Resident of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements on VISA Applications

          CONCORD, N.H. – Anna Delarosa, 57, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to making false statements in applications for family visas, announced Acting United States Attorney John J. Farley.

          According to court documents, a limited number of family visas are issued by the United States State Department to citizens of foreign countries. To obtain a family visa, a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States (a “sponsor”) is required to submit an application for a family visa to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. A citizen of a foreign country is not eligible for a family visa if he or she is likely to become a public charge after they enter the United States. Therefore, under federal law, a sponsor is also required demonstrate his or her ability to provide financial support to the applicant by submitting a financial affidavit, copies of their recent federal tax returns, and other personal financial records to the USCIS. All applications for family visas are processed at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

          During the plea hearing today, Delarosa admitted that from August 2010 to April 2013, she knowingly caused ten financial affidavits that contained the forged signature of an alleged sponsor to be submitted to the National Visa Center in support of applications for family visas for citizens of the Dominican Republic.

          Delarosa will be sentenced on October 11, 2017. The crime to which she pleaded guilty, making false statements to the federal government, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

          The case was investigated by the United States States Department, Diplomatic Security Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kinsella.

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