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MARRIAGE to a US citizen is an obvious and well-known method of obtaining legal and permanent residence in the United States. Once married to a US citizen many immigration violations are forgiven or overlooked and the path to residency is clear. This ease of procedure is well-known and often abused by those with no other immigration choices.
This abuse is also well known to the Immigration Service and is a pet peeve of the officers who conduct marriage based immigration interviews. Among all of the requirements for permanent residency the question of whether or not the applicant has entered into a "bona fide," marriage is the primary issue of the interview.
The Immigration Service has defined a bona fide marriage as a marriage entered into for reasons other than circumventing immigration laws. Now, this definition is vague and does not really help so we must look at what they really mean. The opposite of bona fide has been labeled by the Immigration Service as "Sham Marriages" which is a marriage evidenced by the preconceived intent of at least one of the parties to marry solely for the applicant to obtain residency.
Intent is a difficult concept to prove, how can the Immigration Service prove what an applicant was thinking when he or she married a US citizen? Well, the Immigration Service has developed a methodology in discovering what they term as marriage fraud. These methods include:
Visual Assessment—Profiling for a lack of a better term, is when the interviewing officer views the couple and makes a decision as to whether or not they look right together. Officers will make an immediate visual assessment of a couple when their name is called to look for signs of deceit by assessing differences in, race, religion, and other overt characteristics. Of course such tactics will never be confirmed but I can tell you that they exist and are being used.
Behavioral Keys—Seasoned Immigration officers will note behavioral keys, tendencies and body language from the couple. Once they call the name of the applicant to introductions and all through the interview behavior is being watched. Is the couple comfortable together, do they appear too amorous for a married couple, are they sincere, how do they communicate together? I once had an officer tell me that he knew a couple was in a valid marriage when the wife said to the husband "I told you to bring the birth certificate but you never listen." He said he didn’t have to ask another question because that’s how married people speak.
Documentation—Another way for the Immigration Service to assess a bona fide marriage is to review what they call "joint documentation." Any paperwork that reveals a commingling of financials or that prove up cohabitation are to be submitted in support of the application. Birth of child, joint debt, home ownership and photos are some of the documents necessary to prove up the marriage. This however can be daunting for an immigrant who previously was without proper identification and therefore lacks the ability to open an account, buy a car or home or to get insurance.
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