Indian-origin woman accused of ‘visa fraud’ on X: US Attorney steps in with major clarification

X user accuses Sadhana Gollapudi of visa fraud

An X user operating under the username 'CyberGreen09' accused Sadhana Gollapudi, a resident of Houston, Texas, of being a "forever F1 student", referring to the visa category that allows international students to study at US colleges and universities.

"Meet Sadhana Gollapudi, forever F1 student since 2014. Sadhana enjoys traditional barefoot crab dancing in Houston, Texas," the account, whose bio claims to be a fan of Pakistani actor Hamza Sohail, posted on July 30, as quoted by NDTV.

"For 12 years, she has played the student visa game, enrolling in multiple programs," the post alleged.

"Works as a dancer & cash tutor violating her visa," it further claimed.

US Attorney clarifies her immigration status

Aaron Reitz, the US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, took note of the post and clarified that Gollapudi was not living in the United States on a student visa.

Reitz wrote on X, "Thanks for flagging. My office looked. She’s a naturalized US citizen, not here on student visa."

"As US Atty over Houston, I take visa fraud seriously. We prosecute it to the fullest. Neither illegal aliens nor those who obtain legal status illegally are welcome on American soil," he added.

Gollapudi calls out ‘false and misleading claims’

Gollapudi, a biomedical engineer and also a Kuchipudi dancer, criticised the X user and accused the account of spreading false and misleading claims about her.

In an Instagram post on August 6, she wrote, "The past few days have been incredibly difficult and upsetting for me and my loved ones. My content has been reposted without my permission on another social media platform (X, formerly Twitter) by an account that is spreading false and misleading claims about me."

"If you come across these posts or any similar posts, I kindly ask you to report them for misinformation and unauthorized use," she added.

X account goes private after backlash

Following the backlash surrounding the allegations, the X user made the account private.

The controversy comes after the online post raised questions about Gollapudi's immigration status, which were subsequently addressed by the US Attorney's Office.

Indian American Advocacy Council responds

Indian American Advocacy Council responded with an X post that reads, "An American woman was filmed, named and falsely branded a “visa fraudster” before millions. The office of @USAttyReitz, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, confirmed the allegation was false: she is a naturalized American citizen.

"Yet rather than condemn the person who publicly smeared her, Reitz used her exoneration to rant about “illegal aliens” and who is “welcome on American soil."

"She is not a guest. She is not a suspect. She is an American."