FACT CHECK: Did Joe Biden Sign An Executive Order Making Kenyan Citizens In Specific Professions Eligible For E-Visas?

An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows an official U.S. government document announcing President Joe Biden signed an executive order making Kenyan citizens in certain professions eligible for E-visas.

Verdict: False

Biden has not signed an executive order to that effect. The document is fabricated and did not originate with the U.S. government, according to the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.

Fact Check:

The image shows what appears to be a June 11 press release from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The top line of the document reads, “AMERICAN E-VISA FOR THE CITIZENS OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF KENYA PRESS RELEASE.”

In the alleged press release, it claims Biden recently signed an executive order to make thousands of Kenyans who are health workers, engineers, marine workers, civil servants, business administrators, accountants, lecturers and special skills workers eligible for E-visas and residence permits. E-visas are designated for “treaty traders, treaty investors, and certain nonimmigrant employees of such people (and their spouses and children) who come to the U.S. under a treaty of commerce and navigation between the U.S. and their country of nationality,” according to the USCIS website.

The document in the Facebook post is fake. A review of the USCIS’s website, as well as its verified Twitter and Facebook accounts, turned up no instances of the agency announcing the supposed measure. Likewise, there is no record of Biden signing such an executive order in the Federal Register’s database of his executive orders or among the presidential actions listed on the White House website.

A close examination of the document itself reveals other red flags that further indicate it is fabricated. The press release references the “U.S. Department of Immigration,” which does not exist, and also appears to sport TV personality Oprah Winfrey‘s signature.

Victoria Palmer, a USCIS spokesperson, denied in an email to Check Your Fact that the press release came from the agency, noting, “This document is filled with glaring errors and attributes common to scam documents and emails.” (RELATED: Did The Russian Embassy In Kenya Put Out This Press Release About Imported Sputnik V Vaccines?)

The U.S. Embassy in Kenya also called the document “fake” in a June 17 tweet.

.@kainda2020 – thank you for fact checking! This document is fake, and was not produced by the U.S. government. For authentic U.S. immigration information, please always consult the U.S. Embassy’s website: https://t.co/7BTt4snneY

— U.S. Embassy Nairobi (@USEmbassyKenya) June 17, 2021

“This document is fake, and was not produced by the U.S. government,” the embassy tweeted, in part. “For authentic U.S. immigration information, please always consult the U.S. Embassy’s website.”

This is not the first time a fake USCIS document has gone viral. Check Your Fact debunked a nearly identical claim in April 2021 that purported to show a USCIS press release announcing that Biden had signed an executive order granting E-visas to 25,000 Nigerian citizens in specific professions. In 2020, Check Your Fact also debunked a claim that alleged former President Donald Trump had signed an executive order making Kenyan citizens in certain professions eligible for permanent E-visas.

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