20 May 2010

US immigration investigate visa scam reports in CNMI

9:03 am on 20 May 2010

US Federal immigration officials are investigating a Chinese student's accusations about a scam to lure people to the Northern Marianas with false promises of a U.S. visa.

The female student also expressed her belief that the federal government had a hand in the elaborate scheme.

The woman told the federal immigration court in Saipan she paid over five thousand dollars to an American Chinese and arrived in the CNMI last January on a visitor's permit.

Earlier this year she was one of 25 arrested for allegedly trying to sneak into Guam illegally but the woman is now out on probation.

Our correspondent in Saipan, Mark Rabago, says the court was told many have been caught out by the scam.

"If it's true it shows that some Chinese Americans, or some scamists, are in cahoots with federal agents. So they are looking at this issue right now."

Mark Rabago says she has been advised to seek legal counsel to sort out her visa status in CNMI.