Is green card marriage fraud common?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long ago, knew of two. One was a straight up GC sham wedding. They were friends and it was more of a gathering/celebration that someone got to stay in the country. This was a long time ago, and I went to this 'wedding' with my then-boyfriend. Never knew what happened to them.

Second was a good friend. They started out roommates, then started dating, and when he was having trouble going back home to visit family because of the Persian Gulf War (long time ago too), she said I'll marry you. We already know each other, we live together, we're dating, we'll pass. She agreed to stay married for longer so they didn't trigger any review.

They are still married - it turned out great for them!

So the second couple not a scam at all? Why even use them as an example?

They entered the marriage fully intending on ending it and doing it only for the green card. I thought I made that clear. It just so happened that they fell in love and decided to stay married. But the day she called me to say she was married, I was like "what??!!" and she said, "just kidding. I mean, I am, but not really." Another way to put it -when they went into their interview, they were sweating it because they knew they were - at that time - lying.

But it just so happened to work out, so good for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long ago, knew of two. One was a straight up GC sham wedding. They were friends and it was more of a gathering/celebration that someone got to stay in the country. This was a long time ago, and I went to this 'wedding' with my then-boyfriend. Never knew what happened to them.

Second was a good friend. They started out roommates, then started dating, and when he was having trouble going back home to visit family because of the Persian Gulf War (long time ago too), she said I'll marry you. We already know each other, we live together, we're dating, we'll pass. She agreed to stay married for longer so they didn't trigger any review.

They are still married - it turned out great for them!

So the second couple not a scam at all? Why even use them as an example?

They entered the marriage fully intending on ending it and doing it only for the green card. I thought I made that clear. It just so happened that they fell in love and decided to stay married. But the day she called me to say she was married, I was like "what??!!" and she said, "just kidding. I mean, I am, but not really." Another way to put it -when they went into their interview, they were sweating it because they knew they were - at that time - lying.

But it just so happened to work out, so good for them.

But they were already living together and dating? Something is not adding up in your story.

[Anonymous]

Is this going to be one of those anti-immigrant threads again?

Because I'm a foreigner who has lived here for 20 years, legally and paying all state and federal taxes, and I don't know a single person who has done this. I haven't even HEARD of a single person who has done this.

So if posters respond saying "yes, it happens in some communities more than others", OK, I can believe that, but I refuse to believe it's happening en masse!

[Anonymous]

I know two undesirable American men who married pretty foreign wives. Without getting into the details, It’s caused heartbreak for both men. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet every single person responding "yes, it is very common" doesn't ACTUALLY know anyone who got married just for a green card. This uninformed nonsense has to stop.

No, it is not common. Yes, it does happen.

What makes you think that the PPs don't know anyone IRL? Just because you don't know anyone doesn't mean it's uncommon. I personally know of 2 and I've heard of a few others (close friends of friends or family). I also used to be in a line of work where immigration status was my focus, and there were some couples that I suspected but didn't know for sure.

If you know anything about immigration law--and I'm guessing you don't--there are only so many ways to become a green card holder and many of those options don't apply to most people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long ago, knew of two. One was a straight up GC sham wedding. They were friends and it was more of a gathering/celebration that someone got to stay in the country. This was a long time ago, and I went to this 'wedding' with my then-boyfriend. Never knew what happened to them.

Second was a good friend. They started out roommates, then started dating, and when he was having trouble going back home to visit family because of the Persian Gulf War (long time ago too), she said I'll marry you. We already know each other, we live together, we're dating, we'll pass. She agreed to stay married for longer so they didn't trigger any review.

They are still married - it turned out great for them!

So the second couple not a scam at all? Why even use them as an example?

They entered the marriage fully intending on ending it and doing it only for the green card. I thought I made that clear. It just so happened that they fell in love and decided to stay married. But the day she called me to say she was married, I was like "what??!!" and she said, "just kidding. I mean, I am, but not really." Another way to put it -when they went into their interview, they were sweating it because they knew they were - at that time - lying.

But it just so happened to work out, so good for them.

But they were already living together and dating? Something is not adding up in your story.

OK, so none of you think this was fraud? That's cool.
They lived together as roommates. Placed an ad and answered and became roommates. Started casually dating but religious view absolutely prohibited him particularly from marrying her. The only reason they got married was to get him a green card and they planned to divorce once that was secured. I'm not seeing how that's not fraud, but that's cool if you don't think so.

They told no one in either family (I was one of very few people who knew) until they decided to stay married and then got remarried/first time married for family. She wound up converting to his religion years later which "allowed" for the marriage to actually stick. But that original marriage was "fake" for lack of a better term. To this day, her family has no idea she was ever married prior to the wedding they want to four years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this going to be one of those anti-immigrant threads again?

Because I'm a foreigner who has lived here for 20 years, legally and paying all state and federal taxes, and I don't know a single person who has done this. I haven't even HEARD of a single person who has done this.

So if posters respond saying "yes, it happens in some communities more than others", OK, I can believe that, but I refuse to believe it's happening en masse!

I am also a naturalized immigrant and don't know a single person who did this either. I completely agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet every single person responding "yes, it is very common" doesn't ACTUALLY know anyone who got married just for a green card. This uninformed nonsense has to stop.

No, it is not common. Yes, it does happen.

What makes you think that the PPs don't know anyone IRL? Just because you don't know anyone doesn't mean it's uncommon. I personally know of 2 and I've heard of a few others (close friends of friends or family). I also used to be in a line of work where immigration status was my focus, and there were some couples that I suspected but didn't know for sure.

If you know anything about immigration law--and I'm guessing you don't--there are only so many ways to become a green card holder and many of those options don't apply to most people.

I actually do. I'm an immigrant myself. I applied for a green card and citizenship on my own. Spent the last 20 years working in the field.

I spend a lot of time in immigrant communities. But, sure you tangentially heard someone may have done it so your natural conclusion is that the fraud is wide spread. Do YOU know how complicated it is to obtain a green card, especially through marriage? I don't think you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this going to be one of those anti-immigrant threads again?

Because I'm a foreigner who has lived here for 20 years, legally and paying all state and federal taxes, and I don't know a single person who has done this. I haven't even HEARD of a single person who has done this.

So if posters respond saying "yes, it happens in some communities more than others", OK, I can believe that, but I refuse to believe it's happening en masse!

I am also a naturalized immigrant and don't know a single person who did this either. I completely agree with you.

Perhaps both of you move in circles where you had other options. Maybe you came over on an H1-B visa and adjusted your status? No one is saying this happens en masse, but that doesn't mean it's rare. This isn't the type of thing that gets talked about openly so unless you were really close with someone, would you actually even know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long ago, knew of two. One was a straight up GC sham wedding. They were friends and it was more of a gathering/celebration that someone got to stay in the country. This was a long time ago, and I went to this 'wedding' with my then-boyfriend. Never knew what happened to them.

Second was a good friend. They started out roommates, then started dating, and when he was having trouble going back home to visit family because of the Persian Gulf War (long time ago too), she said I'll marry you. We already know each other, we live together, we're dating, we'll pass. She agreed to stay married for longer so they didn't trigger any review.

They are still married - it turned out great for them!

So the second couple not a scam at all? Why even use them as an example?

They entered the marriage fully intending on ending it and doing it only for the green card. I thought I made that clear. It just so happened that they fell in love and decided to stay married. But the day she called me to say she was married, I was like "what??!!" and she said, "just kidding. I mean, I am, but not really." Another way to put it -when they went into their interview, they were sweating it because they knew they were - at that time - lying.

But it just so happened to work out, so good for them.

But they were already living together and dating? Something is not adding up in your story.

OK, so none of you think this was fraud? That's cool.
They lived together as roommates. Placed an ad and answered and became roommates. Started casually dating but religious view absolutely prohibited him particularly from marrying her. The only reason they got married was to get him a green card and they planned to divorce once that was secured. I'm not seeing how that's not fraud, but that's cool if you don't think so.

They told no one in either family (I was one of very few people who knew) until they decided to stay married and then got remarried/first time married for family. She wound up converting to his religion years later which "allowed" for the marriage to actually stick. But that original marriage was "fake" for lack of a better term. To this day, her family has no idea she was ever married prior to the wedding they want to four years later.

They were dating. Then they got married. The fact they didn't tell their families doesn't scream fake, to me, it just means they didn't tell their families. I've seen it happen when the woman is pregnant and they wanted to be married at the birth, even if they might divorce later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know two undesirable American men who married pretty foreign wives. Without getting into the details, It’s caused heartbreak for both men. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I know of an undesirable American man who married a pretty foreign wife. She definitely only agreed to marry him to get to the US. But eight years later she is a citizen and the marriage hasn't caused heartbreak yet. At this point it looks like it probably won't. None of us would have imagined it would last this long. After getting to know her, it became clear that she is a little odd and awkward as well, so they are more peas in a pod than they appeared to be at first glance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long ago, knew of two. One was a straight up GC sham wedding. They were friends and it was more of a gathering/celebration that someone got to stay in the country. This was a long time ago, and I went to this 'wedding' with my then-boyfriend. Never knew what happened to them.

Second was a good friend. They started out roommates, then started dating, and when he was having trouble going back home to visit family because of the Persian Gulf War (long time ago too), she said I'll marry you. We already know each other, we live together, we're dating, we'll pass. She agreed to stay married for longer so they didn't trigger any review.

They are still married - it turned out great for them!

So the second couple not a scam at all? Why even use them as an example?

They entered the marriage fully intending on ending it and doing it only for the green card. I thought I made that clear. It just so happened that they fell in love and decided to stay married. But the day she called me to say she was married, I was like "what??!!" and she said, "just kidding. I mean, I am, but not really." Another way to put it -when they went into their interview, they were sweating it because they knew they were - at that time - lying.

But it just so happened to work out, so good for them.

But they were already living together and dating? Something is not adding up in your story.

OK, so none of you think this was fraud? That's cool.
They lived together as roommates. Placed an ad and answered and became roommates. Started casually dating but religious view absolutely prohibited him particularly from marrying her. The only reason they got married was to get him a green card and they planned to divorce once that was secured. I'm not seeing how that's not fraud, but that's cool if you don't think so.

They told no one in either family (I was one of very few people who knew) until they decided to stay married and then got remarried/first time married for family. She wound up converting to his religion years later which "allowed" for the marriage to actually stick. But that original marriage was "fake" for lack of a better term. To this day, her family has no idea she was ever married prior to the wedding they want to four years later.

They were dating. Then they got married. The fact they didn't tell their families doesn't scream fake, to me, it just means they didn't tell their families. I've seen it happen when the woman is pregnant and they wanted to be married at the birth, even if they might divorce later.

OK. Well, she and he both admit (to me anyway) that they committed green card fraud but they're happy they did it. So whatever. Carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet every single person responding "yes, it is very common" doesn't ACTUALLY know anyone who got married just for a green card. This uninformed nonsense has to stop.

No, it is not common. Yes, it does happen.

Negative. I am 4:18. I think the uninformed person might just be you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this going to be one of those anti-immigrant threads again?

Because I'm a foreigner who has lived here for 20 years, legally and paying all state and federal taxes, and I don't know a single person who has done this. I haven't even HEARD of a single person who has done this.

So if posters respond saying "yes, it happens in some communities more than others", OK, I can believe that, but I refuse to believe it's happening en masse!

I am also a naturalized immigrant and don't know a single person who did this either. I completely agree with you.

Perhaps both of you move in circles where you had other options. Maybe you came over on an H1-B visa and adjusted your status? No one is saying this happens en masse, but that doesn't mean it's rare. This isn't the type of thing that gets talked about openly so unless you were really close with someone, would you actually even know?

The title of this thread is literally "is green card marriage fraud common?"

I can tell you with absolute certainty that any immigrant hanging out with other immigrants would be more privy to this information than Americans. Immigrants feel safer sharing with other people in similar situations. It's not rocket science. So the fact that neither one of us knows of other examples should tell you something.

I already said upthread that of course, it happens. It's a huge country and fraud happens in every possible facet of the government. It is not wide spread and people do get caught trying to game the system.

The immigrant hate even on this liberal site is unbelievable to me, however. We are not the boogie man you should be chasing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bet every single person responding "yes, it is very common" doesn't ACTUALLY know anyone who got married just for a green card. This uninformed nonsense has to stop.

No, it is not common. Yes, it does happen.

Negative. I am 4:18. I think the uninformed person might just be you.

You're the one who went to a green card wedding? So you happily participated in the fraud and scam and now you're here complaining about it?

Riiiighhhhtttt.