Ghislaine Maxwell entered the US on Epstein-sponsored H-1B visa, years before scandal

British heiress Ghislaine Maxwell entered the United States in the early 1990s on an H-1B visa sponsored Jeffrey Epstein, newly-unsealed documents the US Department of Justice show. The daughter of media tycoon Robert Maxwell would go on to become Epstein’s closest associate, helping him recruit underage girls for his sex trafficking operation.Ghislaine Maxwell is a former associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. (AFP)Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?Ghislaine Maxwell, 64, is a former British socialite who became close to Epstein in the 1990s. She was born in France and raised in the UK, where she lived in a 53-bedroom mansion along with her parents and siblings.Maxwell is the youngest daughter of Elisabeth, a French-born scholar, and British media tycoon Robert Maxwell. Educated at Oxford University, Maxwell worked for her father until his death in 1991, following which she moved to New York City.The newly-released documents related to the Epstein investigation show that Maxwell first moved to the United States on an H-1B visa.Ghislaine Maxwell’s H-1B visaRecords unsealed the US Department of Justice in late January show that Jeffrey Epstein filed an H-1B visa petition for Ghislaine Maxwell in November 1992, allowing her to live and work legally in the United States for up to three years.The petition led Epstein’s New York office as both her sponsor and employer. The documents also show that Maxwell was issued a physical H-1B visa the US consulate in London on January 15, 1993. She soon travelled to the US.Later immigration filings state that she began working as a manager at J. Epstein & Co. on January 19, 1993. Maxwell’s green card application was approved in 1996.In 2020, the FBI arrested Ghislaine Maxwell for her association with Epstein. She was charged with enticement of minors and sex trafficking of underage girls.What is Ghislaine Maxwell’s citizenship?Maxwell is a naturalised American citizen since 2002. She retains both French and British citizenship.In 2021, she offered to renounce her UK and French citizenship in an attempt to secure bail, The Guardian reported. The same year, she was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused the Jeffrey Epstein.(Also read: Did Jeffrey Epstein really eat babies? What fact-checkers say about cannibalism and ritual sacrifice)