The US Embassy in India has issued a stern advisory notice that those convicted of crimes like assault, theft, or burglary on US soil may have their visas canceled.
The notice comes after an incident at Illinois where an Indian national was accused of shoplifting electronics and household items valued at around ₹1.1 lakh from a Target store.
The Embassy underscored that not only do these actions have legal implications, but they also stand the risk of endangering one's future possibilities of obtaining US visas.
It appealed to foreign visitors to strictly follow American laws to escape punishment and possible exclusion from re-entry.
Tweeting the notice on X (formerly known as Twitter), the US Embassy in India said:
"Assaulting, stealing, or breaking and entering in America won't only land you in trouble with the law - it may also get you deported and ineligible for further US visas. Law and order matter a great deal to America, and they look to foreign visitors to observe all American laws."
According to information from congress.gov, the official website of US legislative information, theft offenses could be in violation of several state-level criminal laws. In some cases, these offenses could also be prosecutable under federal statutes.
US legal codes deal with these offenses by employing categories like larceny, robbery, embezzlement, and burglary.
The most recent case that led to this alert was that of an Indian woman who purportedly spent more than seven hours within a Target store in Illinois on May 1, 2025. Over this period, it is claimed that she accumulated goods worth $1,300 (approximately ₹1.1 lakh) and made an attempt to leave the store without paying anything.
The event was made public following a scuffle between the woman and the store staffer which was captured on camera and shared online. A video uploaded on YouTube with police bodycam footage contained the following caption:
"May 1, 2025, police were called to Target after a woman spent hours in the store stealing stuff, eventually trying to leave with thousands of dollars' worth of unpaid merchandise. This is video of what happened next."
A Target employee is seen in the video confronting the woman and saying:
"We noticed this woman walking all over the store for the past 7 hours. She was grabbing stuff, playing with her phone, wandering around aisles, and finally tried to exit the west gate without paying."
The woman allegedly tried to pay for the goods when confronted by police, but officers nonetheless took her into custody and brought her to the station.
One female police officer questioning the woman can be heard to say: "Can you steal items in India? I didn't think so."
The woman will face felony-level charges according to the video. While official arrest procedures have not yet been initiated, legal action is forthcoming.
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