Latest news with #EB-3
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
FBI arrests two Pakistani nationals for visa fraud, money laundering in US
A major immigration scam that was going on for years was busted by the FBI recently where Two Pakistani men based out of Texas placed classified advertisements for fake jobs. FBI director Kash Patel said that the accused were identified as Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35. He added that a law firm and a business entity have been indicted for the visa fraud scheme. The law firm and the business entity are the law officers of D Robert Jones PLLC and Reliable Ventures, Inc. "Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir — two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications. Well done to our FBI teams and partners in the investigation," Kash Patel posted. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Nueva oportunidad en Miami para inversionistas con $300,000 dólares Financiación Empresarial Más información Undo — FBIDirectorKash (@FBIDirectorKash) What the fraud was about The indictment mentions that the accused exploited the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programs by placing classified ads for fake jobs to satisfy Department of Labor requirements. Live Events Even though there were no jobs, the ads helped them get labour certifications. They then submitted petitions with the USCIS for visas. When the petitions were submitted, the defendants also produced an application for legal permanent residence so that the visa seekers could also obtain a green card. According to the indictment, to make the non-existent jobs look legitimate, the defendants received payment from visa seekers, then returned a portion of the money back to the visa seekers as purported payroll. FBI calls it 'international crime' The two Pakistani-origin men were the masterminds of the fraudulent operations. However, the FBI called it an international crime as they ran an international criminal enterprise for years. "The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nation's immigration laws," FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said in the release. "These laws are necessary to protect national security and safeguard the lawful immigration process. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will hold any individual accountable that misuses their position of trust for personal profit." Apart from FBI, the DHS, the USCIS, the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the Department of Labor Office were part of the investigation.
Hindustan Times
25-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Who are Abdul Murshid and Muhammad Nasir? Pakistani nationals in Texas held for visa fraud in US, Kash Patel responds
Two Texas residents, who are originally from Pakistan, were indicted on May 23 for running a years-long visa fraud operation. According to federal prosecutors, 39-year-old Abdul Hadi Murshid and 35-year-old Muhammad Salman Nasir's operation exploited US immigration programs for personal profit. The duo, along with the Law Offices of D. Robert Jones PLLC and Reliable Ventures, Inc., are now reportedly facing charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering, and and Nasir were also charged with unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain US citizenship, CBS News reported. FBI Director Kash Patel lauded theFBI teams and partners in the investigation for nabbing the duo. He wrote in an X post, 'Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir — two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications.' According to an indictment, Murshid and Nasirexploited the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programs. 'Specifically, the defendants caused classified advertisements to be placed in a daily periodical for non-existent jobs," the United States Attorney's office said. 'These advertisements were placed in order to satisfy a Department of Labor ('DOL') requirement to offer the position to United States citizens before hiring foreign nationals. Once they received the fraudulently obtained certification for from the Department of Labor, the defendants filed a petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ('USCIS') to obtain an immigrant visa for the visa seekers.' The statement added, 'At the time the petitions were submitted, the defendants also submitted an application for legal permanent residence so that the visa seekers could also obtain a green card. According to the indictment, to make the non-existent jobs look legitimate, the defendants received payment from visa seekers, then returned a portion of the money back to the visa seekers as purported payroll.' Murshid and Nasir face up to 20years in federal prison if convicted. Murshid even faces denaturalization if he ends up being convicted of unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain his United States citizenship. 'These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain,' said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham. 'Pursuing criminal charges to deter and punish this type of flagrant disregard for the lawful immigration process is a top priority of this Office.' 'The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nation's immigration laws,' FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said. On Friday, May 23, Murshid and Nasir appeared before US Magistrate Judge Rebecca Rutherford. A detention hearing before US Magistrate Judge Brian McKay has been scheduled for May 20. While the probe was conducted by the FBI, the case is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorneys Ted Hocter, Tiffany H. Eggers, and Jongwoo Chung. Significant assistance to the probe was provided by the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
NDTV
25-05-2025
- NDTV
Fake Jobs, Fake Papers: FBI Busts Immigration Scam Run By Pakistani Nationals
Two Pakistani nationals based in Texas have been arrested for allegedly running a multi-year immigration fraud and money laundering racket involving fake job offers and fraudulent visa applications, FBI director Kash Patel has said. Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35, have been charged along with a Texas law firm and a company named Reliable Ventures Inc. The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering, and racketeering. Murshid is also accused of illegally trying to get US citizenship. "Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir, two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications," wrote Kash Patel on X. "Well done to our FBI teams and partners in the investigation," he added. Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir — two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications. Well done to our FBI teams and… — FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) May 24, 2025 According to the indictment, the two men and their businesses made money by filing fake visa applications to help foreigners, called "visa seekers" in court documents, illegally enter and stay in the US. They submitted false paperwork, lied about job offers, and used the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programmes to trick the system. To make it look like real job offers, they allegedly placed fake job ads in newspapers to meet the US Department of Labour's requirement of first offering jobs to Americans. Once they got approval, they filed petitions with US immigration authorities and applied for green cards on behalf of the visa seekers. They were also accused of taking money from these visa seekers and then returning part of it as fake salaries to make the jobs look legitimate. "These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain," said Acting US Attorney Chad E Meacham, adding that pursuing criminal charges was "top priority." FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R Joseph Rothrock added, "The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nation's immigration laws. These laws are necessary to protect national security and safeguard the lawful immigration process." Murshid and Nasir appeared in court on May 23. The government has asked that they be kept in custody until trial. A hearing is set for May 30. If convicted, both men could face up to 20 years in prison. Murshid could also lose his US citizenship.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Kash Patel gives major update on visa fraud run by two Pakistani men who placed fake job ads
Kash Patel congratulates FBI as the agency busts an international visa fraud run by two Pakistani-origin men. FBI director Kash Patel announces a major crackdown on an immigration scam that was going on for years by two Pakistani men based out of Texas who placed classified ads for fake jobs to orchestrate the scam. Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35, a law firm and a business entity, have been indicted for this visa fraud scheme. The law firm and the business entity are the law officers of D Robert Jones PLLC and Reliable Ventures, Inc. "Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir — two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications. Well done to our FBI teams and partners in the investigation," Kash Patel posted. How this visa fraud worked The indictment says that they exploited the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programs by placing classified ads for fake jobs to satisfy Department of Labor requirements. There were no jobs but the ads helped them get labor certifications. Then they submitted petitions with the USCIS for visas. At the time the petitions were submitted, the defendants also submitted an application for legal permanent residence so that the visa seekers could also obtain a green card. According to the indictment, to make the non-existent jobs look legitimate, the defendants received payment from visa seekers, then returned a portion of the money back to the visa seekers as purported payroll. FBI calls it 'international crime' Though two Pakistani-origin men were the face of the entire fraudulent operations, the FBI called it an international crime as they ran an international criminal enterprise for years. "The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nation's immigration laws," FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said in the release. "These laws are necessary to protect national security and safeguard the lawful immigration process. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will hold any individual accountable that misuses their position of trust for personal profit." Apart from FBI, the DHS, the USCIS, the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the Department of Labor Office were part of the investigation.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
US Visa Bulletin June 2025: Delays persist for Indian green card seekers
The US Department of State's Visa Bulletin for June 2025, released on Tuesday, has provided no relief for Indian nationals seeking green cards. The bulletin indicates that delays will persist, particularly in the employment-based (EB) immigration process, which remains over-subscribed. For key categories like EB-2 and EB-3—important for Indian professionals hoping to secure permanent residency—the priority dates have barely moved, with minimal progress in processing times. USCIS Visa Bulletin June 2025: Key takeaways EB-1 (Priority Workers): The cutoff for India remains at February 15, 2022, with no advancement. China's cutoff remains at November 8, 2022, while all other countries are current. EB-2 (Advanced Degrees): India remains stuck at January 1, 2013, unchanged from May. This means a 12+ year wait for many tech professionals from India. Filing dates for India stand at February 1, 2013. China will see a two-month advancement, with the cutoff moving to December 1, 2020. Other countries will advance by almost four months, reaching October 15, 2023. EB-3 (Skilled Workers): India remains at April 15, 2013. China will advance by three weeks to November 22, 2020. Other countries will see a five-week advancement to February 8, 2023. EB-5 (Investors): For EB-5 Unreserved categories, China stays at January 22, 2014, while India remains at May 1, 2019. All other countries continue to be current. The EB-5 set-aside categories—Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure—will remain current. Family-Sponsored: For F2A (spouses of residents), the cutoff remains at January 1, 2022, with filing at February 1, 2025, showing similar delays. What is causing the delay? The backlog in processing times is largely attributed to the 7% per-country cap on green cards, which treats India the same as smaller countries despite the high demand. With over a million Indian applicants primarily in EB-2 and EB-3 categories, the annual limit of about 140,000 employment-based green cards is unable to keep pace. The Trump administration's stricter H-1B renewal policies and the push for merit-based reforms further slowed processing. No unused visas from other countries have spilled over into these categories, compounding the delays. Breakdown of EB visa categories EB-1: Priority workers, including researchers, professors, and executives. EB-3: Professionals, skilled and unskilled workers. EB-4: Special immigrants, including religious workers.
