Tri-Valley University Accused of Immigration Fraud

Tri-Valley University (TVU), a little known Pleasanton, California school, has been accused of being a sham university that illegally provided I-20s to foreign nationals. As of December 30, 2010, the school had 1,613 active and 966 initial F-1 students with approximately 95% of the students from India. The tuition at the school was $2,700 each term so the school would have generated about $7,000,000 in revenue in the spring 2011 term alone. The school offered three terms per year.
You can visit the school's website at http://trivalleyuniversity.org/index.htm. The website is unintentionally hilarious.

Alleged violations at TVU
There are too many allegations to list so I’ve chosen a few of the alleged violations to list here:
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Requirement: In order to gain approval to admit foreign students and issue I-20 forms, TVU was required to provide proof that at least three accredited colleges and/or universities would accept credits earned by TVU transfer students.
Allegations: TVU submitted three agreements from accredited colleges indicating that the colleges would accept TVU credits for transferring students. U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators determined that at least two of the colleges would not accept TVU transfer credit nor had they ever done so. These agreements are alleged to be fraudulent.


• F-1 Visa Requirement: F-1 students must maintain a full-course of study and physically attend classes. F-1 students are allowed to take one online course a semester towards their full-course of study.
Allegations: Hundreds of students that enrolled at TVU lived outside of California and were not physically attending classes. Students that lived outside of California were listed in the SEVIS database with the same residential address which was a single apartment unit in California.

• F-1 Visa Requirement: F-1 students are allowed to engage in employment while enrolled in school by obtaining approval for curricular practical training (CPT). CPT allows an F-1 student to work in their field of study.
Allegations: TVU authorized false certifications for work authorization by approving CPT for students outside of their major area of study.

Why students were attracted to this school
Initially, students were attracted to the school because it’s low cost. Tuition for one term was only $2,700. For this price, students did not need to physically attend class and could obtain curricular practical training (CPT). In addition to CPT, students could also graduate with a degree from TVU and use optional practical training (OPT) to work after they graduate. Graduates from certain fields of study could also apply for a 17 month extension of their OPT.
Allegedly, TVU also had a referral program for their students. The allegation is that TVU students received 20% of the tuition payments from any student they referred to the school. They also would receive 5% of the tuition payment for any student whom the referred student referred to TVU. This type of referral program is often referred to as a pyramid scheme. TVU also hired commission based agents in India to recruit new students.

What has happened to the school and the founder, Susan Su
ICE has already raided TVU locations seizing computers and other records. A complaint for civil forfeiture has been filed seeking to seize properties owned by Susan Su, the Chief Operating Officer and founder of TVU. Ms. Su has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. It doesn’t take a PhD to realize that criminal charges could be next. Ms. Su continues to firmly deny any wrongdoing. “Make millions dollars– that is true. You talk about our income, but we do not do cheating, we suppose to be right. This is the standard we charge, with so many students, we never forced anybody to sign up with us.”
Link to TVU Founder, Susan Su's interview.

What will happen to the TVU students?
Many of the students have received Notices to Appear. This is the first step in deportation. Some students have been interviewed by ICE and a small number of students have also been forced to wear ankle monitors. The students basically have three options. They can depart the U.S. on their own, they can report to ICE to pick a day to voluntarily depart the United States, or they can transfer to another school and file for reinstatement of their F-1 status. Many of the students will need the help of an immigration lawyer to sort out this mess.



attorney@mylawllc.com
My Law, LLC
Immigration & Tax Law Firm
www.mylawllc.com