Applicants for United States green cards are increasingly reporting detailed investigations or rejections by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
This is surprising because these applicants are married to U.S. citizens. The Department of Homeland Security made a number of arrests for false marriages in September 2006, an issue that has caused an increase in scrutiny for green card applicants.
Homeland Security and state and federal agencies working together have begun what seems to be an extensive sweep, with large–scale investigations going on in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. – and other U.S. cities. The investigations focus not only on individuals who enter into false marriages, but on organizations that provide or facilitate such marriages. At the individual level, a person who has had a number of previous marriages – with past green card applications for a spouse – may be the object of increased investigation. The same holds true for people whose age differs greatly from that of their partner.
Investigations gather more accurate and more detailed information on such marriages. For example, U.S. Embassies in Korea have recently begun increased scrutiny of green card applicants in cases where a U.S. citizen with a history of divorce is applying for a green card for a spouse.
One such case involves Ms. Yoon, married to a U.S. citizen since 2004, and now living in Long Island. Ms. Yoon recently visited a local USCIS office to apply to have her green card status changed. Ms. Yoon has a temporary, two-year (conditional) green card issued following her marriage. By law, Ms. Yoon can now apply to the USCIS to have her status changed, and her green card upgraded to a general, 10-year card. During her interview, Ms. Yoon was asked to supply very detailed information. She claims that USCIS investigators believed her marriage to be false.
Ms. Yoon met her husband in New York, while she was studying English; however, the couple’s age gap is about 11 years. According to Ms. Yoon, both she and her husband were interviewed by investigators. USCIS interviewers put them into separate rooms and asked them minutely detailed questions. Among the questions asked were: “What is the color of your bedding – sheets, blankets, etc? What is the color of your and your spouse’s toothbrush?” Ms. Yoon at first became upset at such questions. Later she began to worry about her green card application. Could she really be rejected based upon her answers to such questions?
Professional immigration lawyers are not silent on the issue. They seem to agree on the following advice – the best way to avoid such detailed investigations is to have proper documentation to prove that the marriage is not a false. Such documentation can – and should – include rental statements, leases, housing contracts, etc. listing the names of both partners. This will dispel doubts that the partners live together.
One can also provide a wide variety of household related receipts – utility bills such as electricity, water, and gas, or telephone bills. Similarly, but perhaps more importantly, joint financial information must be available. This can be in the form of family or joint tax returns, joint bank accounts, or joint credit card or banking statements. Investigators’ doubts might be allayed in cases where the couple has had children. When this is not the case, one can go so far as to gather statements from neighbors and friends attesting to the couple’s marriage and joint living arrangements.
