Romance and Marriage – Part 2

US Immigration - The Cautionary Tale

Every day we talk to and help couples work out the best way to relocate to the US to be with their American fiancé(e), spouse (or US citizen parent/child over 21 (see AOS option only below). Explaining the various options can become quite confusing because with US Immigration there are always multiple agendas in play that many clients are unaware of.

Over the years the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram has built up an excellent reputation because of the way we try to de-mystify US Immigration. When our clients first visit our website, we want them to enjoy their experience and feel  that for the first time they finally have a clear understanding as to their immigration options.  

As a responsible law firm we would be remiss if we did not routinely caution our visitors against trying to be their own attorney. We all know that a little information is dangerous and we receive daily calls from people who tried to do their own immigration only to have it go horribly wrong. In many cases the damage cannot be undone.

With specific reference to marriage-based immigration, US Immigration officials are on high alert because statistics show that as much as fifty percent of all applications are fraudulent. How does a US Immigration official correctly spot the genuine application from the fake one? How can you ensure that your case does not get snared in the ‘fraudulent pile’?

US Immigration want to catch the fraudsters, of course they do.  At the same time the fraudsters try to make their cases look just like the genuine cases. The Embassy websites are an excellent resource for general information, however, even these websites will not give you sufficient information for you to safely represent yourself. As experienced attorneys we know that the Embassy deliberately omits a lot of ‘how to’ information, because the primary goal of the Embassy is not to help you come in safely, but to catch the fraudster and so they do not want to teach them how to present a genuine case. It would be like airport security tipping everyone off as to their security measures.

Be the Dream Couple Everyone Talks About Not The Cautionary Tale

For people working their way up the immigration ladder through employment it takes an average of 12-15 years for them to qualify for US citizenship. However, for people who marry into a green card the wait for US citizenship can be as little  as 3-4 years.  This is the reason why there is so much fraud in green card by marriage. Not only does the alien start off with a green card in most cases, compare that with the five years it can take aliens not marrying an American to get their green cards. Once in green card status, they can apply for citizenhip after just three years. In fact, they can file their application after 28 months. US immigration are all too aware of this and are rightly determined to fight this vigorously.

Anyone contemplating representing themselves should think again. Sometimes potential clients come to us under the misguided impression that the process looks so easy – why not do it themselves and save money? We can only hope the above outline helps you make the right decision.

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Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram

US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
520 Broadway, Suite 350,
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292

Everyday the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram provides a comprehensive range of US Immigration expertise. We also provide a free consultation for our prospective clients.

Book Your Free Telephone Consultation Today!

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