Who is Neeraj Sharma, Indian-born CEO set to lose US citizenship for H-1B visa fraud?

Neeraj Sharma, a 50-year-old businessman from India and a naturalised US citizen, is set to lose his American citizenship because of his crime. He is among 17 naturalised American citizens at risk of losing their US citizenship.

Why?

On Monday (June 8), the US Department of Justice announced that it had filed denaturalisation actions against 17 foreign-born Americans, including Sharma, accusing them of acquiring citizenship through fraud, concealment, or misrepresentation of documents during the naturalisation process.

The group includes individuals accused or convicted of offences, including visa fraud and wire fraud, child sexual abuse, drug-related crimes, and others.

We take a look.

Who is Neeraj Sharma?

A 50-year-old Sharma is an India-born entrepreneur. He was the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of New Jersey-based staffing company Magnavision LLC.

According to the Justice Department, Sharma submitted 11 fraudulent H-1B visa applications. He then falsely claimed workers would be employed at a major global financial institution.

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Authorities allege that the applications contained forged executives' signatures and fabricated supporting documents. The Justice Department claimed that the fraud occurred during the period from 2015 to 2017.

In 2017, Sharma applied for naturalisation, the process of becoming a US citizen after living in the country for the required number of years.

According to the court filing, during the process of citizenship application, Sharma falsely said a few things:

>>He never committed a crime for which he was not arrested.

>>He never gave any information or documents to US government officials that were false or misleading.

>>He also asserted that he never lied to authorities to obtain immigration benefits.

Now, based on this information, USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) approved his application, and Sharma became an American citizen in December 2017.

The complainant said that Sharma, who was employed as a contracted business analyst at the bank, had allegedly promised job opportunities there, Times of India (TOI) reported.

Federal authorities now argue that Sharma obtained citizenship through material misrepresentations and false representations; therefore, his citizenship should be revoked.

"American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly. If you come here and break our laws and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on the new cases of denaturalisation.

What is Denaturalisation?

Denaturalisation is a legal procedure by which the US government can revoke the citizenship of naturalised Americans.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, federal authorities may seek cancellation of citizenship if they establish that it was obtained through unlawful means or that material facts were deliberately concealed during the application process.

The case of Indian-American Sharma is part of a crackdown effort by the US government, targeting naturalised citizens accused of serious misconduct.

With inputs from agencies