I think my friend is falling victim to marriage fraud. Advice?

[caliliving 606]

Can you explain this more. This is all very confusing. The K-1 is harder to get than the CR-1? Why do people get turned down for K-1?

He is from morrocco.. high rate of fraud! married -->2k and file paperwork/medical-->processing-->AP (he will be in extra processing bc hes from morrocco)

The processing takes a year but because hes in morocco add another year.. if he is married for 2 years when he cross the border - and i have no doubt he will make sure of that - he gets an automatic 10 year GC with no bans!!! so he is free to get on a plane and head to wherever he wants and never see your friend again.

Like i said, he knows the process!! he knows the game!!! he understands exactly what to do to get this GC. these men learn how to woo women, and make them fall in love and they know what to do to immigration to make sure they get the GC!

Can i ask how old is he? what does he do for work? men in touristy countries seek out vacationers - very common!!!

Also, is he asking her for money? is she going to meet his friends and family?

she should go K1 --> wait 2 years --> enter and get married and then he has to stay married to her.

at the end of the day - nothing you say will change her mind and only make her want to work harder to get him here.

[Wintertime 0]

I don't know all the details but from what he told me he is younger than us...26 is what he said. Claimed to be a student - business I think. I'm assuming his finances are limited. I know I was poor when I was a student.

I think she will meet family. No friends. Just going off what I've been able to piece together.

One other thing I found out is that he has three different facebook pages. The one he has with my friend was just created. There is nothing on there except for pictures of him and my friend. His older face book pages have some pictures, but oddly on each one he only has one friend. And you guessed it? That one friend is a woman from a western country. Now, tell me that's not suspicious!

I guess my only option is to go public with my knowledge about the marriage. She will never forgive me. But it might make others try to reason with her. I have the feelings she will just dig her heels in deeper, and turn her back on everyone.

[Amhara 460]

Send her those profiles before she leaves! Let's see how he wil wiggle out of that!!! BUSTED!!!!

[KierenHby 899]

One other thing I found out is that he has three different facebook pages.

Dead giveaway

[caliliving 606]

I don't know all the details but from what he told me he is younger than us...26 is what he said. Claimed to be a student - business I think. I'm assuming his finances are limited. I know I was poor when I was a student.

I think she will meet family. No friends. Just going off what I've been able to piece together.

One other thing I found out is that he has three different facebook pages. The one he has with my friend was just created. There is nothing on there except for pictures of him and my friend. His older face book pages have some pictures, but oddly on each one he only has one friend. And you guessed it? That one friend is a woman from a western country. Now, tell me that's not suspicious!

I guess my only option is to go public with my knowledge about the marriage. She will never forgive me. But it might make others try to reason with her. I have the feelings she will just dig her heels in deeper, and turn her back on everyone.

HUGE RED FLAG!! he is doing that to show USCIS the fb page with only her on it.. they all do this! ALL SCAMMERS!! #######? and he is leaving one for friends only ect. and him not showing her friends HUGE RED FLAG!! I have seen this personally with people scamming they make a fake page. I am telling you - he is playing on what exactly to do to get a GC and it is working.. his parents are prob in on it too:/

tell her family and see what they will do, when does she leave???

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

I don't know all the details but from what he told me he is younger than us...26 is what he said. Claimed to be a student - business I think. I'm assuming his finances are limited. I know I was poor when I was a student.

I think she will meet family. No friends. Just going off what I've been able to piece together.

One other thing I found out is that he has three different facebook pages. The one he has with my friend was just created. There is nothing on there except for pictures of him and my friend. His older face book pages have some pictures, but oddly on each one he only has one friend. And you guessed it? That one friend is a woman from a western country. Now, tell me that's not suspicious!

I guess my only option is to go public with my knowledge about the marriage. She will never forgive me. But it might make others try to reason with her. I have the feelings she will just dig her heels in deeper, and turn her back on everyone.

No, that isn't your only option. Butt out and leave her alone, you warned her and she doesn't want to hear it.

Your 'going public' with what she confided in you is a real betrayal, more so than his 3 FB pages.

You want to tell her parents ? For Pete's sake she is a grown woman. Go rescue a puppy and stop manipulating her decisions behind her back.

She falls, she heals, she knows better the next time. End of story.

[Darnell 8,479]

I don't know all the details but from what he told me he is younger than us...26 is what he said. Claimed to be a student - business I think. I'm assuming his finances are limited. I know I was poor when I was a student.

I think she will meet family. No friends. Just going off what I've been able to piece together.

One other thing I found out is that he has three different facebook pages. The one he has with my friend was just created. There is nothing on there except for pictures of him and my friend. His older face book pages have some pictures, but oddly on each one he only has one friend. And you guessed it? That one friend is a woman from a western country. Now, tell me that's not suspicious!

I guess my only option is to go public with my knowledge about the marriage. She will never forgive me. But it might make others try to reason with her. I have the feelings she will just dig her heels in deeper, and turn her back on everyone.

The bolded part, this is common for fellas that recruit marriage-able lasses in the tourist-y areas... But usually they not use their real names, each time - maybe he's just a neophyte in the 'find a lass to immigrate' game.

[Darnell 8,479]

I don't know all the details but from what he told me he is younger than us...26 is what he said. Claimed to be a student - business I think. I'm assuming his finances are limited. I know I was poor when I was a student.

your friend is 29, right? This is a bit young for this type of fella - they usually find the plump, divorced, over 40 lasses for the chase.

[KierenHby 899]

your friend is 29, right? This is a bit young for this type of fella - they usually find the plump, divorced, over 40 lasses for the chase.

Jackpot

[Pennycat 880]

From my understand it is CR1 - that means shes getting married there and coming here on spousal visa right?

Already sent her links about green card marriages, and Moroccans in particular. She seemed to think it could be a problem for other people, but not her guy. I'm sure she thinks she will be spending a large amount of time in Morocco - I have no idea what his plans are though. He can tell her something she wants to hear.

So your last comment. Can you explain how that works. Are you saying all he has to do is get married in his country and then wait two years...then the second he comes to America he gets the greencard. He doesn't have to interview with American officials at all? I think our other friend said that she had brought up fiance route, and he preferred to get married in his country.

If she does get married can she divorce him anytime during that two year period? Will she still owe him financially from the divorce even if he never steps foot in this country?

By the way - one thing I should add. I have other friends that are in international marriages. I have no doubt that they can work, and I had no doubts when these other couples were engaged. There was no secrecy. There was no rush. There is something different about this situation that is really making me suspicious.

What happens is this.

Get married while living abroad (the foreigner is living abroad-- things are different if you get married while in the US) and apply for a spouse visa. If the marriage is less than 2 years old, the immigrant will be given a CR1 visa (Conditional Residency-Spouse) visa. This comes with a "conditional green card" or "two year green card" or "temporary green card" or whatever. It is conditional legal residency. Those conditions are, generally, don't commit a felony and stay married to the person who brought you (although in practice this last condition is frequently waived). He lands with that conditional green card on arrival. This visa takes at least a year to obtain. And then then the two year wait as a conditional resident. After those two years, (generally), they must apply to remove conditions for his permanent green card. To remove conditions, they must prove that they're a real couple (photos, shared bank accounts, living together etc). If they get divorced while he's a conditional resident, he can remove conditions on his own as long as he can prove that it was a good faith marriage. Even if they get divorced, before or after removal of conditions she's on the hook for him financially for the balance of the 40 fiscal quarters that he works legally or until he becomes a citizen.

If the marriage is more than 2 years old (think: Americans who live/work abroad and who marry a foreigner and live abroad together, married for 5, 10, 20 years), then the spouse visa is an IR-1 (Immediate Relative- Spouse). They get the permanent, non-conditional, 10-year (however you want to think about it) green card on arrival. The same financial responsibilities for the sponsor apply.

Oh, and edited to add: YES he would have to interview with an American official for any of the visas. The people the US Embassy in Morocco are American officials, and you need to interview at the embassy for a fiance or spouse visa.

Can you explain this more. This is all very confusing. The K-1 is harder to get than the CR-1? Why do people get turned down for K-1?

Read my post here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/586032-i-think-my-friend-is-falling-victim-to-marriage-fraud-advice/?p=8014554

And yes and no. For the most part, fiance visa is the easier visa to get. It's quicker because it does not come with a green card on arrival like a spouse visa does. A K1 lands essentially like a tourist-- no legal residence, and then must marry and apply for that permanent residence (which starts out as conditional residency as described above). The US gets a chance to say no, basically. But from certain countries, a K1 is MUCH more difficult than a spouse visa because certain countries are know for immigration fraud, specifically concerning romance scams and/or because of security reasons. Certain countries are just known to be harder in general based on who is in charge at the embassy.

It's seen as a more risky visa to give to someone because in theory, someone could just romance scam someone, get them to go through the K1 process with them, get on an airplane and never even see their "fiance" again. Yes, they'd be here illegally with no way to get a green card, but some people don't care about that. Or someone could just pay a US citizen to do this for them, plan to never see each other again, and the USC can claim they were dumped-- never even have to get married. Again, the foreigner would be here illegally but some people just want to get here (or because they don't understand US immigration and figure they can scam one person to immigrate and then marry another to gain residency, which is not the case). Or because in certain cultures, there is *no way* that men and women would move to live with each other before they are married, and the willingness to do so is a giant red flag for fraud of some sort or, or, or. That is why from some countries, K1s are much harder-- precisely because they are generally "easier" because they require less commitment (don't have to be married to get on the plane, and USC doesn't have to make the sponsorship for the green card until after they're married) and certain countries/regions are more prone to exploiting this loophole than others (and/or the people in charge at the embassies there are more sensitive to this risk).

Edited February 18, 2016 by CatherineA

[Wintertime 0]

HUGE RED FLAG!! he is doing that to show USCIS the fb page with only her on it.. they all do this! ALL SCAMMERS!! #######? and he is leaving one for friends only ect. and him not showing her friends HUGE RED FLAG!! I have seen this personally with people scamming they make a fake page. I am telling you - he is playing on what exactly to do to get a GC and it is working.. his parents are prob in on it too:/

tell her family and see what they will do, when does she leave???

I am so glad someone here seems to get that this is blatantly a scam. None of it makes sense otherwise.

She leaves very soon. Not sure of specifics. I think middle of march.

Telling her family is a real bind. The friend that saw the marriage papers or whatever she saw doesn't want me telling anyone. If I tell the family I will lose both friends. Will she even listen to her family at this point?

[Amhara 460]

Don't worry about the family; just tell her. She will probably be shocked, heartbroken and humiliated. What if she told her family she was seeing a really nice guy? Then she's crushed in front of everyone. No, let her see it in privacy; no one else needs to know but she certainly does! Let her make her decision, but if she see it, recognizing his face, she can work through the other stuff later - the important thing is for her to do the 'broken hearted woman' thing. That's a very private and personal thing and she will tell them when she is ready. Poor thing!

[Darnell 8,479]

there are different stages along the path which you can interact with your friend and try to get her back to reality.

For now, I would suggest that you compile about 40 pages of the horror stories, print it out, and leave it in her bathroom reading tray... That's a good start, IMO.

[Boiler 45,994]

3 Facebook pages that you found, there may be more.

Why not friend them all?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

3 Facebook pages that you found, there may be more.

Why not friend them all?

That is a great idea.

Perhaps OP or her other friend could create a fake profile to get the guy to reveal more