What Happens at an Immigration Marriage Fraud Interview

Marriage fraud interviews can also occur after the I-130 has been approved, when the would-be immigrant is completing the remaining steps in the application process.

Almost always, if you are "adjusting status" (applying for your green card without going back to your home country to get a visa), USCIS will call you and your spouse in for a regular in-person interview, as it does for most categories of green-card applicant. Although the purpose of this interview is not solely to uncover fraud, the USCIS officer will be questioning both the immigrant and the U.S. spouse and looking for any signs that the marriage is not real.

The same thing will happen if the immigrant is outside the U.S. at a U.S. consulate applying for an immigrant visa based on marriage (although the U.S. spouse probably won't be able to attend this interview). The visa officer will want to hear give a realistic account of the development of the relationship. The officer will also try to spot any inconsistencies between the applicant's story and the application forms and documents.

Stokes Interviews

If after an initial adjustment of status interview USCIS still has suspicions, it might summon both parties for a second, more intense and probing interview, known as a "Stokes" interview. This might be the time to start worrying.

If you get notice of a second (Stokes) interview, consider hiring a lawyer to attend with you. The lawyer does not really have a lot of power over the questions that you are required to answer, but can be a calming influence on everyone. Also, a lawyer who attends the interview] will be better prepared to deal with any follow-up matters.

Unfortunately, you might not get advance notice. USCIS can simply separate the two spouse's on the same day as the adjustment interview.

Once you or your spouse gets to a fraud interview, you will have to meet with an officer whose main job is try to detect wrongdoers, not grant visas or green cards. The interviewer will not be trying to make you feel comfortable. His or her job is to push a person with questions until the person trips himself up, confesses to marriage fraud, or finally convinces the interviewer that the marriage is real.

But if the officer asks you a question you feel is too personal and inappropriate, do not answer it. You can tell the officer that you think the question is inappropriate and ask to speak to a supervisor about it.

Usually, straightforward, hard questioning is enough to ferret out fraud cases. Couples perpetrating a fraudulent marriage can do all the homework in the world, but when one of them forgets or does not know the answer to an obvious question—like where they went right after their wedding—that applicant often crumbles and confesses.

Occasionally, a hard-nosed USCIS officer will engage in harsher tactics, such as falsely telling someone that their spouse has already confessed that the marriage is bogus, in order to push the interviewee into confessing. Or, the officer might use flat-out intimidation, reminding the interviewee about the jail time and money fines a person faces if caught committing marriage fraud.

Sensing that the interviewee is feeling low, the officer may ask him or her to sign something withdrawing the I-130 petition or stating that the marriage is a fraud. If your marriage really is an honest one, do not agree to or sign anything. Ask to stop the interview and to reschedule with a lawyer present.

Marriage Fraud Interviews After Two Years of Conditional Residence

If you have not reached your second wedding anniversary by the time you are approved for a green card or enter the U.S. on an immigrant visa, you will receive what's called conditional residence, which lasts for two years. Near the end of that time you must submit yet another application to show that your marriage is the real thing, on Form I-751. A fraud interview can be scheduled during or at the expiration of that time, as well.