How to Report Immigration Fraud: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction
Reporting immigration fraud is a serious undertaking with potentially life-changing consequences for the perpetrator. An effective fraud report can result in deportation, criminal charges, monetary penalties, or the permanent loss of the ability to live and work in the United States.
At the same time, filing a fraud report carries real risks for the reporting party. Individuals sometimes—without realizing it—submit information that implicates themselves in related misconduct. In other cases, a disorganized or poorly prepared submission creates inconsistent or contradictory statements. At best, this damages your credibility. At worst, investigators may begin scrutinizing your own involvement in the alleged fraud. And knowingly submitting a false fraud report is, itself, a federal crime.
Because the stakes are significant on all sides, it is wise to consult a competent immigration fraud attorney before contacting the federal government. Proper legal guidance can help you avoid unintended mistakes, protect your rights, and ensure your report is taken seriously by the agencies that review it.
Step 1 – Identify Your Goal
Your first step in reporting immigration fraud is to clearly identify your goal. In other words, what specific outcome do you want your report to achieve?
Common goals may include:
Preventing the adjudication of fraudulent immigration benefits
Triggering removal (deportation) to protect the public
Initiating a criminal investigation or prosecution
Protecting taxpayer and government resources
Preserving the integrity of the immigration system
Reforming laws to make immigration fraud more difficult
This step may seem simple, but it will shape every aspect of your fraud report—what evidence you gather, how you organize it, how you present it, and which agencies you ultimately contact. Different goals require different approaches and different recipients.
If you are unsure of your goals, a knowledgeable immigration fraud attorney can help you clarify your priorities and determine which outcomes are realistic given the facts and the governing law in your case.
Step 2 – Understand the Law
Your second step is to ensure that you understand the law governing the type of immigration fraud at issue in your case. This is essential because “immigration fraud” is not defined in a single statute or regulation. Instead, the term functions as an umbrella for a broad range of criminal and administrative violations scattered across several titles of the U.S. Code.
Federal agencies generally classify immigration fraud in two major categories:
Document fraud
Benefit fraud
Since Congress has never addressed immigration fraud in a comprehensive manner, the term “immigration fraud” is colloquially used by subject matter experts to refer to a cluster of statutory provisions scattered across different titles of the U.S. Code. Below is a non-exhaustive sample of provisions frequently implicated:
Title 8 – Aliens and Nationality
8 U.S.C. § 1154(c) – Marriage fraud (administrative bar)
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C) – Fraud and misrepresentation (administrative)
8 U.S.C. § 1306(c) – Fraudulent statements for alien registration
8 U.S.C. § 1324c – Document fraud
8 U.S.C. § 1325(a) – Willful misrepresentation
8 U.S.C. § 1325(c) – Marriage fraud (criminal)
8 U.S.C. § 1325(d) – Entrepreneurship fraud
Title 18 – Crimes and Criminal Procedure
18 U.S.C. § 2 – Aiding and abetting immigration fraud
18 U.S.C. § 371 – Conspiracy to commit immigration fraud
18 U.S.C. § 911 – False claims to citizenship
18 U.S.C. § 1001(a) – False statements, generally
18 U.S.C. § 1002 – False documents
18 U.S.C. § 1015 – False statements
18 U.S.C. § 1028 – Identity fraud
18 U.S.C. § 1542 – False statements in passport applications
18 U.S.C. § 1546 – Identity fraud
18 U.S.C. § 1546(b) – Document fraud
Title 42 – The Public Health and Welfare
42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(8) – Social security document fraud
Understanding these provisions—along with their implementing regulations—is critical not only to keep you out of legal jeopardy but also for several practical reasons:
Elements of proof – They define what must be proven.
Standard of proof – They determine how much evidence is required.
Burden of proof – They determine who must produce evidence and under what circumstances.
Immigration law is one of the most complex bodies of law in the United States. The statutes are often confusing, ambiguous, or incomplete, and even experienced immigration attorneys must rely on ongoing research. A single seemingly minor fact can make—or break—an immigration fraud case.
Legal research in this area is equally challenging. Statutes and regulations are only the beginning. You must also consider:
Federal Circuit court precedent
AAO and BIA precedent decisions
Agency policies and manuals
Actual DHS, DOJ, and the State Department practices
Interagency memoranda
Given these complexities, do yourself a favor and retain a competent immigration fraud attorney. Skilled legal guidance can help you understand how the law applies to your case, avoid misstatements that could undermine your credibility, and prevent you from inadvertently incriminating yourself when attempting to report fraud.
Step 3 – Collect Your Evidence
Your third step is to collect relevant evidence to prove each element of immigration fraud. When it comes to immigration fraud, mere allegations are not enough. You must be able to prove the fraud, and evidence is the means by which you do so. The more relevant evidence you collect, the more likely you are to achieve your goal.
In general, evidence can take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to:
Documents – immigration filings, emails, messages, social media posts, financial records, etc.
Testimony – affidavits, declarations, written statements from witnesses
Photographs – images that support or contradict claimed facts
Video – recordings of events, interactions, or statements
Audio – recorded admissions, calls, or other relevant communications
The type of evidence you should collect depends on the facts of your case and the specific fraud at issue. For example, if you intend to report a foreign national for misrepresenting unauthorized employment on a Form I-485, relevant evidence may include a photograph of the individual at work, a message in which they admit they were working on a particular date or time, or a written statement from a former coworker confirming the unauthorized employment.
Keep in mind that, in the immigration context, the evidence you submit is not bound by the Federal Rules of Evidence. Immigration agencies may consider any credible evidence, including hearsay.
To improve the chances that the government will take action based on your report, make sure the evidence you collect is relevant to the elements of proof. Technically, evidence is relevant if it tends to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence, and the fact is of consequence in determining whether fraud occurred.
Practically, evidence is also relevant if it increases the likelihood that the government will actually open an investigation in response to your report. This threshold alone is often half the battle.
If you do not currently have evidence of fraud, an experienced immigration attorney can assist you in conducting a professional investigation to uncover and collect additional evidence.
Step 4 – Organize Your Evidence
Your fourth step is to logically organize your evidence so a federal investigator (or your attorney) can quickly understand what you have and how it fits together. Good organization increases the likelihood that your evidence will be fully considered. Poor organization increases the risk that key facts are missed or misunderstood.
Organizing your evidence involves choosing accessible file formats, using clear naming conventions, and structuring folders on your local hard drive or in the cloud. There is no single “correct” system, but you should pick one consistent organizing method and stick with it.
Consider the following approach:
File formats: Use file formats that are easily accessible and widely compatible. When it comes time to share your files with an attorney or federal investigators, this helps ensure a seamless handoff. Common formats include:
Documents: .doc, .pdf
Spreadsheets: .csv, .xlsx
Audio: .mp3, .wav
Video: .mp4, .mov
File naming: Choose a consistent naming convention so that anyone can understand the date, topic, and description of a file just by looking at the filename. Placing the date at the beginning also makes it easy to sort files in chronological order.
Convention: [yymmdd]-[topic]-[description].[extension]
Example: 260101-immigration-form-i485.pdf
Folder naming: Folders are usually best organized by topic. For example, create a top-level folder named “Evidence”. Inside that folder, create subfolders organized by subtopics based on what you have collected. Common subfolders include:
Immigration
Marriage
Legal
Cohabitation
Financial
Property
Communication
Shareable drive: Whether you intend to report the fraud yourself or plan to retain an attorney, your evidence should be stored in a format that can be shared quickly and securely. Consider using a secure cloud provider—such as Google Drive or Dropbox—so you can easily generate a restricted, shareable link when needed. Always ensure link access is limited to authorized users. If investigators ever contact you, having a complete, well-organized folder ready to transmit can save time and prevent errors.
If you hire an attorney, they will typically provide a secure upload link. When your materials are already organized, uploading everything becomes simple and efficient, allowing your attorney to begin reviewing immediately.
A well-organized, readily shareable evidentiary record makes it significantly easier for attorneys and investigators to understand your case, verify your claims, and take action.
Step 5 – Prepare Your Report
Your fifth step is to prepare an effective fraud report for dissemination to the appropriate federal officials. This is your opportunity to make a first impression and to present a case that federal agencies can actually act upon.
There is a significant difference between preparing a fraud report and preparing an effective fraud report. The federal government receives thousands of fraud tips every year, and most of them result in no action. For example, the Government Accountability Office found that only 3 percent of fraud reports submitted through the USCIS online tip form resulted in USCIS opening an investigation.
In some cases, agencies may decline to act for reasons outside your control—such as internal policies or resource limitations. However, a common reason a fraud report fails is because the report itself is defective in a fundamental way. According to the GAO, when USCIS’s fraud unit receives a report, it generally considers three questions before deciding whether to proceed:
Articulable: Is the report supported by sufficient evidence?
Actionable: Is the report within our scope of responsibility?
Determinable: Can the suspected fraud be determined through further investigation?
If your report fails to answer any of these questions in the affirmative, your report will likely die on the starting line. According to USCIS under the Biden administration, the majority of submissions they received simply did “not contain actionable information”. As a result, these reports were routinely closed immediately. If true, this is entirely avoidable and an unforced error by reporting parties.
To maximize your chances, your report must be articulable, actionable, determinable, and persuasive. Tell a truthful and compelling story that gives the government a reason to care and a clear path forward.
Below is a recommended structure for preparing an effective fraud report:
Summary: Tell your story in a short and persuasive way. Draft a beginning, middle, and an end. Give the government a reason to take interest in your case. Explain why your case is important, why the government should care, and how they can proceed.
Witnesses: Include background information about relevant parties and witnesses. Make sure to include contact information (phone, email, social media), as well as any alien numbers so federal investigators can easily research relevant parties and contact them for additional information.
Timeline: Include a chronological timeline of events, with citations to relevant evidence. Ideally, every fact included in your timeline should be sourced and cited to a particular piece of evidence. If there is no document to cite to, add one or more witness affidavits that contain the relevant statements of fact and cite to the relevant paragraph(s) within those affidavits.
Legal Analysis: Include legal analysis that applies the law to the facts and evidence in your case. In essence, give the government an open-and-shut fraud case on a silver platter. Then step back and let them take credit, while you achieve the goal(s) you set out to accomplish.
Exhibits: Attach your evidence as exhibits, labeled and referenced clearly in the body of the report. Comprehensive fraud reports—especially those involving marriage fraud or complex schemes—can easily exceed 100 pages with exhibits included.
If writing is not your strong suit, or if you simply do not have the time to invest, find a competent immigration attorney to help you prepare your report.
Step 6 – Share Your Report
The sixth and final step in reporting immigration fraud is to determine which government agency to contact. This is not always as easy as it ought to be. In most cases, your goal will tend to determine the appropriate recipients of your fraud report.
6.1 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
If your goal is to prevent the approval of fraudulent immigration benefits—or to prompt review of a benefit that has already been approved—USCIS is often the primary agency to contact.
In 2002, Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and transferred the adjudicatory functions of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service to a new bureau. In 2004, that bureau was renamed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Today, USCIS adjudicates most immigration benefits and therefore plays a central role in detecting and addressing benefit fraud.
You may submit a fraud report to USCIS in three primary ways:
6.1.1 USCIS Online Tip Form
You may submit a fraud report to USCIS through their online Tip Form at: https://www.uscis.gov/report-fraud/uscis-tip-form.
The form will request information such as:
Your contact information (anonymous tips are allowed)
The type of suspected fraud
Information about the perpetrator
A short description of the fraud (4,000 characters or less).
Notably, the form currently does not allow evidentiary uploads, a testament to the ongoing dysfunction of USCIS.
Traditionally, these online tips have been handled by the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS), which screens reports and decides whether further administrative investigation is warranted. Although USCIS historically lacked criminal investigative authority, the agency has recently announced efforts to expand internal law-enforcement capabilities.
Note: USCIS is actively working to overhaul the USCIS Tip Form for 2026.
6.1.2 USCIS/FDNS Mailbox
In some cases, sending a fraud report to FDNS by mail can be an option for submitting long-form fraud reports and/or physical evidence that cannot be submitted through the online tip form. This is a lesser-known option that is not well advertised by USCIS. You may send correspondence by certified mail to:
USCIS FDNS / Attn: Fraud Division
111 Mass Ave NW, Suite 7002
Mailstop 2280
Washington, DC 20529
The downside to this approach is that it involves a manual intake process by FDNS. There is a risk that your correspondence may get lost in transit. You can mitigate this risk by sending correspondence using certified mail with tracking to ensure delivery. Even if delivered, there is a possibility that your correspondence may be misplaced or overlooked inside FDNS. If this happens, unfortunately, you will have no way to know. Remember, USCIS is a bureaucracy with one-way communication when it comes to U.S. citizens.
6.1.3 USCIS Adjudicators
If the suspected fraud relates to a pending immigration benefit, and if you have a copy of the receipt number provided by USCIS, you can mail correspondence to the “USCIS Office Address” located at the bottom of the receipt notice. This is typically the USCIS office currently adjudicating the benefit, such as a service center or local field office.
When you send correspondence to USCIS, it is advisable to prominently display the following information in a cover letter to help USCIS staff properly route your correspondence:
Alien Name
Alien Number (identification number for foreign nationals)
Receipt Number for the active application or petition
The benefit of this approach is that your correspondence goes directly to the adjudicators actively reviewing the benefit request, bypassing initial FDNS screening that may otherwise cause delays or roadblocks.
6.2 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
If your goal is to initiate a criminal investigation into the alleged fraud or to trigger deportation proceedings, you should consider reporting your fraud not only to USCIS, but also to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
When Congress created DHS, it created a “Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement” which assumed the law enforcement functions of the legacy INS. In 2007, the agency was renamed “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” Today, ICE is responsible for enforcing U.S. immigration laws.
Within ICE, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is the office that conducts criminal investigations into immigration fraud. You may submit a fraud report to ICE/HSI in three primary ways.
6.2.1 ICE Online Tip Form
You can submit a fraud report to ICE/HSI through their online Tip Form at: https://www.ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form.
The ICE Tip Form will ask you for data pertaining to, among other things, your contact information (anonymous tips are allowed), the suspected crime, the location of the criminal activity, the perpetrator’s information, and a summary of the criminal activity (1,000 characters or less). Like the USCIS form, the Ice Tip Form currently does not allow evidentiary uploads.
The HSI Office of Intelligence manages these online tips. HSI Tip Line analysts refer tips that warrant further investigation to the relevant ICE/HSI field office. The HSI field office then determines how to proceed with the tip.
6.2.2 ICE Phone Tip Line
You can also submit a fraud report to ICE by calling their 24/7 toll free Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423). HSI Office of Intelligence also manages the phone Tip Line.
When you call the Tip Line, you will be presented with general information about HSI, including the fact that your call will be recorded, that you can submit tips anonymously, and that if you choose to provide your contact information it may be disclosed as part of a future administrative proceeding or criminal trial.
You will eventually be asked to select the subject matter of your call. ICE provides two options as it relates to immigration fraud – a specific category for immigration marriage fraud, and a second category for more general incidents of document and benefit fraud.
Notably, if you select the immigration marriage fraud option, you will be asked to specify whether you are calling to report a single incident of marriage fraud, or whether you are calling to report individuals or groups that are arranging fraudulent marriages. For single incidents of marriage fraud, ICE will direct you to contact USCIS/FDNS, indicative of the low priority that ICE places on individual cases of immigration marriage fraud, absent noteworthy fact patterns or opportunity for deterrence.
6.2.3 ICE/HSI Field Office
You can also contact your local HSI field office directly by phone or mail.
HSI is a massive agency with over 10,400 employees, including 6,800 special agents. Most of these special agents are assigned to one of 30 Special Agent in Charge (SAC) offices in the United States. SACs are the highest ranking criminal investigators within particular regions.
You can find the HSI office near you at https://www.ice.gov/contact/field-offices (use the filter to narrow by state and office type).
6.3 U.S. State Department
If your goal is to prevent the adjudication of fraudulent immigration benefits, and if the benefits were or will be processed by a consulate abroad—or if the fraud involves a visa or passport—you may also want to contact the U.S. State Department.
Aside from its diplomatic responsibilities in U.S. foreign policy, the State Department also plays a prominent role in certain immigration matters through the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA). CA issues passports, conducts visa interviews abroad, and operates the National Visa Center, which helps prepare immigrant visa applications for consular officers to review and adjudicate.
You may submit a fraud report to the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security by sending an email to PassportVisaFraud@state.gov.
6.4. U.S. Department of Justice
If your goal is to secure a criminal prosecution, you should report the fraud not only to the Department of Homeland Security but also to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is the department responsible for not only criminal prosecutions of immigration fraud, but also for enforcing immigration laws in the United States.
6.4.1 U.S. Attorneys
To trigger prosecutorial interest in your case, particularly if there is a larger public interest at stake, you may want to consider reporting immigration fraud to a U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) near you.
The U.S. Attorney General is the nation’s chief law enforcement officer for the federal government and leads the DOJ. The Attorney General delegates prosecutorial authority to U.S. Attorneys within DOJ to prosecute federal crimes, including immigration fraud. U.S. Attorneys are assigned to one of 94 federal judicial districts across the United States. The day-to-day work inside USAOs is carried out by Assistant U.S. Attorneys – commonly called “AUSAs”.
USAOs can request federal agencies to investigate violations of federal law, including immigration fraud. USAOs may also request the assistance of the DOJ Criminal Division, which enforces federal criminal laws. Ultimately, USAOs will decide whether to pursue criminal prosecution of a foreign national for immigration fraud.
You can find a USAO near you at https://www.justice.gov/usao/find-your-united-states-attorney.
6.4.2 Executive Office for Immigration Review
To report immigration fraud involving immigration court proceedings or the conduct of an immigration attorney, you may also consider reporting immigration fraud to the Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program operated by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
EOIR is an office within the DOJ, established in 1983, that conducts immigration court proceedings under the leadership of a Chief Immigration Judge who leads 600 immigration judges in 68 immigration courts and three adjudication centers across the United States.
EOIR considers appeals from immigration courts and certain decisions made by DHS through the Board of Immigration Appeals. EOIR also adjudicates certain types of cases mandated by statute through administrative law judges operating under the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer.
By regulation, EOIR’s General Counsel is required to designate an anti-fraud officer to, among other things, serve as a point of contact relating to concerns about possible fraud upon EOIR, and to coordinate with federal investigative agencies. Although EOIR’s Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program website claims to be “a centralized place to make complaints about issues of fraud”, their scope is limited to matters before the EOIR. In fact, their website instructs the public to contact USCIS with complaints about suspected immigration benefit fraud and abuse related specifically to applications and petitions before USCIS.
Accordingly, reporting fraud to EOIR is generally useful only when the perpetrator is already involved in immigration court proceedings or an immigration attorney assisted fraud in some form or fashion. If this occurs, you can file a fraud report with EOIR in three ways:
Phone: Call 1-877-388-3840
Email: Send an email to EOIR.Fraud.Program@usdoj.gov
Form EOIR-44: If the fraud relates to an attorney or accredited representative, download and submit Form EOIR-44, following the instructions set forth in the form.
6.5 U.S. Congress
If your goal is to change the law to make immigration fraud more difficult, you should contact your federal representatives in the legislative branch, as well as congressional committee staff with jurisdiction over immigration law.
Remember, the U.S. Congress is responsible for the rampant immigration fraud that is occurring in the United States. They write the laws and punt responsibility to executive agencies. If you want to direct your displeasure anywhere, consider inundating Congress with your complaints.
However, if your goal is to do more than complain by getting new legislation passed, you will need to play a leadership role. It will be a marathon, not a sprint. Ideally, you should prepare a legislative pitch deck that outlines the problem you’re trying to solve, provides evidence that the problem exists, and proposes a legislative solution to fix the problem.
As you go through this process, you want to build allies with legislative staffers inside Congress. Your initial goal should be to secure a call or meeting with lead staffers responsible for immigration law inside these offices. Building rapport and credibility with these staffers will be key to any legislative victories. These staffers are located in the following offices:
U.S. Representatives: There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, elected every two years, who serve the interests of districts within each state. The number of districts are determined based on population. You can find your representative here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
U.S. Senators: There are 100 members of the U.S. Senate, elected every 6 years in staggered terms, who serve the interests of states. Each state is represented by two senators. You can find your senators here (select your state): https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
U.S. House Judiciary Committee: Within the U.S. House of Representatives, the Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over immigration law. The committee consists of a Republican Party staff and a Democratic Party staff. You can contact the House Judiciary Committee here: https://judiciary.house.gov
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee: Within the U.S. Senate, the Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over immigration law. The committee consists of a Republican Party staff and a Democratic Party staff. You can contact the Senate Judiciary Committee here: https://judiciary.senate.gov
Eventually, you will need to build a coalition of support with likeminded people and other stakeholders. Through these conversations, you will continue to refine your pitch deck and legislative solutions.
As your pitch deck stabilizes, consider contacting traditional and alternative media outlets, YouTubers, Substackers, and others who have audiences that are interested in your ideas. This can help build awareness and credibility for your cause.
Conclusion
If you are serious about stopping immigration fraud, invest the time, money, and effort required to prepare an effective fraud report. A well-constructed report significantly increases your chances of success and helps expose the schemes that foreign nationals routinely perpetrate against U.S. citizens and the immigration system. Keep a complete record of everything you submit; it may prove valuable in future federal, state, or civil proceedings.