One of our readers sent this email several times requesting that I respond in my column regarding the issues of submitting false documents to obtain US citizenship. Interestingly, she mentioned the falsity in detail that involves not just US immigration service but also some Philippine government agencies.
Dear Atty. Lou: I read your column in the inquirer. Can you write me a column about a falsification of information to the US government and ended up becoming a US citizen?
Francis (not his real name) was a Chinese citizen with Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) number. His parents “deceived” the Philippine government that they are Filipino citizens even if they are Chinese citizens. They didn’t bother to pay yearly ACR dues. Francis’ birth certificate stated he is a Chinese by birth. When he was studying in elementary, he just go to their family priest asked him to sign permission slip to enroll instead of getting study permit.
When he study in College, he will have to go to their family Compadre in immigration and give few hundred pesos and he get a Birth Certificate and correction in his birth certificate that his father is a Filipino and that he is a Filipino even has Masteral degree.
He even went to work in San Miguel and after that CIS in Meralco. Again if the company asked for his birth certificate, he will go to their family Compadre in immigration for correction in his BC that he is a Filipino.
Francis was able to obtain a working visa to go to the US to work as a programmer for a US company in the mid-90s. He used his Filipino passport which he obtained using a false Filipino birth certification again by paying someone to issue him this passport.
After a few years working in the US he filed an application to file for his immigrant visa through his employer. As part of the application he attached his birth certificate as a Filipino citizen even if he is a Chinese citizen.
There are numbers of Chinese who may have gotten Filipino passports for travel purposes. I even have one and use a Filipino last name just to go abroad for vacation so that I don’t have to pay a lot of travel taxes but when it comes to going to US , I can’t used this kind of passport because I might be deported .
But for Francis he used it to fool the US government that he is a Filipino. During the early 90s it is very easy to get Filipino passports without a BC attached and it is also easy to get a BC with change of citizen and paying higher price to get the Chinese last name for a Filipino passport and cheaper if it is a Filipino last name. With him, everything matches with his Filipino passport. This year he applied for naturalization to become an American Citizen. Is there a requirement to submit a birth certificate when applying for American Citizen?
What are the consequences of him submitting falsified documents to the Citizenship and Immigration Service during the green card application and naturalization application? If he is a US citizen now, may he still be held liable for submission of false documents?—Thanks, EL
Removal or Denaturalization
Fraud arises in the contexts of inadmissibility, removal or denaturalization situations. A green card holder who is discovered to have obtained his immigrant status through fraud is subject to deportation or removal proceedings based on fraud and misrepresentation. This will require proof that the misrepresentation was material to obtaining the status.
Willful misrepresentation is defined in FAM as simply a false misrepresentation, willfully made, concerning a fact, which is relevant to the alien’s entitlement. Not all misrepresentations or concealment will constitute fraud. It depends in what context is arises.
In the case of Francis, the allegation of “fraudulent” passport indicates that he concealed his real nationality. However, since he is now a US citizen, the US government has the burden of proving that the naturalization to US citizenship was procured through fraud and misrepresentation. In the Kungys v. United States 485 US 759 case, the Court determined that the misrepresentations made in the visa application process were not material to the naturalization process, and that the misrepresentations in the naturalization proceeding of the date and place of birth were not in themselves relevant to the naturalization process and were thus not material.
The revocation of naturalization is called “denaturalization” proceedings. This may be initiated against a naturalized US citizen if statutory grounds for its revocation exist. One of the grounds for denaturalization is the “illegal procurement or concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation”.
Denaturalization may occur in three ways (1) through a court proceeding; (2) through an administrative proceeding and as a (3) result of a criminal conviction for knowingly procuring naturalization by fraud where the sentencing judge strips the person of his or her citizenship.
The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to reopen naturalization 8 CFR Section 340 if the application is granted in error. DHS must prove that the evidence was not known at time naturalization granted. The US prosecutor may also initiate federal criminal against Francis if the evidence are beyond reasonable doubt that he had indeed defrauded the US immigration by submitting false documents.
Considering US Department of Homeland Security’s restrictive policy against fraud, this agency is mandated to go after fraudulent applicants even to the extent of revoking a naturalization certificates. The email sender may just be speculating or may have proof that indeed Francis engaged in fraud in obtaining immigration benefits. Whatever it is, proving fraud in denaturalization proceedings requires a very high standard of proof.
(Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at 887 7177)
