In the ultimate immigrants' gateway city of New York – and around the U.S. – this has brought heartache to some legitimate would-be spouses who endure lengthy approval processes that test their relationships as much as their patience. As the number of immigrants seeking legal residency in the United States through marriage has risen by a dramatic 49 percent, from 183,796 in 2003 to 274,358 in 2007, denials of "adjustment of status" applications also have increased markedly, along with arrests and prosecutions in the categories covering marriage fraud.
Immigration officials maintain the stricter scrutiny is needed to preserve national security and the integrity of immigration controls. “If we look in the other direction and don’t at least get the case denied…marriage fraud could very seriously undermine the entire immigration process,” said Charles Akalski, a supervisor in the New York City office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
But to some activists, immigrants and their lawyers, the crackdown is tantamount to an unjust restriction on the affairs of the heart. "It's almost like immigrants aren't allowed to fall in love and marry," says Rev. Donna Schaper, minister of Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. Schaper is active in the New Sanctuary Movement, an interdenominational religious network supporting immigrants' human rights without regard to legal status. A pastor for more than 30 years, counseling numerous foreign nationals in New York City, she says, "If an undocumented person falls in love with a documented person and wants to get married, what they go through is a kind of hell."
Petitioning for Uncle Sam's blessing
Put yourself in an applicant’s shoes – you have just married a foreigner you fell in love with while traveling; a work colleague from another country; or you are normalizing a marriage conducted beyond America's borders. After procuring a marriage certificate from the City Clerk’s office, you file forms with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) establishing your relationship and requesting an adjustment of status for your spouse.
The next step in the process is an interview with an adjudications officer at USCIS’ Foley Square offices in Manhattan for a firsthand evaluation of your relationship.
“We’re trying to determine if a reasonable person would believe this couple is married,” said USCIS spokesman Shawn Saucier. “This is New York – we’re not looking for an Ozzie and Harriet marriage.”
But they are looking for "marriages of convenience" – like a student who married a classmate whose visa is about to expire; a gay person getting hitched to a straight friend without proper immigration papers; or an immigrant who's paid a broker to arrange a marriage with an American. These practices continue, because compared to other paths to obtaining permanent residency or citizenship, marriage can be quick, cheap, and simple. Employment and family-sponsored applications can take between six months to several years to process and are subject to annual quota restrictions set by Congress. By contrast, marital applicants are immediately eligible for immigration benefits and not limited by quotas.
