Can US citizenship be revoked if marriage was just for green card?

qwr

New Member
A quick hypothetical question: Suppose a US citizen and a foreigner agree to marry for citizenship, is there any chance that the foreigner can after naturalising be stripped of his or her US citizenship? If Immigration finds out? Does this often happen?
 
A quick hypothetical question: Suppose a US citizen and a foreigner agree to marry for citizenship, is there any chance that the foreigner can after naturalising be stripped of his or her US citizenship? If Immigration finds out? Does this often happen?



Be weary of the might of the Justice Dept, especially US attorney. Fraud will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law..:) In the link Jack provided, read carefully the time period in which the marriage took place or rather the fraud..early 90's..
 
Some scary stuff. Actually there was a recent case in Columbus OH - A married couple married other people to get USC.

PS. I am still a newbie here so couldn't post the URL, so here is the whole article
MARRIAGE FRAUD
Former husband, wife plead guilty
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:45 AM
By Jeb Phillips
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A Columbus-area immigration lawyer and her ex-husband pleaded guilty yesterday to marriage fraud.

Lilian Asante, 37, and Kwadwo Asante, 39, both natives of Ghana, admitted marrying U.S. citizens in an effort to become permanent residents. In fact, the Asantes live together as husband and wife in Blacklick.

The Asantes married in 1999 in Ghana and came to Ohio for graduate school in 2002, according to a statement that Special Agent Jeffrey Landthorn of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement read yesterday in federal court. They divorced in 2004 and married other people in 2005 and 2006. But the Asantes bought a house together, continued to live together and had a child together in 2008.

Lilian Asante graduated with a law degree from Ohio State University and practiced in Columbus. She was accused of using her knowledge of immigration law to help her husband and Kwadwo Asante's wife answer questions from immigration officials.

Kwadwo Asante has a master's degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University.
Each Asante pleaded guilty yesterday to one felony count of entering into a marriage to evade the immigration laws of the United States. Each could be sentenced to five years in prison, fined $250,000, put on three years of supervised release and deported. Judge Gregory L. Frost said that Lilian Asante also could lose her law license.

The court has not scheduled a sentencing hearing.

jeb.phillips@dispatch.com
 
Nuptial fraud
Couple accused of fake weddings so they could stay in America
Monday, August 17, 2009 3:03 AM
By Jeb Phillips

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Lilian Asante could face five years in prison and deportation.
In the movie versions of this romantic comedy, Gerard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell fall in love at the end. Ryan Reynolds decides he wants to marry Sandra Bullock for the right reasons, thwarting the immigration agent.

The central Ohio version -- known in federal court as the United States of America v. Lilian Asante and Kwadwo Asante -- is not so cuddly or tidy.

The Asantes have a 10-month-old son. Lilian Asante is an immigration lawyer with a law degree from Ohio State University. Kwadwo Asante has a master's degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University and, until recently, worked as a financial analyst at Nationwide.

They now face the possibilities of five years in prison, $250,000 in fines and deportation to their native Ghana. On Thursday, both pleaded not guilty to counts of marriage fraud and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.

But according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Columbus, Lilian Asante already has admitted she married a Florida man purely to become a permanent resident of the United States. She actually lives with Kwadwo Asante and their son in Blacklick, the affidavit says.

For his part, Kwadwo Asante is accused of marrying a Youngstown woman for the sole purpose of staying in this country. Lilian Asante, with her knowledge of immigration law, "provided guidance" to the man in Florida and the woman in Youngstown about how to answer questions from immigration officials, according to the indictment.

In 2008, 238 cases of marriage fraud were prosecuted in the U.S. The Asante case seems to be the only one involving central Ohio in at least the past year, said Khaalid Walls, a spokesman in the Detroit office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Asantes declined to comment through their attorney. Their "spouses," who are cooperating with investigators and have not been charged with crimes, also declined to comment. Government officials would not provide details of the investigation other than what is already part of federal-court record.

But that record does provide an outline of the case.

Kwadwo Asante, 39, and Lilian Asante, 37, were married on June 5, 1999, in Ghana. In August 2002, both were admitted to the U.S. as students -- Kwadwo at Case Western, Lilian at Ohio State.

The Asantes had their marriage dissolved in May 2004. Kwadwo Asante remarried in 2005 and Lilian Asante in 2006. Each attended the other's marriage ceremony, and each began the process of becoming a permanent U.S. resident.

In June 2006, just four months after Lilian Asante remarried, she applied for a mortgage with Kwadwo for the home in Blacklick, though she maintained in immigration documents that she lived in Florida. Kwadwo Asante said that his primary address was in Youngstown. The mortgage's first page says, "Borrower is Kwadwo W. Asante and Lilian A. Asante, husband and wife."

The government investigation appears to have begun by April 2008, when Special Agent Jeffrey Landthorn of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement saw the Asantes leaving the Blacklick house together. It's unclear from court records what sparked the investigation.

In October, agents looked through trash from the Blacklick house and found mail addressed to both Asantes there. They interviewed neighbors who identified the Asantes as husband and wife. That same month, Lilian had a child and Kwadwo was listed on the birth certificate as the father.

Lilian Asante and the man she married appeared at a Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Tampa, Fla., in June as part of their request that she become a permanent legal resident.

According to the court records, the two admitted the fraud when they were interviewed separately. The man signed a statement saying, in part: "I married Lilian Antwiwaa Asante to help her obtain her resident alien status. We have never resided together as husband and wife. We have never consummated the marriage."

Lilian and Kwadwo Asante were arrested on July 24 and released on their own recognizance, and then indicted on Aug. 4. Their trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 28 in U.S. District Court in Columbus.
 
Monsoonbreeze,

What does that article have to do with this thread? Neither of them is having citizenship revoked; they haven't even obtained US citizenship yet.
 
Monsoonbreeze,

What does that article have to do with this thread? Neither of them is having citizenship revoked; they haven't even obtained US citizenship yet.

The couple committed Marriage fraud. And the OP hinted on that in his question.

qwr said:
A quick hypothetical question: Suppose a US citizen and a foreigner agree to marry for citizenship,

So, if they aren't caught during the GC process they can be caught later to have their Citizenship stripped.
 
Basically if USCIS finds any fraud at anytime of process including after citizenship, they can revoke it but it is very long shot for them.I have heard they it is very complicated process and case will go to federal court and court is the one will make the desicion on it.
 
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hum... sorry to ask folks... but why would USCIS investigate a couple's situation AFTER the immigrant was granted US citizenship?
 
hum... sorry to ask folks... but why would USCIS investigate a couple's situation AFTER the immigrant was granted US citizenship?
They do random audits of already-approved cases, and if they suspect fraud in a case being audited they'll do further investigation. But usually, when they do investigate somebody post-naturalization, it is because that person got caught for another offense, and the police/sheriff/FBI/DEA asks USCIS to investigate their immigration history to see if there is any fraud or discrepancies that can be used to revoke their citizenship and deport them.
 
They do random audits of already-approved cases, and if they suspect fraud in a case being audited they'll do further investigation. But usually, when they do investigate somebody post-naturalization, it is because that person got caught for another offense, and the police/sheriff/FBI/DEA asks USCIS to investigate their immigration history to see if there is any fraud or discrepancies that can be used to revoke their citizenship and deport them.

makes sense. but how far off can they start such an investigation after naturalization?
 
Usually USCIS has a system to prevent fraud. During the interview they ask questions that normally people wouldn't know if they were not together. If they suspect fraud will conduct "fraud interview" to check if the relationship is false or not for the green card. However, if you pass it, you will get 2 year conditional green card. After 2 years you should show up again for another interview, if you pass it you will get permanent 10 year green card. Then after 5 year you can apply for US citizenship.
If they catch you lying or committing fraud during the interview - you will get deported and the US Citizen you are marrying for, might go to jail. If he wants to get you deported after the interview, it does not matter.
 
Marriage based GC holders are eligible to apply for citizenship 3 years (less 90 days) after obtaining their GC.
Yes, but that requires still being married at the end of those 3 years, without any formal separation or pending divorce. With a fraud marriage, they usually would already be divorced or separated or have a pending divorce by the time it is 3 years.
 
I have heard of cases where both parties stayed in the marriage beyond 3 years. The US citizen stayed in the sham marriage just to keep getting health insurance. Sad but true.

Yes, but that requires still being married at the end of those 3 years, without any formal separation or pending divorce. With a fraud marriage, they usually would already be divorced or separated or have a pending divorce by the time it is 3 years.
 
Yes, but that requires still being married at the end of those 3 years, without any formal separation or pending divorce. With a fraud marriage, they usually would already be divorced or separated or have a pending divorce by the time it is 3 years.

Im aware of that. Its just the person I was quoting made it seem as though if youre married you need to wait 5 years to be eligible for citizenship. In his/her post it doesnt state that if the marriage is terminated etc THEN you must be a GC holder for 5 years. Granted, many 'sham' marriages do separate after the non US citizen is granted their 10 year GC, but as Triple Citizen has pointed out, 'sham' marriages may still be intact once the GC becomes eligible to apply for citizenship (after 3 years).
 
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