Tibetan Man Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Filing Fraudulent Asylum Claims for Profit

New York - Tenzin Norbu, a Tibetan man, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $170,000 for his participation in a scheme to commit immigration fraud and make false statements on asylum applications submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York worked together for over three years in the investigation that led to Norbu's conviction.

Norbu, 56, sold his fraudulent services to applicants and filed dozens of false asylum applications with USCIS from 2007 to 2018. Following his extradition to the United States from Canada, Norbu was indicted by a grand jury in March 2024. In May 2025, Norbu pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit asylum fraud and make false statements, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and he was sentenced Oct. 15 by the Honorable Kimba M. Wood, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Norbu engaged in a deliberate, brazen fraud scheme in which he and others sold fraudulent asylum applications to immigrants seeking asylum in the United States for over a decade. Those false asylum applications all contained a boilerplate narrative that the applicant was a Tibetan and would thus face persecution if removed to China-controlled Tibet. These boilerplate narratives were lies conjured up by Norbu and his associates. Norbu also coached his customers on how to answer questions about the fake narratives and provided them with fake identification documents, all in exchange for a fee. As law enforcement caught on this fraud scheme, Norbu left the country for Canada, where he resisted extradition proceedings for nearly five years in an apparent effort to avoid criminal prosecution in the United States.

The government estimates that Norbu charged approximately $5,000 for each client for whom he prepared and submitted a false asylum application. The forfeiture amount of $170,000 represents the total proceeds traceable to the offense to which Norbu pleaded guilty.

Norbu's crimes left nearly 100 people with their immigration status in limbo, some of whom appear to have had valid claims to asylum even without the false narratives that Norbu prepared for them and others of whom appear to have had asylum granted to them without merit.

Protecting the integrity of the immigration process is a priority for USCIS. To report suspected immigration benefit fraud or abuse to USCIS, please use the USCIS Tip Form.

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