The Great TriValley University Scam : How not to come to Amreeka (Update 3)

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My sleepy town has never seen such excitement. Evidently , for the last so many years The “Tri Valley University ” in Pleasanton in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area has been operating as little more than a diploma mill. On January 19, ICE agents raided the home of the President of TVU Susan Xiao-Ping S. No ordinary home this. Nestled in the to-die for gated community of Ruby Hill, complete with its own designer golf course, this was a $ 1.8 million home with 5 bedrooms and four and half baths. ~~Purchased evidently through ill gotten gains at $ 300 a credit for a course in the Tri Valley University.~~ 95 % of the estimated 1500+ students at this University are/were Indian. Immigration got a little suspicious when when more than half of the students reported living in one apartment at 555 El Camino Real in Sunnyvale ( see : http://pleasanton.patch.com/articles/update-federal-complaint-calls-private-college-in-pleasanton-a-sham). Desi papers all over this news : ( See TOI : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-university-shutdown-India-seeks-report-on-students/articleshow/7372311.cms; The Hindu : http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article1129655.ece)

First a few facts from the ground as it were. Pleasanton is a quiet suburb with a population of around 68,000. If we had an actual University that house 1,555 students we would have known about it. The very fact that no-one around here has heard of this operation shows how shady the set up is.

The website of the University is such a hack job , riddled with typos and unbelievable claims that its next to impossible to comprehend that anyone could have been fooled into thinking that this was a genuine University.

From the various news reports, its obvious that the students ( a majority if not all) knew that this was a diploma mill. I quote from “The Hindu”:

Investigations by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) found that while students were admitted to various residential and online courses of the university and on paper lived in California, in reality they “illegally” worked in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas. The ICE has called it as a “sham university”

The students ( all on F1 visas obtained via an I-20 from TVU) were attending 100% of their classes online. Major red flag there as anyone with an iota of common sense knows that on an F1 you are expected to attend a certain number of hours in -class.Many of them were not even physically in California but were working in other states through a rather liberal interpretation of what “CPT ” ( Certified Curricular Practical Training ) means.

The local newspaper ( pleasantonpatch.com) has a couple of articles on this whole mess. The comments section under those articles have exploded with mostly TVU students whining about being deported. They are calling on everyone from ICE to the US government to save them. Surprisingly , not a single student has approached the Government of India

These are the facts.

Now for opinion and assumptions:

A majority of the students are from Andhra Pradesh. It is alleged that TVU had a “referral “system. Which means students referring other students to TVU got a “referral fee” or “cut of the proceeds”. My conclusion is that that’s how the net spread far and wide. One of the TVU students has been arrested by ICE.

See this : http://www.rediff.com/news/report/indian-student-arrested-in-us-sham-varsity-scam/20110125.htm

The forums are overflowing with fulminations from all sides. The students are pleading for help. They now face deportation or worse. They are getting all kinds of advice – some genuine , most spurious. Others are cursing them out and asking them to take responsibility. Of course, this is all the ammunition that the anti -immigration lobby needs to start making slurs against all Indians.

Do I sound unsympathetic? That’s because I am. I have plenty of friends and relatives who all struggled to get here on F1 visas. They did it the right way . They scrimped and saved and took the GRE/GMAT and applied to Universities and got transcripts and recommendation letters and stood in line to meet unsympathetic Visa officers and sweated and waited till they got their F1s. Then they arrived here and struggled with unfamiliar surroundings and reduced circumstances but worked themselves legally through college and then sweated it out again waiting for H1 sponsors. Hell, there were those who lived through the recession and were forced to leave for the des sooner than they expected to because their Visas ran out. But they did it and did it the RIGHT WAY. No shortcuts!

I know this because I also got here the hard way – the legal way. I have had to sacrifice career growth and peace of mind , waiting for my immigration process to complete. I have had to live hundreds of miles apart from my son because I was on a work visa with a completely unyielding employer, to whom I was more or less indentured due to the immigration process and my conviction that everything needed to be done the right way. I know this. I know that however hard I work and scrimp and save – I cannot afford to go to college here. I know that however hard I work, I will NEVER own a home in Ruby Hill. So I have no sympathy for either Susan Su or the students – both thought they could get away with it.

Is this “closing the door behind me ” once I get into the room?

I don’t think so : its more of making sure that everyone trying to get in is standing in line and following the rules.

UPDATE: Looks like the students have met with the Indian Concusl. Rediff – which from the beginning has been giving this story a very sympathetic slant towards the students -in a report that refers to the students of TVU as “duped” says,

“According to the group that came to the Consulate, a large number of students had not violated any visa or immigration rules and were unaware of the fraudulent nature of the school. Their primary concern is to complete their education for which they feel that they should be allowed to seek admission in other schools,” said Ashok Kumar Sinha, Consul (Community Affairs), Indian Consulate San Francisco. ( link)

Sure. The students also have a petition up on the TANA ( Telegu Association of North America ) website that reads in part:

We respectfully plead with you not to penalise us or our families and bring shame to our entire family and the village/ towns we come from, by deporting (removing) us from the US and causing us loss of name, reputation, money, resulting in devastation to us and our families and crashing all of our dreams

Too bad that the students who did this knowingly did not think about the “shame” and ” loss of reputation” before they decided to take a risk with a diploma mill. The Consulate’s official position is that they will extend help to all students who did not deliberately break any immigration laws .

UPDATE 2: Couple of things to note in the last couple of days. The first: that the ICE employed radio tagging ( aka Electronic Monitor bracelets ) to some of the students being invesitagted for Visa fraud . And the Indian Government went ballistic : in diplomatic terms that meant that they described this action as “unacceptable”. Today’s TOI has an article ( link) where the US Government shoots back :

The United States on Monday rejected New Delhi’s complaints about radio-tagging of some Indian students caught up in a visa and immigration scam and defended the practice saying it is “standard procedure for a variety of investigations, and does not necessarily imply guilt or suspicion of criminal activity.”

>

Secondly, I see that the tone of the reporting on the Great Tri Valley University scam has somewhat changed.Chidanand Rajghatta hada coulmn is yesterday’s TOI that sqaurely put the blame where it belongs: with the students who tried to short cut the entire immigration process ( link)

But eager beavers looking for a short cut to emigrating to the US through a questionable academic route ignored the red flags. After US authorities busted the scam, an estimated 1500 students, some of them gullible victims, some of them scheming immigrant hopefuls, face financial loss, loss of credits, loss of time, loss of face, and in some cases, even face deportation..

I feel vindicated!

UPDATE 3 : This story gets better and better ( or weirder depending on the way you look at it ) . TVU founder Dr.Sue now blames a couple of Indian staffers for the immigration fraud. she alleges that a couple of Indian students teamed up to defraud TVU, issue false visas through a consultancy and denies that she knew anything. Sure!( sarcasm)

Please notice the English used in the defence.

In the email and an attached document running into eight pages, Su claimed the TVU had not charged money from students for visa-related documents. And only 140 students out if its nearly 5,500 students had TVU I-20.

“Please see the attached TVU defend, and spread the truth, to put an end of this ’sham’ investigation!” she said.

Read more: ‘Sham’ US university blames Indian staffer for immigration fraud – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Sham-US-university-blames-Indian-staffer-for-immigration-fraud/articleshow/7404485.cms#ixzz1CiiO7sia

And for those of you interested, here is a very intriguing discussion thread. I will let you decide for yourself:

http://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/h1b/638882071/tri-valley-university-is-a-fraud

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Sneha Jha

"Do I sound unsympathetic? That’s because I am. I have plenty of friends and relatives who all struggled to get here on F1 visas. They did it the right way . They scrimped and saved and took the GRE/GMAT and applied to Universities and got transcripts and recommendation letters and stood in line to meet unsympathetic Visa officers and sweated and waited till they got their F1s. Then they arrived here and struggled with unfamiliar surroundings and reduced circumstances but worked themselves legally through college and then sweated it out again waiting for H1 sponsors. Hell, there were those who lived through the recession and were forced to leave for the des sooner than they expected to because their Visas ran out. But they did it and did it the RIGHT WAY. No shortcuts!"

This brought tears in my eyes because yes I had to go through every ordeal to make it to United States. I have FOUGHT with my university professors back home in India because they were jealous and refused to give me a bloody recommendation letter even though I had a reasonably good score of 1310 in GRE and 103 in TOEFL. I fought with the entire system to obtain 3 LORs. Then a professor flunked me in a particular subject and I went to the visa consulate while rechecking was in process and I was sure that I wouldn't be granted a visa but I got one miraculously. When I came here, I had to compromise on my standard of living. I couldn't grab a job on campus because there were too many students fighting for it. I lived with disgusting people who would kill each other for a cent. I tried working off campus for one week and realized the owner was an asshole cause he gave me 60 bucks for one week (14 hours of standing everyday) so I quit immediately. Annoying professors to interfering landlords..I have seen it all..Today I have my work permit and IM about to start work . Hard work is definitely paying off and I am glad I took no shortcuts...
Shilpa

"Hell, there were those who lived through the recession and were forced to leave for the des sooner than they expected to because their Visas ran out. But they did it and did it the RIGHT WAY. No shortcuts!" totally agree with this. I remember after my MS I was waiting for about 3 months, on OPT, to get a job. I was desperate and almost went back, but got a 'genuine' job in the nick of time. People gave me all sorts of suggestions to fudge my resume and run to a consultant but I stuck it out, and it makes me so sad that all of us Indians are painted with this ghastly brush! But I have no sympathy for these people who willingly went the wrong way!
guest#1

great post. I agree that the students had to have had some knowledge about this. My cousin is enrolled in that university under their PHD program. Not once have i seen him studying for any courses, tests etc while he was working a full time job. These guys certainly were not duped. They rolled the die..and..snake eyes.
AnandaSinha

A student smart enough to attend a US university should be smart enough to learn the rules and detect a scam at TVU's website .. which was clearly developed by an illiterate unable to educate others.

No, this was an illegal immigration scam from beginning to end in which both the "University Administrators" and the putative "Students" were willing collaborators in a joint criminal enterprise.

The scammers at both ends should be prosecuted to the FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, fined, serve time in prison, and in the case of the "students" permanently expelled from the country, and barred from immigration into the United States.

Vast numbers of students and immigrants from South Asia have earned an enviable reputation in the United States as law-abiding honorable people, hard workers who win recognition and success on merit, and in the fullness of time, become civic-minded patriotic US citizens. We need to preserve that reputation as desirable immigrants by condemning those who participate in scams and bring dishonor upon us all. Let us stand for the truth .. and keep the door open to others like us.
Espoire_here

I am doing my masters here and I know I contacted every possible Indian student at my university before I came here. No one and I mean NO ONE can tell "I have no idea what's going on. Give me a break. They had to know it was a sham university.
sambol

Good post Runa. I completely agree with you. There is no way these students were not aware of the immigration violations they were committing.

1. You are right no student can take more than 3 hrs of online courses while in the U.S. It is a violation of the federal regulations to do so. If an institution has 100% of their classes online they cannot recruit international students.
2. Students have to live at the address they give as their residence to SEVIS. If not they are again violating the federal Regulations.
3. They cannot work in a full time position while studying at the same time. Plus this university has been in business for one year. A student can get authorization for CPT only after they have been in the US for 9 months.

so the Indian consul is completely wrong in saying they did NOT violate the law. They did knowingly and so did their employers who hired them. How can we blame the kids you say? Ask any international student, especially from India, they know more about they law than any immigration lawyer. And most of the students do communicate to one another even before getting to the U.S. While the majority of the blame lies with the president of the institution, the students are no innocent sheep either.

Do I feel sorry for them? NO. Should they go home? A definite yes
Runa

Thanks, sambol. I was really conflicted while writing this post. Part of me felt uncomfortable about criticizing the students - who really face some bleak choicees. But I cannot help the way I feel about this issue. When people take shortcuts and knowingly break the law, the result is that even those who got here legally are looked at askance. And I fully agree with you that students who did things the right way are scrupulous about knowing the law and following it.
Santosh

Good post. I don't think asking someone to play by the rules or obey the law of the land is the same as "closing the door behind you". If people think that, they need to re-evaluate their priorities in life.

When I was a student in India applying for US universities, I did my research on what I could or could not do, when I came to the US. Working off campus as soon as I landed in the US was strictly off the table. Granted things may have changed in over a decade but even if the "university" (and I use that term loosely) authorities lied and I'm sure there are some students who actually fell for this but I refuse to believe that over 1500 educated people fell for the same lie. That coupled with the whole referral fee scheme and most students being from the same geographic location lead me to speculate that this entire operation reeks of a MLM scam coupled with immigration fraud.

On the other hand, someone at ICE/immigration or the education department dropped the ball big time on this one. It surprises me that these students got a F1 visa to this university. Was this university accredited? If so, **pardon my Hindi but** howTF did this university get accredited? If not, then howTF did these students get F1 visas? Assuming this university was not accredited, this reeks of an inside job at a US consulate in India.

There's plenty of blame to go around here: the students for either not doing their research or willingly participating in this scheme, the university for running the scheme and the government for either accrediting this university or handing out F1 visas to students coming to an unaccredited school. The government is the one that will come unscathed. I hope the university authorities are persecuted to the full extent. As for the students, as sorry as I feel for (some of) them, I don't. Hopefully future generation of students use this as a learning experience and stick to doing this the right way.

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