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FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED GREENCARD
DOES NOT MAKE YOU “LEGAL”
by Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
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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