Fraudulently-obtained greencard does not make you ‘legal’

Dear Atty. Gurfinkel:

I got my green card through my mother, who petitioned me as an adult, unmarried child. At the Embassy interview, I lied, by declaring that I was single, when in fact I was married at that time. I have been a green card holder for more than 10 years now, and I want to apply for naturalization and petition my family. (I already married my spouse a second time, to hide my first marriage.) I am worried that the BCIS or Embassy will find out about my misrepresentation when they process my naturalization application and/or family petition. What should I do?

Very truly yours,
RF

Dear RF:

Many people immigrated to the U.S. as "married singles", by misrepresenting their marital status as "single", to remain eligible for their immigrant visas, even though they were already married. Some got away with it, and got their green cards. But many were caught lying, and were not only denied their immigration benefit, but had their records marked for life.

Just because the Embassy or BCIS did not catch you the first time doesn’t mean you’re "legal" or that you’ll get away with your fraud if you seek to naturalize and/or petition your family. It is highly possible that the BCIS or Embassy will investigate your case and discover your marital status at the time you immigrated. Once they discover the truth, the BCIS will not only deny your application for naturalization, they could also put you in deportation/removal proceedings and void your green card because it was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.

Any time a person immigrates to the U.S. in a family-based category requiring that he be single (i.e. F-1 or F-2B), and then seeks additional immigration benefits (such as naturalization or petitioning their family), his entire file is opened up. The Embassy and/or BCIS would then review your old file, to see how you got your green card, and "double-check" your old records, to make sure you didn‚t slip through the first time.

The fact that the person was able to obtain a green card through fraud or misrepresentation does not mean that he is in "legal" status and /or entitled to his immigration status. In fact, the Board of Immigration Appeals (which hears appeals of deportation orders) has specifically held that "an alien who acquired permanent resident status [green card] through fraud or misrepresentation has never been "lawfully admitted for permanent residence".

In that BIA case, the alien obtained permanent resident status (green card) in 1985 by virtue of his "marriage" to a United States citizen. However, when the alien "married" the U.S. citizen, he was still legally married to his first wife in his home country. The second marriage to the U.S. citizen was obviously void as "bigamous". Therefore, the alien would not have been entitled to be petitioned by the US citizen "spouse" and/or to obtain a green card through the citizen’s petition.

Although the alien had obtained a green card, and had been a permanent resident for over ten years, the Immigration judge determined that "he was never, in a legal sense, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence because his acquisition of that status was procured by fraud."

The Immigration Judge ordered him deported / removed. The alien then filed an appeal with the BIA.

On appeal, BIA agreed with the Immigration Judge, noting that "an alien who acquires permanent resident status through fraud or misrepresentation has not made a lawful entry . . .". The BIA also relied on previous rulings by the Courts, which held that the term "lawfully admitted for permanent residence"does not apply to aliens who had obtained their permanent resident status by fraud, or had otherwise not been entitled to it.

It really doesn’t matter what fraud the person committed in order to obtain the green card (i.e. enters the U.S. as "single" when the person is really married, or enters into a bigamous marriage with a U.S. citizen while still married to their first spouse). The fact remains that the person obtained his green card through fraud and misrepresentation. The cases hold that if a person obtained his green card through fraud, then he is not entitled to the green card and/or is not truly "legal". Therefore, you will put yourself at risk if you apply for citizenship and /or petition your family, based on your fraudulently obtained green card.

I know that many people were able to obtain their green cards through fraud, and were even able to acquire citizenship (by continuing to claim that they were "single".) However, this does not erase the fact that they were never legally entitled to their green card. The BCIS and the Embassy are now a lot wiser to these schemes. In fact, the Embassy has noted that people trying to immigrate to the U.S. as "married singles" is one of the largest fraud problems in the Philippines!

If you committed fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining your green card, I suggest that you consult with a reputable attorney for advice and guidance on your situation.

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Website address: www.gurfinkel.com