend to pay my friend to engage in a sham marriage. I am really scared about the legal implications of fraud and about jeopardizing my sister's chances of ever coming here, so I am not going to do it. But I wonder if my facilitating the introduction and the visit will be viewed as fraud. Hope this makes sense. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

why do you think it would be considered a fraud? if something does happen, the most important thing is that there is a ticket in his name, that he DID visit your sister, and it would have to be more than once during the relationship and that they proove that there is a REAL long-distance relationship.

visiting her and taking pictures together is only one proof, they will have to establish the relationship from here on with a lot more than that.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

It may not be seen as fraud but the best thing would be to document that the ticket is a loan and not a "gift" . If you give them the ticket then you may be seeing as paying for your sisters way to the US. write up a promissory note and make some small payment plan and you can present that if something happens and if it is questioned.

[Krikit 1,163]

You may want to ask this question in the Regional Forum which pertains to you. Each Embassy and Consulate has a different way of approaching things.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

You may want to ask this question in the Regional Forum which pertains to you. Each Embassy and Consulate has a different way of approaching things.

Absolutely! Being introduced by a member of the beneficiary's family and/or having members of the beneficiary's family assist in any of the costs related to the immigration process (including facilitating the first face-to-face meeting) might be a huge red flag at some consulates, or they might make absolutely no difference. Neither act is, in itself, fraud. However, a consular officer might believe the relationship is a sham if it appears that the beneficiary's family is setting everything up and helping to fund it.

This depends very much on what country is involved.

[worldcup 0]

why do you think it would be considered a fraud? if something does happen, the most important thing is that there is a ticket in his name, that he DID visit your sister, and it would have to be more than once during the relationship and that they proove that there is a REAL long-distance relationship.

visiting her and taking pictures together is only one proof, they will have to establish the relationship from here on with a lot more than that.

I wondered if this is fraud because I would be the one paying the ticket, thus, in a way, facilitating the relationship. As Jim said, this might be construed as the family setting up everything- in an effort to circumvent the visa limit restrictions.

I did not think about a promissory note! I really like this guy because he seems that he would treat my sister better than her previous boyfriends, and I would be really happy if they liked each other when meeting in person. I have not talked to him about helping pay for the ticket, and I have a feeling that he would not accept it; he is very proud about being self-sufficient. But I am thinking about offering to help because I know how much he is working now to accumulate money for his semester abroad.

Thank you for the regional forum suggestion! Should I ask the same question there or should I look at the rate of fiance/spouses visa approval from my country? Or should I look if my country is considered to be high fraud? From my knowledge, it is not. The country is not considered developing per se, but it is hard for people there to get tourist visas. I came here a long time ago, and I still cannot believe, to this day, how easy it was for me to get my student visa. I did not have my sponsor's proper financial support documentation, but they let me bring everything back the next day. They looked over it and asked me to go and pay for the visa. That was it! No other questions.

Anyway, if the relationship does progress, I will definitely advise them not to withhold any information about how they met. I can completely understand that the relationship will be scrutinized closely, but they should be able to prove that their relationship is genuine.

Edited June 12, 2010 by worldcup

[Old Dominion 26]

Just make a loan to him...let him choose to buy the ticket from his borrowed funds.