Marriage fraud is no laughing matter and can have serious real-world consequences. A fraudulent marriage occurs when a non-U.S. citizen (alien) and a U.S. citizen enter into marriage for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration law. A foreigner may want to come to the U.S. for a variety of reasons; a common motivation is the economic opportunity available to U.S. residents and workers. For a foreigner to be legally allowed to live and work permanently in the U.S. he or she would need a permanent resident visa, or what is commonly referred to as a green card.  Or the alien is already in the U.S. and enters into a sham marriage in an effort to remain in the U.S.

Obtaining a green card can be difficult, though for many U.S. resident-hopefuls obtaining a green card through marriage seems like the only timely and feasible way. Although it is possible to obtain a permanent resident visa through other avenues such as the green card lottery, refugee status, and employment sponsorship, these options are often unlikely or impossible for many people.

But a marriage is a two person agreement, and both parties, in this case, the immigrant and the U.S. citizen must agree. So in the case of marriage fraud are U.S. citizens being manipulated by their spouses in order to obtain a green card? Although this is a possibility, in many cases of marriage fraud the U.S. citizen is an accomplice and is given money in return for helping the non-U.S. citizen obtain a green card.  It is also likely that the U.S. citizen simply enters into the marriage to help the alien obtain the green card while knowing that the marriage is a sham.  The U.S. citizen and alien may never live together or one spouse is dating a different person during the time of the marriage.  These are all basic signs that the marriage is fraudulent.  Marriage fraud is aggressively persued by the federal government.  

For example, on April 30, 2019 ninety-six people were charged after an investigation into a large-scale marriage fraud scheme. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a foreigner looking for a green card would pay around $50,000 to $70,000 to be connected with a U.S. citizen which they were to marry. The alleged head of the operation, Ashley Yen Nguyen, would give a portion of that money to the U.S. citizen as payment.

Because of the high prices, foreigners looking to obtain a green card may be willing to pay, steep penalties can be imposed on individuals found guilty of marriage fraud. Under federal law both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens who perpetrate marriage fraud can be sentenced up to 5 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.  Additionally, a foreigner who has entered into a fraudulent marriage will never be permitted to obtain a U.S. visa of any kind.  If the foreigner is found to have entered into a fraudulent marriage they are permanently barred from obtaining an immigration benefit.

The USCIS conducts an initial adjustment of status interview with couples applying for a green card. These interviews are conducted to detect whether or not the marriage is legitimate. Things like cultural commonalities, vacations, celebrating holidays, sex, children, as well as financial commitments are topics which may be brought up in an interview, and documented proof will be requested. According to Nolo.com if the U.S. government has suspicion that a marriage may be fraudulent, the government can take a more proactive approach, and conduct a second interview, commonly referred to as a Stokes interview. In this interview two spouses will be put in separate rooms and asked the same questions about their relationship, inconsistencies in answers between parties will be taken as signs that the marriage is illegitimate.  Beyond the USCIS process, if fraud is suspected the U.S. citizen and the foreign national could be referred to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for possible criminal prosecution.  HSI has the ability to conduct field interviews, as well as a variety of other investigative techniques, and potentially persue the matter as a criminal case.  HSI could then refer the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution.

If a green card applicant has been referred to the USCIS fraud unit or HSI, the alien applicant and the U.S. citizen are potentially targets of a criminal investigation.  Anyone in this situation should strongly consider hiring a criminal attorney.