What Happens at an Immigration Marriage Fraud Interview

A big part of applying for a marriage-based U.S. green card is proving that the marriage isn't fraudulent. That's why the U.S. government often interviews the immigrant applicant and sometimes the U.S. spouse, as well. If you apply via a U.S. consulate overseas, you can count on being called to for an in-person interview. If you're applying for a marriage-based green card from within the United States (adjustment of status), in the past, you would have been required to appear for an in-person interview at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Since the pandemic, however, many of these interviews with USCIS have been waived (though this policy could change).

In any case, if a USCIS official or a consular officer has doubts about whether a marriage being used as the basis for a green card application is the bona fide real thing, it will want to speak to both the intending immigrant and the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse. This will often entail separate and intensive interviews of each half of the couple.

But if your marriage really is authentic, you shouldn't worry. The marriage interview is simply your opportunity to show a U.S. government official that you married because you wanted to, not just to get a green card.

Below, we'll look at when and how a marriage fraud interview might take place. For detailed information about the underlying issue, see What Is Marriage Fraud Under U.S. Immigration Law? and 8 U.S.C. § 1325.

Marriage Fraud Interviews Before USCIS Approves I-130 Petition

Although it's early in the application process, USCIS has the power to summon the U.S. spouse and intending immigrant (if living in the U.S.) for an interview before approving the I-130 petition. The I-130 is the form the U.S. spouse files to start off the process, asking USCIS to classify the foreign national as the spouse of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and an intending immigrant to the United States.

The purpose of USCIS holding an interview at the I-130 stage is to ask questions about the marriage, to make sure the couple haven't entered into an all-too-convenient arrangement to get someone lawful permanent residence, with the U.S. spouse perhaps being paid to file the petition or perhaps just doing the applicant a favor .

If the intending spouse is not in the United States, it is extremely rare for USCIS to conduct a marriage interview prior to approving the I-130. Typically, if USCIS has doubts about the bona fides of the marriage at this early stage, and the applicant is not in the U.S., it will either request further evidence or simply deny the petition.

Marriage Fraud Interviews During Adjustment of Status

USCIS can also hold marriage fraud interviews after having approved the I-130, when the would-be immigrant is completing the remaining steps in the application process.

If you are "adjusting status" (applying for a green card without going back to one's home country to get a visa from a U.S. consulate), USCIS may call you and your spouse in for a routine in-person interview, although since the pandemic this has become less common.

Being called in for a USCIS interview could mean you have been randomly selected for interview or it could mean either that your application has been singled out because you haven't given enough evidence to prove a real marriage, that your application contains some inconsistencies, or that something about you and your spouse looks suspicious or raises red flags.

Since USCIS might simply separate the two spouses for individual interviews on the same day as the adjustment interview, you should also be prepared for a marriage fraud "Stokes" interview on that day.

What USCIS Stokes Interviews Involve

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

If you get advance notice of a second (Stokes) interview following your initial adjustment of status interview, consider hiring a lawyer to attend with you. The lawyer does not really have a lot of power over the questions that you will be 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 follow-up matters.

In the classic Stokes interview, a USCIS officer puts both the immigrant and U.S. spouse in separate rooms and asks each an identical set of questions about their lives together. This can be a very lengthy interview. Although the questions are often mundane and trivial seeming, the key is this: Later, the officer compares the two sets of answers to see whether they match up reasonably well.

You and your spouse should be ready for any and all types of questions at the Stokes interview (not to mention at the basic adjustment of status interview). These might range from what you gave each other as recent holiday gifts to what form of contraception (birth control) you use, if any. The questions vary between different officers and different years.

Once you or your spouse gets to a fraud interview, you should be aware that you may be interviewed by an officer specializing in fraud prevention. This person's main job is try to detect wrongdoers, not to grant visas or green cards. The interviewer will not be trying to make you feel comfortable. They'll trained to push a person with questions until the person contradicts themselves, confesses to marriage fraud, or manages to actually convince the interviewer that the marriage is real.

It is not out of the ordinary for a USCIS officer to professionally ask questions regarding marital intimacy, 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.

Questioning that's straightforward but thorough is typically enough to ferret out fraud cases. Couples who have a real relationship shouldn't have any trouble "passing" the interview. On the other hand, couples perpetrating a fraudulent marriage can do all the homework in the world, yet are unlikely to perform well in a Stokes interview.

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 someone faces if caught committing marriage fraud.

An officer who is ultimately not convinced the marriage is real might ask one of the parties to sign something withdrawing the application 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.

Preparing for the Stokes Interview

It is not really possible to anticipate all the questions you might be asked, and even if your relationship is real, there will likely be questions you can't answer or questions to which you and your spouse have different answers.

For example, you might be asked when you first met your spouse's parents. If one of you gives the date they met over a video chat and the other gives the date they met in person, that's potentially problematic, but an honest mistake that cannot be helped. Nevertheless, it might be avoided with practice. Be sure to sit down together before the interview and try to remember the timelines for significant events in your relationship and other basic facts about each other. Ironing out discrepancies in advance will help you both feel more confident and less nervous.

The types of information you should be thinking about in anticipation of the interview are:

• how often and what time you call, text, or email each other, particularly if you live in different places
• the details of your wedding, reception, and honeymoon
• how you have celebrated major holidays and with whom
• features of your house (if you live together now or have visited each other's homes), from televisions to bedrooms to staircases and other notable features of the property and neighborhood
• daily activities, such as who makes meals, who washes dishes, who delivers children to school or activities, and where you shop for groceries
• details regarding each other's families, pets, children, education, and employment
• details regarding financial matters such as where you bank, which of your financial matters are shared, or who (if either) supports the other financially, what major debts either of you have, and who pays the bills and by what means.

Be prepared to provide evidence regarding your answers to any of the questions asked. Again, there are no limits to the possible questions.

Applicants Using Consular Processing Might Also Be Subject to Marriage Fraud Interviews

Often times, the U.S. spouse is not present when their foreign spouse is interviewed for the green card overseas at a consulate, and in some locations might not even be permitted to enter the consulate due to space limitations. To be prepared, you should always bring updated relationship evidence to the consular interview, since you probably submitted your initial application at least a year or two earlier.

The type of updated relationship evidence you should bring includes:

• photos of trips and travel records
• evidence you have been added as a beneficiary for life insurance or other benefits the U.S. spouse receives
• evidence you have been added to U.S. spouse's tax return as a dependent
• phone and video chat logs, records of money sent from the U.S. spouse
• relevant social media postings, and
• emails or texts.

If the consular officer still has doubts about the relationship, they may request to talk to the U.S. spouse separately if that person is in the consulate or waiting outside, or call the U.S. spouse on the phone and ask questions about the relationship. Similar to the Stokes interview, the officer might schedule a time when you both come in together for an interview, or when you come in to the consulate alone for a more in-depth interview. The immigrant might then wait in the consulate while the U.S. spouse is interviewed by phone.

Regardless of whether you are getting your green card through adjustment of status or consular processing, you should be aware that both USCIS and Department of State may perform fraud investigations that extend beyond just a marriage interview, especially if a U.S. spouse has been suspected of marriage fraud in the past, has numerous applications for foreign spouses, or is suspected of receiving financial compensations for filing the petition. See, for example, Marriage-Based Immigration Cases: Will the Authorities Visit Your House?.

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 initially receive what's called conditional residence, which lasts for two years. You will receive a green card showing that expiration date. 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.

Getting Legal Help

If you have any concerns that USCIS or a U.S. consulate could have doubts about your marriage being bona fide, strongly consider hiring an experienced immigration attorney. The attorney can analyze the facts of your case and spot any potential problems, prepare the paperwork, prepare you to answer tough questions, accompany you to interviews in the United States, and monitor the progress toward approval.