does anybody know what the deal is with getting U.S. citisenship?
if someone where to marry an american from a foreign country how long do they need to stay married? how often and to what extent are they interrogated?
thanks in advance
The Reader’s Digest version:
Well, if you marry a U.S. citizen and apply for a green card on that basis (i.e. if you’ve been married for 2 years or less at the time you apply), your initial green card is only good for 2 years. Sometime during the 3 months before your 2 years are up, you need to file a whole new batch of paperwork showing either a) you are still married to each other, and that marriage remains bviable (with all sorts of supporting documentation: there’s no speciifc rule about exactly what you need to file, but your kids’ birth certificates are generally the best evidence. Also, joint property leases/ownership, other financial records, affidavits from family and friends, photos showing both of you, correspondence addressed to both of you, that sort of thing), or b) the marriage was in good faith, but has terminated (whether through divorce or death of the U.S. citizen spouse, with the appropriate documentation to prove it).
Both spouses are interviewed both initially, and after the 2 years. If BCIS (formery known as INS) sees anything they feel is suspicious, they can, and do, hold up the paperwork to conduct further investigations.
There are all sorts of tipoffs which an experienced person will see as an indication of a possibly fraudulent marriage, and I’m historically pretty good at picking out which cases are losers, but I’m sure as hell not going to give anyone tips on breaking the law.
Eva Luna, Immigration Paralegal and former Immigration Court Interpreter (and boy, have I seen some wacky marriage fraud cases!)