Will USCIS Officer Ever Visit Your Place Unannounced?

[TonyMichael 3]

3 minutes ago, Cryssiekins said:

Sleeping in the same bed does not alone equate to a bonafide marriage.  My husband and I work opposite shifts and therefore do not go to bed together every night.  He basically goes to sleep as I’m getting up for my day.  And on weekends, the snoring is so unbearable one of us usually winds up on the couch.  

 

People fight.  People work different shifts. They are SO many other ways to show your marriage is genuine.  

 

I’d be more concerned if they came and discovered one person has no personal items in the home, or regularly spends nights away at a friend or family members house.  

This makes me feel slightly better. 

Actually I work day shift and my spouse works the night shift, so just like you, he comes home when I am about to leave to work. When I come home from work, he is asleep. 

We don't really get to spend awake time together as much as other couples where they both work the same shift.

 

[Going through 5,671]

24 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

Makes sense.

 

So as long as the marriage was genuine, that's all that matters, and they dont care why it didn't work out.

Is there any set length that is considered "too short" for a divorce after marriage? I mean, of course the longer the marriage, the better for sure.

 

However, a divorce can occur at any time. If a married couple who got a conditional green card divorced within a year due to, say, an adultery of the US spouse, or even finding too many differences between the two, do they suspect a lot much harder? 

They look at the totality of the evidence in front of them when determining whether a marriage seems suspicious/entered into for immigration benefits.  

 

Someone's true marriage breaking down after a year or so, and who has clear evidence of living in marital union beforehand (joint utility bills, shared lease, shared trips/vacations together, joint bank accounts, joint insurance, etc.) is going to seem much less suspicious than someone who's "marriage" broke down immediately after receiving the conditional green card, never co-mingled any finances, never shared a bank account, etc.

 

[Cryssiekins 976]

17 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

This makes me feel slightly better. 

Actually I work day shift and my spouse works the night shift, so just like you, he comes home when I am about to leave to work. When I come home from work, he is asleep. 

We don't really get to spend awake time together as much as other couples where they both work the same shift.

 

Our time together on weekdays is usually via texts so that we can talk to each other everyday instead of just wishing each other a good day in passing.  

 

Everyones situation and marriage is unique.  Doesn’t make it any less valid.  The people who work at USCIS are still people with their own lives and likely have similar circumstances.  

 

Bottom line:  if a marriage is genuine and the intent was pure, no one should have a problem getting through immigration hurdles.  

[Bini & Ladonna 15]

54 minutes ago, Cryssiekins said:

Our time together on weekdays is usually via texts so that we can talk to each other everyday instead of just wishing each other a good day in passing.  

 

Everyones situation and marriage is unique.  Doesn’t make it any less valid.  The people who work at USCIS are still people with their own lives and likely have similar circumstances.  

 

Bottom line:  if a marriage is genuine and the intent was pure, no one should have a problem getting through immigration hurdles.  

You couldn’t have said this any better 👍🏽

[mushroomspore 3,044]

For the most part, worrying about this is like worrying about getting struck by lightning.

[Unlockable 7,314]

3 hours ago, kris&me said:

you think they will show up at night to see where u sleep?

a visit would be made during the say 

just keep your beds made up and share a closet

 

and work on the marriage

 

3 hours ago, TonyMichael said:

I dont think they would visit at night., but I guess that they would check the bedroom to make sure the married life happens there.

Actually, in one of the reports from one of our members who had a visit, it did not take place in the day time. It was  either late at night or very early in the morning, my memory fails me right now. They (the USC and beneficiary) were sleeping in bed and were awakened by loud knocks on the door.

 

I'm currently on vacay and on travel so most of my interaction on VJ is with my cell. Otherwise, I can do a search to pull up the thread about the whole ordeal.

 

If I come across the thread I will post it. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

6 hours ago, TonyMichael said:

 

Do they do the visit at random? Or do they normally pay a visit only if they suspect a fraud? 

I am not sure where this is going but you probabably should consider that it is MUCH easier and straightforward to remove conditions on a divorce waiver than to try to fool USCIS into thinking you still have a valid marriage if you don’t.  I believe this should mitigate your concern about audits, interviews, and visits?

 

[Scandi 4,166]

22 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

 

Actually, in one of the reports from one of our members who had a visit, it did not take place in the day time. It was  either late at night or very early in the morning, my memory fails me right now. They (the USC and beneficiary) were sleeping in bed and were awakened by loud knocks on the door.

 

I'm currently on vacay and on travel so most of my interaction on VJ is with my cell. Otherwise, I can do a search to pull up the thread about the whole ordeal.

 

If I come across the thread I will post it. 

Early morning - yes. In the middle of the night - likely no. Here's the thread you're looking for btw:

 

I imagine it can happen anyday of the week, maybe especially on weekends when many people are off work and sleep in. Makes sense for USCIS to make the visit as much of a surprise as they possibly can, no time for the people in the house to "straighten things out" to make it look like they slept in the same bed when they actually didn't.

 

But like others have said - sleeping in different beds and/or in different rooms won't make them deny an application. Not that alone. Most couples who are in a bonfide relationship can show proof of it, even if they happen to sleep in different rooms for whatever reason (like someone else mentioned, could be as simple as snoring).

 

Also, a genuine couple who live together often share drawers/cabinets/closets in the bedroom, bathroom, hallway etc (ie immigration can see stuff from both partners in the common areas), and maybe photos of the couple on walls, fireplace, sideboards, fridge etc. Shoes by the front door and/or in closets, clothes in drawers/closets, hygiene products in the bathroom - there are so many things they look for when they visit.

 

So no, you shouldn't be worrying about something that happens so rarely, especially if the only thing that might look "strange" is that you sleep in different rooms. Nobody will deny you on that alone.

 

Other home visit threads:

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/519654-unexpectedly-officer-knock-knock-my-door-help-please/

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/398480-immigration-officers-visit/

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/330454-home-visit-by-immigration-officers/ 

[TonyMichael 3]

Thanks all.

 

My concern is actually not just because we currently sleep in different places, but we are on bad terms, and I don't know how soon we can fix this, or we can fix this at all.

And at times like this,,, an officer would visit. I am afraid that us being on bad terms might take away my status, but then again, since we have no clue when or whether they will come to our place at all, it seems to be no use worrying about it.

 

I just cannot help but feel stressed out.

[mushroomspore 3,044]

1 hour ago, TonyMichael said:

Thanks all.

 

My concern is actually not just because we currently sleep in different places, but we are on bad terms, and I don't know how soon we can fix this, or we can fix this at all.

And at times like this,,, an officer would visit. I am afraid that us being on bad terms might take away my status, but then again, since we have no clue when or whether they will come to our place at all, it seems to be no use worrying about it.

 

I just cannot help but feel stressed out.

It'd be insane for USCIS to judge marriages on whether or not the couple was 100% perfectly happy the entire time. That's not what the immigration process is about. Heck, even USCIS officers themselves are in bad marriages. They also don't have time or money or manpower to randomly show up at people's houses. They need a REALLY good reason, just like with any other investigative agency. Take a deep breath and just focus on working out your marriage. Your immigration status is taken care of now. 

[mushroomspore 3,044]

2 hours ago, TonyMichael said:

Thanks all.

 

My concern is actually not just because we currently sleep in different places, but we are on bad terms, and I don't know how soon we can fix this, or we can fix this at all.

And at times like this,,, an officer would visit. I am afraid that us being on bad terms might take away my status, but then again, since we have no clue when or whether they will come to our place at all, it seems to be no use worrying about it.

 

I just cannot help but feel stressed out.

Just want to also add: legally speaking, "being on bad terms" is not grounds for revoking permanent resident status. As in, it literally does not say that ANYWHERE in USCIS' policy manuals or in the immigration law codes. You will not find a single case in which a person's status was revoked because they had a rough patch with their spouse. RoC is allowed with a divorce waiver too for crying out loud.

Edited December 28, 2018 by mushroomspore

[TonyMichael 3]

2 hours ago, mushroomspore said:

Just want to also add: legally speaking, "being on bad terms" is not grounds for revoking permanent resident status. As in, it literally does not say that ANYWHERE in USCIS' policy manuals or in the immigration law codes. You will not find a single case in which a person's status was revoked because they had a rough patch with their spouse. RoC is allowed with a divorce waiver too for crying out loud.

It makes me feel better to know that you can still apply for ROC alone if you do end up divorcing. 

 

Even though my life was already here before marriage because I was a student in the US, I still got hired by my current employer because I told them I don't need work visa sponsor because I am married to a US citizen and I can legally work for them once OPT has expired. and they will not think about sponsoring me for work visa, if I lose my green card, so I really need to keep my status also.

 

I am glad it is not like me ending up with a divorce means I am losing my spouse, losing my job, and losing my life in the US, which would have been devastating. Losing any one of them is already devastating, and I dont think I could ever handle losing all three at the same time.

 

 

[TonyMichael 3]

 

What would happen if the marriage was entered into in good faith from the beneficiary's side, but not from the US spouse's side?

Normally, I think it is backwards where the international one marries a US citizen for the purpose of immigration benefits, OR where they both don't love each other, but the US spouse helps the international one for money or some kind.

 

What if, the international side believed the marriage was real and entered into in good faith, but the spouse did that only to help their international partner out? and the international side had no idea about that at the time of marriage, and the US spouse told the truth later?

 

 

 

[Going through 5,671]

11 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

What if, the international side believed the marriage was real and entered into in good faith, but the spouse did that only to help their international partner out? and the international side had no idea about that at the time of marriage, and the US spouse told the truth later?

If the USC entered the marriage with the SOLE intent of providing immigration benefits to the foreigner, then yes they have committed a criminal act (and so has the foreigner!).  

Usually, however, this is normally proven with concrete evidence such as a financial trail where the foreigner has paid the USC for their services along with other documents proving fraudulent intent ...not usual (and very difficult to prove, I would imagine) for the USC to enter into a fraud marriage purely for benevolent reasons and WITHOUT the foreigner's knowledge/consent since there'd be nothing tangible in it for them, then.

 

Think about it----Taking into account the cost of visa fees, application fees, fees associated with obtaining documents where needed, lawyer fees if needed, etc. over the course of one's entire immigration journey from entry into the country, AOS, ROC and then to Naturalization, I highly doubt many USCs are just sponsoring random foreign friends "just to help them out" without any sort of pay back from the foreigner  

Edited December 29, 2018 by Going through

[mushroomspore 3,044]

17 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

 

What would happen if the marriage was entered into in good faith from the beneficiary's side, but not from the US spouse's side?

Normally, I think it is backwards where the international one marries a US citizen for the purpose of immigration benefits, OR where they both don't love each other, but the US spouse helps the international one for money or some kind.

 

What if, the international side believed the marriage was real and entered into in good faith, but the spouse did that only to help their international partner out? and the international side had no idea about that at the time of marriage, and the US spouse told the truth later?

 

 

 

I do not have statistics or proper evidence on this but an immigration lawyer did tell me that for the MOST part, the fraud unit goes after couples who CONSPIRED together to create a fake relationship and marriage. This would involve complicity and deceptive intentions from both parties and it makes sense why an investigative unit would go after these couples more versus a couple where one party thought it was genuine and the other party only pretended for immigration benefits. And if you take out the whole aspect of immigration, the world is still rife with relationships in which one person thought it was genuine love and the other was only pretending for personal gain.

 

Once again, USCIS doesn't have resources to surveil every single relationship (and that's creepy anyway). They don't even act on every single "tip" they get about "fake marriages" unless super hard concrete evidence is submitted or presented. And even still, higher-ups need to sign off on every action taken in such a case. The agents do not act on their own accord simply because they feel like messing up someone's life that day.

Edited December 29, 2018 by mushroomspore