INQUIRER Global Nation

A READER sent this e-mail several times requesting answers regarding issues of submitting false documents to obtain United States citizenship. Interestingly, the sender mentioned in detail the falsity of the subject that involved not just US immigration service but also some Philippine government agencies.

The letter sender said Francis (not his real name) was a Chinese citizen with an alien certificate of registration (ACR) number. His parents “deceived” the Philippine government, having declared they were Filipino citizens even if they were Chinese.

Compadre system

They didn’t bother to pay their annual ACR dues. Francis’s birth certificate stated he was Chinese by birth. When Francis was in elementary, his parents asked the family priest to sign a permission slip to enroll, instead of getting a study permit.

When he was in college, he would go to the family’s “compadre” in immigration, give a few hundred pesos to get a birth certificate stating that his father was Filipino and that he was Filipino with a master’s degree.

He went to work in San Miguel and, after that, in Meralco. Again, if the company asked for his birth certificate, he would go to the family compadre in immigration.

Becoming a US citizen

Francis was able to obtain a working visa to go to the US to work as a programmer for a US company in the mid-’90s. He used the Filipino passport he had obtained using a false Filipino birth certification again by paying someone.

After a few years of working in the US, he filed an application for his immigrant visa through his employer. As part of the application, he attached his birth certificate as a Filipino citizen.

There are a number of Chinese citizens who may have gotten Filipino passports for travel purposes.

But for Francis, he used the Filipino passport to fool the US government into thinking he was a Filipino citizen. During the early ’90s, it was very easy to get Filipino passports without a birth certificate and it was also easy to get a birth certificate stating a fake citizenship. One had to pay a higher price to get the Chinese last name for a Filipino passport and cheaper price for a Filipino last name.

This year, Francis applied for naturalization to become an American citizen. Is there a need to submit a birth certificate when applying for American citizenship?

What are the consequences of submitting falsified documents to the Citizenship and Immigration Service during the green card and naturalization application? If he is a US citizen now, may he still be held liable for submission of false documents?

Fraud arises in the contexts of inadmissibility, removal, or denaturalization situations. A green card holder who is discovered to have obtained his immigrant status through fraud is subject to deportation or removal proceedings based on fraud and misrepresentation. This will require proof that the misrepresentation was material to obtaining the status.

Burden of proof on US gov’t

Willful misrepresentation is defined simply as a false misrepresentation, willfully made, concerning a fact, which is relevant to the alien’s entitlement. Not all misrepresentations or concealment will constitute fraud. It depends on what context it arises.

In the case of Francis, the allegation of “fraudulent” passport indicates that he concealed his real nationality. However, since he is now a US citizen, the US government has the burden of proving that the naturalization to US citizenship was procured through fraud and misrepresentation. In the Kungys v. United States 485 US 759 case, the court determined that the misrepresentations made in the visa application process were not material to the naturalization process, and that the misrepresentations in the naturalization proceeding of the date and place of birth were not in themselves relevant to the naturalization process and were thus not material.

The revocation of naturalization is called “denaturalization” proceedings. These may be initiated against a naturalized US citizen if statutory grounds for its revocation exist. One of the grounds for denaturalization is the “illegal procurement or concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.”

3 ways

Denaturalization may occur in three ways: (1) through a court proceeding; (2) through an administrative proceeding, and (3) as a result of a criminal conviction for knowingly procuring naturalization by fraud where the sentencing judge strips the person of his or her citizenship.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the authority to reopen naturalization if the application is granted erroneously. DHS must prove that the evidence was not known at the time naturalization was granted. The US prosecutor may also initiate federal criminal proceedings against Francis if the pieces of evidences were beyond reasonable doubt that he had indeed defrauded the US immigration by submitting false documents.

Considering its restrictive policy against fraud, DHS is mandated to go after fraudulent applicants even to the extent of revoking naturalization certificates. The e-mail sender may either be just be speculating or have proof that indeed Francis had engaged in fraud in obtaining immigration benefits. Whatever it is, proving fraud in denaturalization proceedings requires a very high standard of proof.