How to Avoid Visa Scams

Visa fraud is a large industry, and it targets people at their most anxious. A few rules remove almost all of the risk.

Apply on official sites only

Government application systems are free to access, and the fee is paid to the government. Examples of the genuine addresses:

• United States — travel.state.gov and ceac.state.gov for the DS-160.
• United Kingdom — gov.uk.
• Canada — canada.ca.
• Norway — udi.no.
• Switzerland — sem.admin.ch.

Sites that charge for access to a free form, or that reproduce a government logo on a lookalike domain, are not official. Type the address rather than following a search advert.

Promises that should end the conversation

• "Guaranteed visa" or "100% approval" — no intermediary can guarantee any decision.
• "We have a contact inside the embassy."
• "You have won the Green Card lottery, pay a fee to claim it" — the Diversity Visa programme never contacts winners by email asking for payment. Results are checked only on the official State Department site.
• "Pay in cryptocurrency / gift cards / to a personal account."
• "We will supply the bank statements and employment letter for you."

Protect your documents

Never hand over your original passport to an unverified intermediary, and never share full scans on messaging apps with people you cannot identify. A passport copy is enough to open accounts in your name.

Check the fee against the published schedule

Every one of the five countries publishes its fees. If the amount you are asked for does not match, ask what the difference is for and get it in writing. A legitimate service fee is a separate, itemised charge on top of the government fee — never a mysterious "processing" markup.

If you have already paid a scammer

Stop all further payments, keep every message and receipt, report the payment to your bank immediately, and report the site to the relevant national fraud reporting body. Then start the genuine application from the official site.