US Embassy seizes 24 bogus TT passports

United States Embassy Acting Consul General, Ward Morrow, disclosed that his embassy has in recent times seized a total of about two dozen fraudulent Trinidad and Tobago passports from applicants for US visas.

He was answering questions at a news briefing at the US Information and Research Center, Marli Street, on the suspension of the Transit Without Visa (TWOV) programme whereby nationals of certain countries will now require a visa to transit through the United States. Asked about fraudulent visa applications, Morrow said: “There have been a couple of cases of photo substitution. I met the Chief Immigration Officer and we presented him with two dozen passports where the photo had been replaced.” But despite noting that visa/passport fraud was a billion-dollar business worldwide, he said in Trinidad and Tobago the problem was minute, saying that instead the biggest problem arising from our US visa applicants was people overstaying their permitted time. “People say they are going to visit for two weeks and end up staying six months.” He confirmed that our nationals had a history of violating the conditions of their stay in the United States. Morrow warned members of the public against persons claiming they could help them obtain a US visa through a “contact” within the embassy, noting that only American staff were authorised to approve visas. “There is no one is our embassy who ‘assists’ anyone. We have a very rigid internal process. You are only wasting your money.”

Morrow also addressed concerns about the United States Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology (USVISIT) programme which is due to be implemented on January 1, 2004, to more closely screen visitors to the US in wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Asked about fears that all visitors would be fingerprinted and photographed, Morrow clarified that this would not be a mass screening but be selective. “It will be on a case by case basis if the immigration authorities feel a person needs to be fingerprinted, not everyone. If the authorities have certain information that they feel this person is a threat.” In his initial address, Morrow said security concerns had made the US Department of State change its policy of allowing nationals of certain countries to transit the United States without a visa. This change he said would not affect citizens of visa-waiver countries like the United Kingdom who never did and still do not require any visa to enter or transit the United States. Further, the change would not affect citizens of Trinidad and Tobago who have always required and still require a visa to visit or transit the United States.