Claim: Geo News reported that a new American visa policy will allow foreign workers to move to a state in the US where they will be given free accommodation, three meals a day, and a job with a salary of 45 lacs a month. No prior experience or qualifications are required and so labourers can apply as well.
Fact: The video is doctored. Geo News did not announce any new American visa policies. Donald Trump, the new President of the United States has signed several executive orders cracking down on immigrants. In this political atmosphere, a visa policy such as the one mentioned in the claim is unlikely to have been implemented.
On 23 January 2025, Instagram account @tipstech21 shared a video of what looks like a Geo News bulletin dubbed with audio that does not match the lip movements of the anchors in the clip. The thumbnail of the video says “Dubai Breaking News” and “Go to America For Completely Free” in Urdu script.
A translated transcription of the video is as follows:
“Get an American visa for free and earn a lot. Receive a monthly salary of 45 lacs, free accommodation, three meals a day as well as a return ticket to Pakistan. There is an American state which always requires foreign labour. And for this purpose, labourers can also apply since there is no need for any qualifications or work experience. To apply for this visa, type ‘mizmaxs’ on Google, and click on this first link. On this application you will find either the option to ‘open’ or ‘apply’. And definitely go to share and repost this video.”
The bulletin is also briefly interrupted to show a screenshot of the word ‘mizmaxs’ searched on Google. This screenshot shows that the person who made the original screen recording on their phone is located in Okara, a district in Punjab, Pakistan.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reached out to Manzar Elahi Turk, Editor Digital at Geo News, who confirmed that the anchors shown in the video are Wajih Sani and Neelum Yousaf. He further clarified, “The video is doctored. Geo News never posted or ran this video on any of its platforms.”
We also found 13 other posts on the same Instagram account, repeating different versions of the same claim, often with the same audio paired with various Geo News bulletins showing various anchors. Additionally, the audio is not synced with the movement of the anchors mouths as they speak.
Trump’s immigration policy
Donald Trump took office as the 47th American President on 20 January 2025. Since then, he has announced a barrage of immigration-related executive orders, creating a pathway for justifying state crackdown on undocumented migrants in the US.
Through more than 21 such orders, Trump has made major changes to US immigration policy. Some of these are explained below:
- Mass deportations:
ICE has arrested more than 3,500 unauthorised immigrants across the US and the Trump administration is deploying military aircraft to deport more than 5,000 people that have been detained by Border Patrol in San Diego and El Paso, Texas. Expedited removals earlier only applied to areas within 160km of the US international borders. However, with Trump’s changes to the policy, these can be done anywhere across the country. There are 11 million unauthorised immigrants in the US, which has a population of 341 million, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center. - US-Mexico border:
On the inauguration day, Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border. This will allow him to deploy armed forces there to help immigration officials stop entries of undocumented immigrants and resume building border barriers. “America’s sovereignty is under attack,” the executive order said. “This invasion has caused widespread chaos and suffering in our country over the last 4 years.” This move has marked a 60% increase in Army troops in the area. - Halting migrant and asylum applications, cancelling appointments:
Trump has issued executive orders halting migrant and asylum applications and ending programs that allow people to legally enter the US. He ended the CBP One app, which let people make appointments at official ports of entry to begin requesting asylum. According to the Washington Post, at least 30,000 appointments were cancelled by the Homeland Security Department.
This also means that 3.6 million cases in US immigration courts and migrants will have to wait several years before finding out what will become of their immigration or asylum applications.
Trump has also cancelled the refugee resettlement program. This has also resulted in uncertain futures for Afghan allies of the US who were set to arrive soon. Starting on 27 January, the order called for the suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which processes refugees for resettlement in the country. - Birthright Citizenship:
Keeping up with his campaign promises, Trump has also revoked birthright citizenship in the US American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Legal Defense Fund have challenged the decision in a lawsuit, claiming it unconstitutional. This means babies born on US soil will no longer be considered American citizens if they are born to undocumented parents or those visiting the US on a temporary visa.
- ‘Remain in Mexico’ reinstated:
The Department of Homeland Security has reinstated the ‘Remain in Mexico’ programme that sends certain migrants seeking asylum to Mexico to await their US immigration court proceedings. Mexico has set up tent shelters in nine border cities, in anticipation of an influx of migrants.
- ICE mandate expanded:
Trump has also expanded the use of expedited removal, a fast-track deportation process. Now immigration agents can deport people without a court hearing if they believe the applicant is unable to make a credible asylum case. On 26 January, 956 people were arrested by ICE and other agencies in Chicago, Newark, New Jersey, and Miami.
Considering this backdrop of major immigration policy changes, and the fact that no mainstream international news organisation has reported any policies allowing foreign workers to have access to accommodation, jobs and meals in the US, Soch Fact Check concludes that this claim is false.
Virality
On Instagram, we found that the same social media user had shared at least fourteen various posts repeating the same claim. These posts can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. These videos have gathered more than 1.6 million views. One of these videos even claims that the policy has been instituted because of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
Some of these videos claimed to share similar information about Canada, claiming that 5 Canadian companies have announced visas for 50,000 workers based in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. These videos also direct users to the same application as those mentioning an American visa.
We also found other social media users on Instagram sharing the same claim here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Some of these videos are modified to make the same claim about England and Dubai as well.
We found several other Instagram accounts, all repeatedly publishing the same claim in the same format of a doctored Geo News bulletin. These accounts include, but are not limited to @officialsreviews @techofficials1 @happymaaz45 @tipstech21 @mizmaxs. These accounts exhibit coordinated inauthentic behaviour as they seem they were created explicitly to share false information packaged as news reports.
You can find another fact-check looking into a different claim propagated by the same accounts here.
Conclusion: The American government has not instituted any new visa policy which will allow 30,000 to 50,000 workers to immigrate to the US and earn 45 lacs or $8000 per month, along with three meals a day and free accommodation for at least 3 years.
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Background image in cover photo: LinkedIn
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