How will the immigration officials determine if my marriage is valid?

Marriage fraud is a very serious offense. For this reason, immigration authorities will require a great deal of information to determine if your marriage is legitimate. For instance, they may require documentation, require a two year testing period if you have been married for less than two years when your green card is approved, and require you and your spouse to participate in a detailed personal interview.

Some of these enforcement steps are only done if immigration has suspicions your marriage is invalid. For instance, if they suspect you have committed marriage fraud Inspectors of the Department of Homeland Security have the legal right to talk to your co-workers, visit your home and interview your friends and family members.

Detecting marriage fraud

Although the definition of a "typical marriage" is not clearly defined, U.S. immigration officials have expert skills to detect when something does not seem right. For instance, most couples share common interests. They live together, travel together, and raise their children together. They also enjoy travelling together. Couples share special events. Couples may also share financial information and purchase property together.

United States immigration officials will expect that you have proof that your marriage is truly a marriage. They will need information about your finances, including bank account information and financial documents. They will request an interview with you and your spouse where they will discuss different aspects of your relationship and look for irregularities and inconsistencies in your answers. Most often it is the small details, the things that couples know about each other that perpetrators of marriage fraud will not be able to fake.

Do not be intimidated, Fraud investigators are tasked with finding fraudulent marriages. If you ever feel intimidated or are asked to admit that your marriage is fake when it is not, it's time to talk to an immigration lawyer.