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| India-Pakistan |
| India detects 'visa fraud and tax evasion' in US Embassy school |
| 2014-01-17 |
| India has reportedly detected violation of visa and tax laws in the American Embassy School in New Delhi. A number of teachers are working there illegally, allege Indian government sources. This comes after the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York for visa fraud relating to her claims about the wages she was paying her housekeeper Sangeeta Richard. Since then, New Delhi has carried out three weeks of investigations, including the scrutiny of bank accounts and school records. The New York Times reported Thursday that a handout released by the school ensnared it in the diplomatic row. Addressed to new teacher couples, the handout asks spouses to list their occupation on visa applications as "housewife" and not to declare that they would be working. This amounts to visa fraud, say Indian government sources contacted by The Indian Express. They cite a 1973 agreement under which 16 American teachers are to be given visas with "tax-free" status; any teachers beyond that number would have to pay tax. The sources allege the school has been hiring couples in what they call a "piggyback" scheme, with one partner coming on a "work" visa and the spouse on a "spouse" visa. The salary of the spouse, too, is allegedly being credited to the bank account of the partner on a work visa, so that the spouse could evade tax. This is an "institutionalised fraud", one source told The Indian Express. The sources said the school charges up to $30,000 a year as fees. Located next to the embassy, it has about 1,500 students, nearly 500 of them American. The rest include some Indians. The New York Times report quoted a senior Indian official as estimating that the school has at least 16 teachers working illegally. "We have seen reports (about the school)," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told The Indian Express. "These are serious matters relating to the Indian visa regime and tax laws. We will examine them very carefully and take appropriate decision." The US embassy, when contacted, did not comment on India's allegations. It drew attention to a US statement released early this week that said issues pertaining to the school are among those raised by the external affairs ministry with the US government and which figured in discussions between Deputy Secretary of State William J Burns and Indian Ambassador S Jaishankar in Washington. "Deputy Secretary Burns conveyed that we take their concerns very seriously and will continue to address them via appropriate diplomatic channels," the statement said. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #7 Reciprocity?? Not exactly. The school (other than the name) has no official connection to the Embassy. The State Dept does NOT have schools overseas. It would be like saying IBM is committing visa fraud and somehow connecting that to the USG. The school is a private entity and does not fall under Chief of Mission authority. The AmCits that work at the school hold blue passports - not black ones. Oh BTWÂ…India is shithole. |
| Posted by: Bangkok Billy 2014-01-17 20:51 |
| #6 ...yes, the entire federal establishment acting as co-conspirators in openly violating the written law. If an entire 'group' is given de facto exemption from law, why should anyone be subject to the law? /rhet question |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-01-17 11:26 |
| #5 Breitbart: Exclusive--Report: TX Taxpayers Pay Billions for Illegal Aliens to Use State Services |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-17 09:45 |
| #4 Besoeker: maybe one day we Americans will be allowed our own country the way everyone else is. Grom: Zero would sacrifice a hundred embassies to ensure better relations with governments like Pakistans or the Moslem Brotherhood along with worse relationships with their enemies like India. And yeah, India's gonna be reciprocal instead of waiting for the adults to be back in charge. It's their right, just like it's their right to let their procurement bureaucracy disarm themselves the way they have, but it's still stupid. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-01-17 09:35 |
| #3 Lessons learned....? Is there something here we might learn about visas, immigration, employment, tax models and the protection of host-nation citizens ? Don't try this [violating non-res employment statutes] in Austria, Iceland, Germany, or Switzerland. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-17 05:56 |
| #2 Reciprocity |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-01-17 05:22 |
| #1 I hope Washington + New Delhi can quickly + amiably end this row. * DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > INDIA MADE TO GIVE UP KASHMIR JUST AS THE US GIVES UP AFGHANISTAN. * RELATED INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > [The Muslim Issue = ARY TV] PAKISTANI COMMENTATOR: WE WILL SLAUGHTER HINDUS WHEN THE US LEAVES AFGHANISTAN, HINDU KUSH MEANS A PLACE WHERE HINDUS ARE BEHEADED. * Also from DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > FOUR MORE ARMY BRIGADES [includ Armored forces] BEING DEPLOYED IN LADAKH TO EFFECTIVELY COUNTER CHINA. Ladakh = Indo-Chinese equivalent of the China-Japan disputed Senkakus/Diaoyus, or the China-PHIL-Vietnam disputed South China Sea. IIRC EARLIER SAME = CHINA PLA [routinely] DEPLOYS SOLDIERS INTO LADKH EVERY 14 DAYS. * DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > CHINA EXPANDS INTO HIMALAYA NEIGHBOR NEPAL | ISN, in order to better control TIBET + deter, contain INDIA. versus * SAME > US CONTROLS INDO-PAK LINE OF CONTROL!? The same as affirming times again that the US will be involved in any CHINA-PAK-INDIA MIL CONFLICT. * SAME > DID US INTELLIGENCE TRY TO RECRUIT DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2014-01-17 01:10 |