Posted on 01/02/2026 1:25:42 PM PST by Red Badger
Immigration lawyers are warning that federal agencies are increasingly skeptical when migrants claim to have legitimate marriages with Americans.
The policy shift comes after President Donald Trump’s deputies began cracking down on rising rates of marriage-related visa fraud by migrants who pay Americans for temporary marriages.
While marrying a U.S. citizen has never been a locked-in guarantee that a migrant would be issued a green card, marriages have previously offered a huge boost to a migrant’s request for legal status. But that may be changing as immigration attorneys are finding that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are giving such marriages much closer scrutiny than ever before.
Immigration attorney Brad Bernstein of Spar & Bernstein is warning his clients that marrying a U.S. citizen is no longer the near-guarantee of legal residence for foreign nationals, NDTV reported.
One new wrinkle in requests for marriage-related green cards is residency. The Trump administration is prioritizing a shared domicile for the migrant and the U.S. citizen, a requirement that was not prioritized in the past. Bernstein says.
“Immigration officers do not care why you live apart, and they do not care if it’s for work, school, money, or convenience,” the attorney added.
“So, if you’re not living in the same house every day, immigration is going to start questioning the marriage. And once they question it, they’re investigating, and once they come knocking on your door, they’re looking to deny you. So, if you want a marriage green card, you live together. Period,” he explained.
USCIS has warned migrants that a marriage to a U.S. citizen has to be real, not just an arrangement of convenience. And the agency will deny green cards to those who married with “no good faith, intent to live together as spouses and intended to circumvent immigration laws.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
THIS IS ALSO WHAT I VOTED FOR
Does this mean no more “90 Day Fiance” ON TLC LOL
I married a Canadian lady, and the Green Card exam was not cursory. They asked a lot of questions, with follow-ups, and wanted to see our wedding pictures.
But that was in the 1980s, before Canada also became permissive.
“THIS IS ALSO WHAT I VOTED FOR”
Same here. Lots of 19th Amendment voters are hooking up with terrorists, just to stick it to Trump and his supporters.
Actually, late ‘80s. It took me a while to find my bride. Also, she was just a child in the ‘80s.
This is very good 👍
I was already approved for green card via petition by my employer company. But was on a waiting list quota by country of origin. I did not even know marriage to a US citizen would put me ahead of the waiting list. I met a US citizen nurse, we fell in love and got married. I received the green card visa immediately. 5 years later I was eligible for citizenship and was naturalized.
Boasberg will fix this first thing in the morning.
Not only was it not easy to get my wife a Green Card, it took over 2 years.
Yeah, even after Dubya sped it up it was slow. (Personal experience.)
A lot of military who married foreign wives who got green cards are not gonna be happy...
Occasionally there are reasons a wife wants to stick with a green card, such as having property in her home country that the couple wants to move to after retirement. The USA is a very expensive place to retire...
When my wife and I married, the interview to get a Green Card was detailed and borderline insulting. However, the fact that she was obviously pregnant kind of “Put Paid” to the accusation that it was something we did to just get a green card. One of the questions was “What color were the bed sheets on your wedding night?”
They wanted evidence of a joint address, bank account, utilities, sworn statements, and I can’t remember what else. However, that was when Reagan was President
My sister in law from Dublin who worked at the US embassy in Frankfurt for 16 years did not get her green card for like 3-5 years and then finally a few years after that got her citizenship. Its not easy.
It took me three.
Sham marriages only need to last 2 years. The divorce proceedings can then begin.
I knew a beautiful woman from South America who did that. Her ‘husband’ looked and acted like a pimp. Both lived on opposite ends of the country and when their interview appointment came up she was advised to withdraw and return as they arrest people whose stories don’t jive.
Oh, yeah, we got asked a lot of questions, and the “examiner” also wanted to see pictures of us together in family activities and so on. The funny thing there being that we showed her some camping trip pics and said examiner knew a lot less about her own state than my wife knew of our state!
“THIS is ...??” The look on the examiner’s face was one I’ll never forget!
I’d have said: “We were too busy to notice!” Which was the absolute truth!
My wife is from a foreign country. Yes, SHE LIVED WITH ME. And I also had to sign that I would be 100% responsible for any costs the US government incurred supporting her.
“Signing an Affidavit of Support puts a sponsor in privity with both the beneficiary spouse and also with the federal government. If at any point before citizenship is granted or the 10 years pass, the beneficiary spouse receives means-tested public assistance from a federal, state or local agency, that agency can legally sue the sponsor and require him to repay the money that the agency provided to the beneficiary. (9) The term “means-tested public benefits” include food stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the State Child Health Insurance Program. (10) This area of immigration practice has seen a lot of discussion lately, with recent memorandums released by the Trump Administration criticizing governmental agencies for not properly enforcing reimbursement. (11)”
This is truly what I voted for!
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