Visa News and Announcements

The "Shanghai 32"

On January 21, 1999, the American Consulate in Shanghai issued F-1 visas to thirty-two high-school-aged students to attend a one-month English language program at a university in California. At the time of the interview, each of the students told the interviewing officer they planned to stay in the United States for only one month, and would return at the end of the program. In addition, each student presented information on their family background indicating that they were from prominent families from Shanghai and Suzhou.

U.S. immigration law requires that all applicants for non-immigrant visas are presumed to be intending immigrants, and therefore ineligible for a tourist, business or student visa, until proven otherwise. Non-immigrant visas can only be issued to applicants that are able demonstrate such strong ties to their home country that they will be impelled to return after a legally authorized stay in the United States. Because of the students' strong family backgrounds and their statements that they planned to remain in the United States for only one month, the thirty-two students overcame the presumption of immigrant intent and were issued student (F-1) visas to attend the language program.

Unfortunately, the students failed to return to China at the end of their month-long program and remain in the United States today. On March 2, the international media, including CNN, Reuters and the Los Angeles Times, reported that a group of thirty-two Chinese exchange students had failed to board their scheduled China Eastern Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. The press initially reported that the students had "defected". Subsequent reports said the students had not boarded the flight because of a disagreement between two tour agencies. However, neither of these reports was accurate.

We have learned that the families of these students paid at least US $20,000 to intermediaries to arrange for their children to stay in the United States for an indefinite period of time, for the purpose of study leading to immigration. We believe these arrangements were made by Shanghai and Los Angeles-based sub-contractors hired by the program sponsors, without their knowledge.

The program appeared to be a success until the last day, when it was time for the students to board buses at the university campus to leave for the airport to return to Shanghai. The first sign of trouble was when an expensive car with two Chinese-speaking women arrived at the university as the students were boarding the bus to the airport. The women demanded to speak with the students but were kept from doing so by the program director. At the same time, then language program sponsors contacted the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at Los Angeles Airport, as well as airport security. The bus carrying the students then proceeded to the airport. As the students filed off the bus at the airport, several vans pulled up carrying a number of men. At this point, a large melee ensued as the students dispersed to the waiting vans and the men gathered up their passports and luggage. The students willingly went along with the

men and departed in the vans. One person was detained and questioned by the INS for several hours. This person was in possession of a list of families in the Los Angeles area to whom the students were taken. It is our understanding that the students are now living with families in the area of West Covina, California.

We believe that this was a case of well-orchestrated fraud. The information we have received from the INS, Los Angeles Police, program organizers and the families of the students leaves no doubt that the students misrepresented their intentions at the time of the visa interview to conceal their preconceived intent to remain indefinitely in the United States.

We are concerned about the impact this will have on other school-aged students who wish to travel to the United States to participate in exchange programs. The students involved in this incident were all from well-established families in Suzhou and Shanghai. If students such as these do not return to China, and resort to visa fraud in order to enter the United States indefinitely, it will make it harder for other school-aged students to get visas to participate in similar programs.