Citizen Fake: Indian American Man in Florida Pleads Guilty to Naturalization and Passport Fraud

An Indian American man from Florida has pleaded guilty to naturalization and passport fraud. Jaiprakash Gulvady, 51, of Land O’ Lakes, admitted to procuring citizenship or naturalization unlawfully, misusing evidence of citizenship or naturalization, making false statements in a passport application, and using a passport secured by false statements, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Gulvady came to the United States in 2001 on a temporary business visa.  In 2007, he married a U.S. citizen. They however got divorced less than a year later. But less than two weeks after the divorce, Gulvady married another U.S. citizen. Based on that marriage, he adjusted his immigration status and became a lawful permanent resident in June 2009. Two months later, he traveled to India for the first time since he came to the U.S.. While in India, he married an Indian woman. On a subsequent visit to India, he and his Indian spouse conceived their first and only child, who was born in January 2011.

Following this development, his marriage to his U.S. citizen wife was dissolved in 2013. The following year, Gulvady “filed an application for naturalization and falsely stated that he was not currently married; that he did not have any children; and that he had never been married to more than one person at the same time,” said a press release from the Department of Justice. 

Based on that application, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in August 2014. Using his fraudulently obtained Certificate of Naturalization as evidence of U.S. citizenship, he applied for a U.S. passport and falsely omitted his Indian spouse. He used his U.S. passport to reenter the United States on at least three occasions.

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Gulvady faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. His conviction for unlawfully procuring citizenship or naturalization will result in the automatic revocation of his U.S. citizenship when he is sentenced. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Risha Asokan.