FAKE VISA GANG BUSTED BY POLICE

The RGIA Police busted an eight member gang with their arrest who involved in preparation of fake and forged VISAS, Protector of Emigrants (POE) documents and operating mainly in West & East Godavari, Cuddapah and Nizamabad Districts.

Each Agent has about 30 to 40 sub-agents, who identify women, who are in desperate need of employment. Taking advantage of their pathetic condition they collect their passport and other ID proofs and send them to their counter parts in Gulf countries, who in turn obtain house-maid employment visas and sends back the same to the local agents of the above said districts.

            The persons who travel to Gulf countries on employment visa are generally illiterates/semi literate i.e. whose qualification is below 10th standard. Most of them seek employment as labourers & house maids on these Gulf countries. Such passengers require to undergo Emigration check required (ECR) process. To avoid the same the agents collude with airport staff and Immigration staff to gain hassle free entry.

          Generally two types of passports are issued. One is ECR and another is ECNR status. ECR is Emigration Check Required and ECNR is Emigration Check Not Required. In this process the passengers holding passport with ECR embossed on it have to go through POE (Protector of Emigrants) procedure which is mandatory in the interest of safety and security of the employee. POE is a little



expensive and cumbersome process and the employees, employers and local agents prefer to bypass this system. To get POE certificate the Employer/Kafil has to deposit a security amount of Rs 1,50,000/- in the concerned Embassy and execute an agreement regarding minimum wages, medical checkup etc., which is a cumbersome and expensive process.

            To bypass this process the agents prepare fake Visit/Tourist visas, fake POE certificates and tutor the passengers to show only the Tourist visa at RGI Airport by concealing the employment visa in their baggage and arrange their air ticket to Dubai and other countries. After arriving at Dubai such passengers produce their employment visas and reach the respective destination for employment.

            In this process the agents are alleged to be getting help from Air lines staff, shop keepers at airport and Immigration employees.

Of the eight arrested, Jakkamshetti Venkateshwar Rao works as supervisor at coffee shop at RGI, Syed Iliyaz is a customer service agent at Jet Airways at RGI airport, Mrs Debora Dommara  is working as a counter officer in Immigration, RGI Airport since 2013.

The prospective employment seekers are cautioned not to fall victim to such fake employment agents, as detection of fraud at a later stage may land them in severe legal tangles.