US State Department Launches Visa Fraud Tip Portal

The Department of State on Wednesday announced it has launched a portal to allow people to report visa fraud as part of a crackdown on the practice.

The portal, which was established in recent days, said that members of the public can submit information about possible U.S. visa fraud or misuse “for immediate investigation.” People are urged to send in as much information as possible in the report, which can also be submitted anonymously.

Details that can be submitted through the form include the name of the person believed to be committing visa fraud, identifying details about the individual, visa and passport numbers, nationality, and other information.

Members of the public can also flag whether a company, school, or other organization is engaging in visa fraud.

A spokesman for the department, Tommy Pigott, said in an X statement on Wednesday that the website is a “dedicated portal where you can report visa fraud and misuse.”

“Many of the tens of thousands of visa fraudsters the Department has identified and held accountable during President [Donald] Trump’s second term were discovered thanks to tips provided by upstanding and concerned members of the public,” the State Department said in a separate statement on Wednesday.

The State Department said that other details that can be provided include falsified documents, travel plans, sham marriages, shell companies, false job offers, and more. It also cited the facilitation of birth tourism, the practice where a foreign national comes to the United States to give birth to a child, as a reason for submitting tips through the portal.

“Visa fraud hurts American communities, undermines the U.S. economy and American workers, and jeopardizes U.S. national security and public safety,” the department said, adding that it is merely enforcing existing U.S. laws.

The State Department has taken action against visa holders for alleged fraud and misuses amid broader Trump administration actions targeting both illegal and legal immigration.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has said it would tighten visa rules and impose higher fees, while last year announced it would move to revoke visas for people who commit crimes and other offenses.

Last month, the department said it revoked more than 175,000 visas so far during the second Trump administration, including people who had called for violence against U.S. citizens, endangering national security, or defrauding American citizens.

“The majority of these visas were revoked due to law enforcement encounters for a range of criminal activity, with assault, driving under the influence, theft, and drug crimes being the leading causes,” the State Department said in August.

Also in August, Pigott told The Epoch Times that it would seek to revoke the visas of foreign nationals who entered the United States as short-term visitors before they sought asylum to stay in the country on a permanent basis.

While he did not say how many visas would be revoked in this process, Pigott said the State Department would coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security to issue the revocations on “a rolling basis.”

The non-immigrant visas were given to people with the understanding that those foreign nationals would return to their countries of origin, Pigott said.

“Obtaining a visa in order to seek asylum is fraud … is grounds for visa revocation,” Pigott added. “This is an ongoing process as we uphold the integrity of our visa and asylum laws.”