My wife might have lied. Now what?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

My wife is a Jamaican citizen and we are currently in the non- immigrant visa process associated with the I-130. She is now worried about a visitor's visa attempt several years ago where she may have mistakenly listed 'single' on the application. This was not long after

our marriage and her name was not yet officially changed in most areas, including her passport. This gave her some confusion as to what was appropriate to add on the form at that time. I must stress that she doesn't even remember whether she put single down on the form.

I am trying to alleviate her fears somewhat. I believe that it is more important that our current visa application package is thorough and completely accurate. I'd love it if you could offer your opinion on this situation.

- KJ

Dear KJ,

It is important that all applicants be completely truthful on their visa applications and deal with any consequences that flow from the truth rather than be less than candid and complicate their lives.

There is a tendency to answer questions in a way that appears to be the most favourable to the applicant at the time of the application, i.e., saying they are married when they are not or saying they are single when they are in fact married. People are told and believe that if they answer the questions in a certain way they will benefit from giving a less than truthful answer.

For example, some persons believe that when applying for a non-immigrant visa, if they say they are married they are more likely than not to receive the visa because the consular office will think they have more ties to their home county than they actually do. Some go so far as to obtain bogus marriage certificates to take to the embassy. Most of these misrepresentations are discovered and the applicants are denied and then labelled - permanently - with having committed immigration fraud. Sometimes persons are also arrested and charged by local authorities with fraud. Those who might squeak through the system and enter the United States then have a problem of proving they were married and divorced when they seek to gain permanent resident status in later years.

Others believe that when applying for a non-immigrant visa, if they indicate that they have relatives in the United States they will not be granted the visa. That might be so, but denying the presence of relatives in the United States who later file petitions for your permanent residency status will prove to be problematic.

If your wife thinks she may have listed herself as single when she was married, she would also have had to indicate that her husband is in the United States, therefore, she would have had two opportunities to tell the embassy that she was married. If she in fact did not tell them that she was married and that her spouse was a green-card holder or United States citizen at the time she applied for her non-immigrant visa, she will have to answer for those omissions when you indeed file for her green card. If the consular officer deems her to have committed immigration fraud, you will have to apply for an extreme hardship waiver - demonstrating that you the petitioner are experiencing extreme hardship that could only be overcome by your wife's presence in the United States. A very high standard to meet, it is always best to be truthful upfront.

It does not matter if you change the name in your passport to your married name, once legally married you are married.

n Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and personal injury law in Florida. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida; and an adjunct professor at Miami Dade College's School of Justice. info@walkerhuntington.com