U.S. religious worker visa fraud addressed

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- The fraud rate found among the issuance of religious workers' U.S. visas has been found to be "excessively high" by the U.S. Homeland Security Department.

Since 1990, the religious visa program has allowed churches, synagogues and mosques to hire qualified non U.S. citizens, but last year, a Homeland Security fraud-detection unit found 33 percent of the visas investigated were granted based on fraudulent information, USA Today reported Thursday.

"We found that the program had been compromised and the fraud rate was excessively high," said Emilio Gonzalez, head of the department's Citizen and Immigration Services.

Thursday, the department released proposals that would tighten up the process. Among the changes would be giving Customs inspectors the authorization to visit the religious facility to verify its size and number of members, as well as require proof from applicants that they are trained and qualified to do the job, Gonzales told USA Today.

The department reportedly wants to have the rules take effect by the fall, the report said.