subject: Immigration Monitors Social Networking Sites to Verify Application Facts [print this page] Immigration Monitors Social Networking Sites to Verify Application Facts
FACEBOOK users beware, your internet postings and photographs may be monitored by INS.
According to Attorney Greg Siskind, USCIS examiners are accessing FACEBOOK accounts of applicants. Apparently there is an internal memo advising that there is a "treasure trove" of information pertaining to personal details regarding applicants for immigration benefits, presumably whether the applications are for visas, naturalizations, relative petitions, labor certifications, and so on. I have consistently advised immigration clients that their FACEBOOK, Twitter, MySpace, and even emails are public property and should always be consistent with the facts as they are presented in their forms and applications even before I heard of this memo.
You should always assume that any information that is publicly available is being looked at,so be prudent when you post anything online. I am sure this also applies to corporations and businesses sponsoring employees who are applying for H1B and other work visas. Here is a paragraph from the memo: "The Internet has made it increasingly easier for people to get connected with each other whether that is with long-distance family, friends, or to find new loves and friendships. Social networking sites are designed to allow people to share their creativity, pictures and information with others. Sometimes people do this to find romance, sometimes they do it to find friends with similar interests, and sometimes they do it to keep in touch with family.
Narcissistic tendencies in many people fuels a need to have a large group of "friends" link to their pages and many of these people accept cyber-friends that they don't even know. This provides an excellent vantage point for FDNS to observe the daily life of beneficiaries and petitioners who are suspected of fraudulent activities." I suppose happily married couples should be careful about visiting dating sites where there is a pending green card application.
