Trump’s administration is combating illegal immigration by targeting fraud-involved immigrants who fraudulently marry US citizens to claim green card benefits.

US authorities time and again have communicated that ‘Getting married just to receive immigration benefits is a crime and can lead to deportation, arrest, and substantial fines.’

The marriage-based immigration process involves several steps to obtain legal immigration status in the United States and, over time, to be eligible for citizenship.

These steps depend on the type of marriage-based visa you travel on to the United States, as well as other factors.

Fiancée Visa or K-1 Nonimmigrant Visa

If you are a U.S. citizen who wants to bring your foreign fiancée to the United States to get married, you will need to file a Form I-129F, Petition For Alien fiancée. This is the first step to obtaining a K-1 nonimmigrant visa for your fiancée. The K-1 nonimmigrant visa is also known as a fiancée visa.

You are required to either marry a United States citizen within 90 days of entry or to depart the United States. After your marriage to a U.S. citizen who petitioned for you, you must file an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485).

In order to obtain a K-1 fiancée visa, you and your fiancée must intend to marry each other within 90 days of your fiancée entering the U.S as a K-1 nonimmigrant. Your marriage must be valid, meaning both you and your fiancée have a bona fide intent to establish a life together and the marriage is not for the sole purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit.

If your fiancée marries you within 90 days of being admitted to the United States as a K-1 nonimmigrant, he or she may apply for lawful permanent resident status in the United States or for the Green Card.

If you have already been married, plan to marry outside the United States, or your fiancée is already residing legally in the United States, your spouse or fiancée is not eligible for a fiancée visa.

If your Form I-485 is approved, your status will be adjusted from a K nonimmigrant to that of a conditional permanent resident. You will have that conditional status for two years.

However, if you remain in the U.S. without marrying the U.S. citizen who sponsored your K-1 visa, or marry someone else, you will violate the terms of your visa, have no legal status, and could be deported from America.

K-3 nonimmigrant status (as the spouse of a United States citizen)

If you are a U.S. citizen and you filed a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for your foreigner spouse who is abroad, you can file a Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), for your foreigner spouse and their children to obtain K-3 and K-4 nonimmigrant visas to come to the United States to await processing of the Form I-130.

Once the Form I-130 is approved, beneficiaries are no longer eligible for a K-3 or K-4 nonimmigrant visa, so the Department of State rarely issues K-3 and K-4 visas.

You are allowed to enter the United States temporarily while waiting for approval of a family-based visa petition (I-130). Once the I-130 is approved, you are entitled to lawful permanent residence (green card) and will need to file an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485).

What are the penalties for marriage fraud?

Immigrants who commit marriage fraud may be subject to removal proceedings and may be barred from receiving future immigration benefits in the United States.

Section 1325(c) marriage fraud law says, “Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage to evade any provision of the immigration laws shall be imprisoned for not more than five years, or fined not more than $250,000, or both.”

If you have been married for less than 2 years when your Form I-485 is approved, you will receive conditional residence status from USCIS. Ninety days before the second anniversary of your conditional residence, you and your spouse generally must apply together to remove the conditions on your lawful residence.

To do so, you must prove the marriage is in “good faith” and valid. Once the conditions are removed, you have permanent residency that is not dependent on your U.S. spouse.

If you have been married for more than 2 years when your Form I-485 is approved, you will receive permanent residence status from USCIS. On that date, you will no longer be dependent on your U.S. citizen spouse for immigration status.