Press Releases

U.S. Embassy warns of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Visa sites

November 16, 2007

The U.S. Embassy in Nassau wishes to advise visa applicants that there have recently been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government sites seeking to charge potential applicants for U.S. government visa forms.  These websites and other companies seek money to download or complete required visa forms, suggesting that the forms are available only through their site. The Embassy wishes to advise visa applicants that there is no charge to download and complete the Electronic Visa Application Form at http://evisaforms.state.gov, nor to download any other U.S. government visa form.

Only internet sites including the ".gov" indicator are official U.S. government Websites.  The U.S. Embassy, Nassau website can be found at http://nassau.usembassy.gov.  All required forms for visa applications can be found through our website at no charge.  For any further inquires contact the U.S. Embassy Nassau’s Consular section at visanassau@state.gov

Visa applicants are advised to be cautious in all dealings with companies that claim to offer any assistance in obtaining U.S. visas. Please note the following:

Immigration Related Websites. Many other non-governmental Websites (e.g., using the suffixes ".com," ".org" or ".net") provide legitimate and useful immigration and visa related information and services.  Regardless of the content of other Websites, the Department of State does not endorse, recommend or sponsor any information or material shown at these other Websites.

Other Impostor or Fraudulent Websites and Email.  A few other Websites may try to mislead customers and members of the public into thinking they are official Websites. These Websites may attempt to require you to pay for services such as forms and information about immigration procedures, which are otherwise free on the Department of State Visa Services Website, or overseas through the U.S. Embassy Nassau Consular Section’s Website.  Additionally, these other Websites may require you to pay for services you will not receive.  These web sites may contact you by email to lure you to their offer.  Additionally, be wary of sending any personal information that might be used for identity fraud/theft to these websites.

How Do I Report Internet Fraud or Unsolicited Email? If you wish to file a complaint about Internet fraud, please see the econsumer.gov Website, hosted by the Federal Trade Commission, which is a joint effort of consumer protection agencies from 17 nations at http://www.econsumer.gov/english/ or go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).  To file a complaint about unsolicited email, contact Department of Justice contact us page.