It is estimated that over 100 million people will migrate between 2005 and 2050. Developing countries will supply manpower to numerous aging populations to meet skill shortages that are already showing. That will mean large-scale migration across continents. No wonder most countries have put immigration procedures for qualified immigration on top of their agenda while they also keep an eagle eye on fraudulent migrants trying to take advantage of the situation. Many try to smuggle themselves in with fake documents.

As knowledge becomes the new power in this globalised world, movement of both skilled and unskilled labour is inevitable to allow processes to deliver to global demands. Globalisation has also resulted in job losses making migration to other countries a reality as desperate people try to make good their job losses and look for new opportunities.

Applicants are aware of the emerging hiring needs and more often than not, try to pad their resumes with false credentials to suit job requirements. Fraudulent resumes compete with honest candidates in the marketplace. In the process, job sites are flooded with applications of both kinds and such websites have yet to devise a system to spot the fraudulent ones or authenticate what the resumes claim. In the circumstances, employers have no choice but to look at every candidate with some amount of scepticism as they try to cross check the grandiose claims of the candidates.

However, it is not just the employer who needs to have a magnifying glass and the mindset of a detective to spot fraud. Candidates too sit on the horns of a dilemma. There is always the worry of whether they are being cheated by an overseas employer who really does not even exist. How can they assure themselves into believing that they will have a job once they land on foreign shores?

If the process of getting skilled knowledge workers from countries like India is taking an inordinate period of time, it is because a lot of time is wasted in authenticating the documents of the migrant worker. This is getting to be an area of concern both for the worker and employer. There have been cases of rampant abuse of documents in the desperation to work overseas making host nations very wary. It is not just the employee who is a party to the fraud. Often agents misguide and manipulate paperwork in order to procure a visa, charging huge fees for the services.

The Economist Intelligence Unit 2007 warns that there has been a proliferation of fake academic certificates. Naturally, it is worrisome. Immigrants sooner or later will have to provide extensive proof of their academic pursuits and also of their skills that they eloquently talk of in their resume or interview. As checks are going to get more stringent, it is only prudent to ensure that immigrants have all their records in order so that they are speedily cleared.

The cascading effect of this results in alarmingly growing numbers of “visa orphans”, who are left to live precariously outside of their visa boundaries.

So what can workers do to ensure that they are not part of the fraud?

They must ensure that:

read full article : http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/28/career-overseas-job-beware-of-fraud.htm