Indian family indicted for immigration fraud

Indian family indicted for immigration fruad

The Associated Press


Last Updated: October 26, 2004, 08:10:25 PM PDT


FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A married Indian couple that allegedly got divorced in order to remarry the wife's younger brother and sister in an effort to speed the immigration process were indicted for conspiring to use fraudulent marriages to obtain immigration benefits.

The indictments of Fresno residents Harbans Kaur Hothi, 52; Paramjit Singh Taggar, 44; Gurdeep Singh Atwal, 43; and San Jose resident Pritam Kaur, 35, were announced Tuesday by U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.

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The normal waiting time to immigrate to the United States from India as a brother or sister of a U.S. citizen is approximately 13 years, compared to no waiting period as a spouse of a citizen.

According to the indictment, Hothi and Taggar are both naturalized U.S. citizens from India. They had been married and were raising two children together before getting divorced. They then returned to India, according to authorities, where Hothi married Taggar's younger sister, Atwal, and Tagger married her younger brother, Kaur.

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http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/9338606p-10245540c.html