The petitioning U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who is married and wants to apply for an immigrant visa for his/her spouse must meet certain requirements and legal obligations. The petitioning spouse must demonstrate that he/she and the immigrating spouse (the beneficiary) have a bona fide marriage. In general, a marriage that was valid where performed is considered legal unless it violates public policy. Additionally, the petitioner must establish that the marriage was not entered into for the purpose of evading immigration laws. Therefore, it is possible that a marriage may not be recognized for immigration purposes despite being a legal marriage.
Marriage-based immigration has been subject to controversy due to the fact that the bona fides of a marriage relationship often cannot be objectively measured. A legal marriage is considered to be valid for immigration purposes if, at its inception, the couple intended to establish a life together and assume certain duties and obligations. If it is found that the sole intention to enter into a marriage was to secure the immigrating spouse’s residency in the United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will consider the marriage to be fraudulent, or a “sham,” and not valid for immigration purposes.
Mr. Horn’s preparation of marriage based cases is legendary. If you and your spouse can answer his questions in the office you will be well prepared and confident in the interview. Obviously if your spouse or fiancé is overseas she can appear by telephone.
Although Mr. Horn usually appears on adjustment of status interviews in Long Island and New York City, he has appeared on these cases throughout the country. In fact, the additional fee he charges for appearing on cases outside the New York/New Jersey area are frequently (add bold) still comparable and often lower than his peers than the counsel in their local area.
For more information about the types of visas available to spouses and fiancées of U.S. citizens, please see the “Fiancée and Spouse Visas” section.
For almost twenty years, [sc:Lawyer ] has been navigating through the highly specialized field of U.S. Immigration Law and will be happy to assist you.
Call him at [sc:phone ] or use the consultation form to describe your case.
