When attractive young Ms. Wang decided to arrange a fake marriage to fulfill her American Dream, she had no idea she was about to fall into a green-card marriage nightmare.

In 2007, Wang, then 25, had just ended a 7-year marriage with a Japanese-American man, after which she immigrated to the United States on a Japanese passport, hoping to begin a new life in California. Wang, who had supported herself by singing in a nightclub, hoped to try her luck in Hollywood. One day she opened the paper and saw an ad for a lawyer offering to arrange green cards through marriage.

Cheated out of money and dignity

Wang, who came to the United States on a tourist visa, hoped to settle permanently in the States, and procuring a green card through marriage promised the fastest way of doing so. But for the next two years, Wang would regret this decision while her lawyer cheated her out of her money – and her dignity.

At her first meeting with the lawyer, who was based in the San Gabriel Valley, Wang asked if it was possible to obtain a green card through marriage without living with her partner.

The lawyer told Wang it would be no problem, as long as she could pay an extra fee. First, she would be required to put down a flat sum of $5,000; after a suitable partner was found she would pay another $5,000, then after obtaining a work permit she would pay $10,000. Finally, when all the green card marriage interviews were completed, she would pay a final $10,000.

When the lawyer heard that Wang had sung in a nightclub since age 17 and had also been a public relations manager there, he assumed she was a prostitute, and hinted that the marriage arrangements might proceed more smoothly if she could offer him "special services." Each time would earn her $200, he said.

At first Wang vehemently objected, but the lawyer kept trying to seduce and intimidate her throughout the course of the proceedings, and at last Wang gave in. During those two years, Wang had intercourse with the lawyer five or six times, after which the lawyer insisted on paying, further humiliating her.

All she got was a broken finger

Wang's lawyer wasn't the only one eyeing her greedily. Her nominal "husband" propositioned her while driving to buy a wedding ring after a green card interview, and when she refused flat-out, he began yelling profanities. Wang pulled out her cell phone to dial the lawyer, but the man tried to twist the phone out of her hand, breaking her knuckle.

Worse, in order to take vengeance on Wang, her "husband" refused to cooperate during interviews. The lawyer had prepared the answers for 300 interview questions and had them practice in advance, but during the interview the man gave bizarre and inappropriate answers, quickly cluing in the immigration officers to the fact that this was not an ordinary marriage. As a result, their petition did not pass, and the immigration officers subjected them to further examinations, including a second interview. Shortly thereafter, Wang received a letter informing her that her application had failed.

Afterward, the lawyer disappeared without a trace, and without paying back Wang's $30,000. When this reporter called the lawyer's office, a different person answered the phone and stated that he had moved to England. The lawyer did not pick up his cell phone.

Wang, after being cheated out of her money and dignity, now suffers from depression.

Exploiting the system

According to Xu Junliang, a lawyer practicing in East Los Angeles, immigration officers in charge of green card marriage interviews are swamped with applicants; in order to quickly weed out fake marriages, they pay close attention to couples' mannerisms and eye contact as soon as they walk into the room. They are also suspicious of applicants with numerous previous marriages.

One Mr. Zhang, a chef who immigrated to the United States for work opportunities, had a more positive experience than Wang. After working in the United States for many years doing low-wage jobs, Zhang had difficulty finding a partner, but becoming an American citizen gave him an advantage on the playing field. When he returned to his hometown in mainland China, he found that many attractive young women were willing to marry him, hoping for the chance to immigrate and become a U.S. citizen.

Zhang – who knew that these offers were not made out of genuine feeling – and the woman he decided to marry agreed to live as a couple and not have children; when she got American citizenship, she was free to divorce him.

The entire process – getting married; filing for a green card; receiving a temporary green card; receiving an official green card; and applying for citizenship – takes at least four years. Zhang has now swapped wives three times, and enjoys a tax benefit from claiming them as dependents.

Although American law places no limit on the number of times you can apply for green cards through marriage, applicants who have married numerous times may draw suspicion, said Xu Junliang. One of Xu's clients had applied for marriage four times and recently tried a fifth; during interviews, the immigration officials rejected him straight out, saying he was exploiting the system.

Surprise inspections catch pretenders

For many immigrants hoping to achieve the American Dream, applying for a green card through marriage is the quickest way. And in the Chinese community, colorful stories about finagling green cards abound.

A 25-year old female student named Zhang had trouble finding work after graduating from an American university, so she married a Chinese-American man hoping to become a legal resident. After they were married, her husband, who works at an advertising agency, filed to get her a green card.

Zhang and her husband's application went through smoothly. Equally young, well educated, and attractive, they passed their green card interviews with flying colors.

But one morning at 4:00 a.m. immigration officials burst into Zhang's apartment and discovered she did not live with her husband at all. Deeming the marriage fake, they rejected Zhang's application.

A middle-aged Chinese immigrant named Lin, recently divorced from her Taiwanese husband, decided to use her sizeable alimony to arrange a green card marriage and start a new life in the States. Her husband had left her for an attractive younger woman, and Lin decided she would marry a handsome young man. She signed a prenuptial agreement with a young Korean-American who worked in a casino and started marriage and green card proceedings.

Unusual couples draw suspicion

But because of the disparity in their ages, ethnicities, and incomes, Lin and her husband ran into problems when they applied for a green card. Immigration officers visited Lin's neighbors to ask about her and her husband's interactions and daily life. After the interview, they required that Lin provide numerous additional documents and answer endless questions. To this day they have not approved Lin's application.

According to lawyer Zhang Zhuping, couples with large age differences, language barriers, or disparate ethnic backgrounds are likely to draw suspicion when applying for green cards.

Immigration authorities have long been aware of the frequency with which immigrants try to procure green cards through false marriages. Zhang Zhuping described how years ago, a 30-year old Chinese man arranged a fake marriage to apply for a green card, but the Immigration Bureau caught him in a sting operation. He was sued for immigration fraud and deported from the United States and has never been allowed to return.

Zhang Zhuping said he explicitly told the man that applying for a green card through a fake marriage violates federal law and is criminal offense. Battling with the Immigration Bureau won't get you anywhere, Zhang said.