In this guide, we will learn some red flags that an immigration officer may notice if you’re applying for a marriage-based green card. If you’re planning on applying for a marriage based green card, this is definitely an article that you want to read.
U.S Marriage-Based Green Card
So as a quick background, you should know that somebody can apply for their green card based on being married to a U.S citizen or a lawful permanent resident, a green card holder.
One of the most important parts of this process and one of the most important requirements, is that the couple needs to show that they’re in a bona fide marriage. This means that at the time the couple got married, they truly intended to build a life with one another.
So with that quick overview, let go over some red flags, i.e some things, some factors that, if present, could cause an immigration officer to raise their eyebrows and to question the case and to maybe look a little bit deeper into the case.
It is important to note that if there is a red flag with your case, it doesn’t mean that your case is going to be denied. It just means that you should be aware that this is a red flag and you should be prepared to file a strong case with strong documentation, making it very clear that you and your spouse are truly in a bona fide marriage.
Meaning that you and your spouse truly intended to build a life with one another when you got married.
Red Flags When Applying For a Marriage-Based Green Card
Below are the red flags when applying for a U.S Marriage-Based Green Card:
- If you and your spouse have a major age difference.
For example: if you and your spouse have a 20 or more year age gap, you should be prepared to make it clear to the immigration officer that you are truly in a bona fide marriage.
Because the age gap could be a red flag that causes the immigration officer to just be curious about the case, a little bit more.
- Not living together.
If you and your spouse do not live together, it’s a red flag. You should be prepared to explain why you don’t live together.
You should be prepared to explain that even though you and your spouse don’t live together, you’re still in a bona fide marriage.
- If you and your spouse do not share a common language.
Think about it like this, from the standpoint of an immigration officer, if you and your spouse do not have a language that you both speak in common, the immigration officer is going to wonder, how do they communicate? If they have a hard time communicating, how could they be in a bona fide marriage?
So you should be prepared to explain this if you and your spouse do not share a common language.
- If you and your spouse do not have strong documentation evidencing a shared life together.
As mentioned earlier in this guide, we talked about how one of the most important requirements for getting a marriage based green card is being able to demonstrate that you and your spouse are in a bona fide marriage, meaning that you and your spouse intended to build a life together when you both got married.
One of the ways that we demonstrate that you and your spouse have a bona fide marriage is through the documentation that we provide in your case.
The documentation is commonly referred to as joint documents. Some examples of joint documents are;
- evidence of a shared bank account,
- evidence of photographs together showing that you and your spouse traveled the world together maybe, or you and your spouse took vacations together, or photographs of you and your spouse spending time with each other’s family.
Other evidence of joint documents include utility bills with both of your names on them, perhaps an organization membership card with both of your names on it, a cell phone bill with both of your names on it.
Other examples are perhaps a lease with both of your names on it, or a deed to property with both of your names on it. These are all examples of joint documentation.
When an immigration officer sees these joint documents, it’s further proof that you and your spouse are in a bona fide marriage. So a red flag is if you do not have this type of documentation.
As mentioned above, it’s very important when applying for a marriage based green card to have strong documentation of sharing a life with one another, like a joint bank account.
Not to go too much on a tangent, but if you and your spouse do have a joint bank account with one another, you should actually use that bank account. It shouldn’t just be a bank account that isn’t used. It should be a bank account that you use to pay bills with and you deposit money into that account.
- Having a weird immigration history.
For example, the situation where somebody gets their green card because their spouse that was either a U.S Citizen or a local permanent resident petitioned for them, and then once they got their green card, they divorced their spouse and then they married somebody else and petitioned for their green card.
If somebody gets married and their spouse applies for their green card, so they get their green card, and very shortly after they get their green card, they divorce their spouse and then get married to somebody else and petition for that new spouse’s green card. This scenario is a red flag.
Again, just to repeat, somebody gets petitioned to get their green card, and shortly after they get their green card, they divorce their spouse that petitioned for them, and they get remarried to somebody else and petition for that new spouse’s green card. That’s a red flag that somebody should be prepared to explain.
- The situation where somebody gets their green card because their spouse that was either a U.S Citizen or a local permanent resident petitioned for them, and then once they got their green card, they divorced their spouse and then they married somebody else and petitioned for their green card.
Again, just to repeat, for example, is if somebody petitions for their spouse and their spouse gets a green card, then they divorce that spouse, and then they get remarried to somebody else and petition for that second spouse’s green card.
So it’s similar to example number five, but a little bit different. That can also be a red flag that the couple should be prepared to explain.
In summary
So as a quick overview, we went over six red flags when applying for a U.S Marriage-Based Green Card.
- Red flag number one was a major age difference.
- Red flag number two was if you and your spouse do not live together.
- Red flag number three is if you don’t share a common language with one another.
- Red flag number four is if you do not have strong documentation showing a shared life with one another.
- Red flag number five was the situation where somebody gets their green card because their spouse that was either a U.S Citizen or a local permanent resident petitioned for them, and then once they got their green card, they divorced their spouse and then they married somebody else and petitioned for their green card.
- Red flag number six was the situation where somebody petitions for their spouse to get a green card and then divorces that spouse and then petitions, gets remarried and then petitions for somebody else’s green card.
So there you have it, six red flags when applying for a U.S Marriage-Based Green Card.
Again, if these scenarios apply to you, don’t think automatically that your case is not going to get approved. Just know that these are just things that are going to make an immigration officer look a little bit closer into your case, and you want to be prepared to explain these situations.
I hope you found this guide extremely helpful. If you know anybody that could benefit from this information, definitely make sure to share this guide with them.
Thank you so much for reading into this guide.
DISCLAIMER: This guide and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. The information presented in this guide should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. The information presented in this guide does not create an attorney-client relationship nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice. If you need legal advice, you may contact an attorney.