visa marriage fraud

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Wow.....now the tune has changed on this forum.

The anti-illegal immigrant issue always has the danger of spilling over to all immigrants. This is just one instance but I think we could see more. The American public does not have enough knowlegde (or sympathy for that matter) of what we have to go through.

Let's hope anti-illegal immigrant doesn't turn into anti-immigrant.

The point does have some merit... a lot of the fraudulent AOS stuff takes place from tourist adjustment cases. If they just closed that loophole, I think you would see the numbers of fradulent marriages significantly decrease.

At add to the Agent's post, a tourist adjustment is relatively quick way to get it.. if you forced these people to have to go back and get a visa, the amount of fraud this way would decrease... the genuine people would be more than willing to get it...

Just as many marriage frauds are done by K1 & K3 so lets not pick on the VWP/tourists.....

Kezzie

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Just as many marriage frauds are done by K1 & K3 so lets not pick on the VWP/tourists.....

No one is picking on anyone.

It just a fact that there is more fraud among tourists who adjust based on marriage than in K1 adjustments. It makes perfect sense to combat a problem by going to where its most prevalent.

[zyggy 9]

I'm not picking on anyone Kezzie... but the truth is the truth....

It is far too easy to adjust on a tourist status. There are many people like you who have done it that way and have had the most honorable intentions.. but let's be honest... if the tourist adjustmnet path wasn't there and you HAD to get a K1 or K3 to become a permanent resident, would you have done it?... of course you would... because you love your spouse and would do anything to be together.. no matter how many hoops you had to jump through.

Someone with less honorable intentions than you would not...they would be less likely to bother to jump through those hoops and put out the expense needs to get through those hoops..

Edited April 10, 2006 by zyggy

[pax 0]

I don't think anyone is picking on VWP/B-2 adjusters here, rather just saying it is, admittedly, much easier to be a VWP/B-2 adjuster than go through a K or CR-1 process.

Edited April 10, 2006 by pax

[Jenn! 918]

Just as many marriage frauds are done by K1 & K3 so lets not pick on the VWP/tourists.....

But do you know that for sure?

I think if we can gather anything from the article, it's that there isn't sufficient time to investigate fraud. So how can we know what type of applicant is more likely to be fraudulent?

[mercuryroad 0]

Hmmm....we shouldn't really allow anyone who entered on a tourist visa to get married here and circumvent the system. They should be forced to do things the correct way and under the correct process.

[zyggy 9]

Until recently Canada made all spousal applicants get a visa to be able to become a permanent resident. Those who were in Canada had the choice to apply in the US or their home country...

Edited April 10, 2006 by zyggy

[Kez/JWolf 6]

mercuryroad

What I did under the VWP was correct and under the correct process... and until they change the law it will remain a correct option that is available to some people.... but not all

Kezzie

[pax 0]

mercuryroad

What I did under the VWP was correct and under the correct process... and until they change the law it will remain a correct option that is available to some people.... but not all

Kezzie

Well, I think the point being made is that some people believe the law should be changed.

It's worth noting that an American traveling visa-free on a tourist basis in the UK can't get married to a UK citizen in the UK without a fiance/e visa, period.

[Cristy 4]

The article says this is the easy way....I would hate to try the hard way.

[zyggy 9]

mercuryroad

What I did under the VWP was correct and under the correct process... and until they change the law it will remain a correct option that is available to some people.... but not all

Kezzie

Exactly.. no one is faulting you for what you did.. it was fine and legal for your situation...

What people are saying is that the law should be changed and that way to adjust their status should be closed off.. if it was made harder to get permanent resident status through marriage by making everyone get a marriage visa first, the amount of fraudulent marriage would very likely decrease..

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

There are no limits on foreign spouses. If you can marry a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident (a "green card" holder), you're guaranteed permanent access to the USA.

No limits on LPR spouses, eh?

This reporter needs to do some homework...

[pax 0]

There are no limits on foreign spouses. If you can marry a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident (a "green card" holder), you're guaranteed permanent access to the USA.

No limits on LPR spouses, eh?

This reporter needs to do some homework...

If wait times of at least 5 years for spouses of LPRs counts as "no limits," then sure.

[PsychoKat 0]

Yet, Congress and the Bush administration have been so focused on border fences, guest-worker or amnesty programs that marriage-based immigration fraud has largely gone unnoticed. Immigration officials described fraud as rampant in a 2002 GAO report. Marriage fraud accounted for approximately half of all immigration fraud cases, the agency reported.

The sad thing is the world will read that and and jump on the issue presented without noticing it says the report is from 2002....From there happily and blindly eating up what the media spoon feeds them, never taking the personal responsibility of researching before talking, people will start protesting against family based immigration, even calling up the terrorism card in their efforts to abolish it....and never once notice that 2002 sitting there in front of their facese and acknowledge that things were implimented in 2005 to decrease the amount of cases of it.

Logically speaking of all the different types of visa's there are to choose from, I would think the business/work based ones would be most vulnerable at least so far as unsavory elements. We are put through months, sometimes years of waiting as our petitions go through the system, and considering how far they go in investigating some relationships and people I would say the percentage that might slip by them would be incredibly low. On the other hand, all a business has to do is give the government $1000.00 and their case is guaranteed to be adjudicated in 15 days, now tell me those are really being thoroughly investigated.

And hey what about the entrepreneur visa, that one is just rich. If someone from a foreign country has so much to invest in business in the US and can show them that their business venture can make so many jobs available thus helping our economy they are allowed entry. Sounds goooood doesn't it, building our country, providing jobs for US workers. What sounds good doesn't always work that way, I myself know of one business that started that way, and you know how they filled the jobs they created? By using the business/worker visa program to bring their friends in from their country to fill the positions.

Okay whew

/rant off

[mercuryroad 0]

mercuryroad

What I did under the VWP was correct and under the correct process... and until they change the law it will remain a correct option that is available to some people.... but not all

Kezzie

I'm just illustrating my point about this anti-immigrant crossover. We have a lot of people on these boards willing to flame the hell out of illegal immigrants but the moment it might affect their process the whole tune changes.

In a sense, it could be viewed that people entering here as tourists should visit and go home....not get married. That could be looked at as a form of illegal immigration, so let's get rid of that.

If there is plenty of marriage fraud and if that is indeed one of the main avenues for people to come here through sham marriages, then maybe we need much more strict supervision and scrutiny for all K1 cases. The people that enter these sham marriages are thus illegal immigrants.

And what kinds of jobs are these foreign spouses getting once they come here.......it isn't fair that foreigners are taking our good paying jobs that native born Americans need.

I don't agree with any of this personally - and I don't think anything about your circumstance is wrong. But, I can easily see the American public starting to get these viewpoints after all of the illegal immigration bashing. The public's problem with illegal immigration has not been the fact that they did it illegally.....I don't think the American public in general cares.

What they do care about are their jobs, health care costs, tax dollars, other languages being taught in school....etc. Those are the issues that they care about and it is easy to see how those issues could be applied to legal immigrants as well. Just mention the fact that terrorists came over this way and everyone will be in an uproar and not have much sympathy for what the honest people that found love and want to live together are going through.