Immigration Corner | Should I tell the truth about my marital status?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington

My mother petitioned for me to migrate to America. The petition was filed while I was already married, but my sister, who filled out the application, was unaware of my marital status and indicated that I was single. In 2016 she received processing papers then contacted a lawyer. The lawyer went through the papers and asked the relevant questions. What do you suggest I do to move forward?

– RT

Dear RT,

I could answer your email in three words – ‘Tell the truth’ and leave it at that, but your scenario is one that many people have found themselves in and appear not to know what direction to take. So let me expand.

Unless you are an immediate relative of an American citizen (spouse, parent, or child under 21) you are required to wait several years for a visa to become available for you to migrate. The length of time you wait is determined by the category of your petition.

• F1 Preference category – Unmarried adult son or daughter (over 21 years of age) of an American citizen

• F2A Preference category – Spouse and under-21-year-old child of a green card holder

• F2B Preference category – Over 21 years old, unmarried son or daughter of a green card holder

• F3 Preference category – Married son or daughter of an American citizen

• F4 Preference category – Brother/sister of an American citizen

For your purposes, if your mother is an American citizen, an unmarried daughter would be in the F1 preference category and it is taking approximately seven years for a visa to become available; and the married daughter (F3) is taking approximately 12½ years for the green card interview. If your mother is a permanent resident, your petition would be void because a green card holder cannot file for a married son/daughter.

Immigration fraud

If you proceed with the application as single when you are in fact married, answer questions on the various applications that you are single when you are not and attend the immigrant visa interview as a single person when you are married – you are committing immigration fraud. While some persons have been able to get a green card in this fashion, the immigration fraud will hang over their heads forever. If they succeed in moving to America, they will never be able to sponsor their spouses and sometimes even their children. If they make it to America, they can also be deported if the fraud is discovered and even be denaturalised if they make it that far in the process.

At all times, you must give accurate and truthful information in the immigration process and most certainly tell your lawyer the truth about your circumstances.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com