The Fraud Interview
Perhaps the greatest fear of any married couple looking ahead to their green card interview is the prospect of ending up in what is called a fraud interview.Couples who were unable to convince the interviewing USCIS officer that their marriage was legitimate end up in a very intense and stressful fraud interview.
This interview’s purpose is to put enough pressure on you and your spouse so that you will simply withdraw your Adjustment of Status application and admit that you were engaged in marriage fraud. Given that definition, some people would describe it more as an interrogation since the fraud interview only comes about when the interviewing officer suspects that your marriage is based on false premises. Not on love, but on the sole purpose of obtaining a green card for one of you.
During this type of interview, you and your spouse will be separated and asked a series of identical questions, then both of your answers will be compared. If both of your answers match, then the case that the two of you are a bona fide married couple is bolstered. If the answers, however, don’t match, you will be in serious jeopardy not only of losing your chance at obtaining the green card, but of facing possible criminal prosecution.
What makes this tactic so stressful is that both spouses have no idea what the other one said while they were separated. They also will have to contend with the possible strong-arm tactics of the interviewer who might resort to intimidation in an effort to get you to “confess” to your crime.
The officer might tell you that if you choose to continue with the interview you will face certain criminal penalties if it is determined that you have lied and committed perjury. There is usually a form of good cop, bad cop here where you might be told that if you choose to withdraw the green card application at this point, then you might escape any criminal prosecution.
And the suspicions of the interviewing officer may not be aroused just by something you or your spouse may have said. It could also be brought about simply by the appearance of your marriage, how both of you look together. If the husband is in his sixties and his wife is in her twenties, then both of them can expect an uphill battle at the interview. Their problems will be compounded if they do not share a common language or if there is a large difference in their cultural or educational backgrounds.
This type of couple has to be extra vigilent in preparing for their interview because they will be under the suspicion the moment they set foot in the officer’s cubicle. This may sound unfair, but you have to remember it’s the job of the USCIS officer to look for any clues that might indicate a potential case of marriage fraud. So if a sixty-five year old, over-weight, bald, retiree from Phoenix is coming into the interview with a twenty-one year old model from the Ukraine who doesn’t speak a word of English, expect the USCIS officer to have some degree of skepticism.
Of course every couple never actually believes they will end up in a fraud interview. They think any outside observer could clearly see how much in love they are and how great their marriage is just by looking at them. And the interview may begin with this belief shared by the interviewing officer, but one small remark or response from either spouse can turn what began as an amicable smooth interview into an eventual interrogation. It may be an inadvertent comment you or your spouse make, it may be just something that officer finds suspicious in one of your answers, but some aspect of your marriage is giving the officer the impression that something is not right. And if these suspicions are not quickly and effectively dealt with by the couple being interviewed, they will soon find themselves in a much less hospitable place, the fraud interview.
Green Card Through Employment
For those foreign nationals who are interested in getting a green card through an employment visa, the numbers can be discouraging. Unlike the path to a green card through marriage, obtaining a green card through employment can be a long and far from certain process.
Whereas marriage to a U.S. citizen can be a relatively fast and straightforward process, applying for a work visa puts you in competition for just a very few spots, compared to the number of potential applicants. For those would-be immigrants who hope to enter the U.S through an employment visa, they will first have to find a job with a company willing to sponsor them. If such a job is found, then the foreign national can apply for one of the very few H1B visas.
Getting one of these H1B visas is no easy feat. The U.S government limits the number of applications to 100,000 and will issue only 65,000 of these employment-based visas. This number can change, of course, but the numbers seem to be getting smaller, not larger, making it more and more difficult to secure one of the H1B employment visas.
With these numbers, it is not difficult to understand why it can literally take years to gain entry into the United States. And these numbers are furthered divided into various categories which favor some countries and nationalities over others.
There are, however, a few particular professions that could give the would-be immigrant the inside track towards getting a H1B visa. Physical therapists, scientists, researchers, and college professors are almost always in demand and would be given priority over other professions where the demand may not be as great. One other profession, nursing, is expecting a 30% shortage in the U.S. by 2020. Although this profession is not covered under the H1B visa program (nurses can only enter as green card applicants), anyone with a nursing degree will be in a strong position if they wanted to immigrate and work in the U.S. Although in the case of nurses, there would be a two-year waiting period before they receive their green card and can work.
The bottom line is that those applicants that possess specific skills and expertise that are in short supply will be in much better position to obtain a visa. However, these skills and expertise that may be in demand today may not be in demand tomorrow. In the 1990s, the decade when everyone was just getting acquainted with personal computing, there was a great demand for computer and software engineers. Today, there is a glut of computer and IT professionals here. Because of this, demand has dried up and the prospects for some specializing in those areas today will find themselves against some very long odds.
But a decrease in demand in one area of expertise usually means an increase in demand in another area. With a constantly changing economy this fluctuation of demand is to be expected. The only clear exception to this trend is in the area of nursing, where demand appears only to be growing as far as the eye can see.
Reducing Your Stress Before The Green Card Interview
Perhaps one of the most stressful interviews you and your spouse will go through in your life is the green card interview. Fortunately, there is way to combat those feelings of anxiety. Like anything in life where you will be performing to some degree (and lets face it, an interview is a performance) being thoroughly prepared before the interview will do wonders for your nerves.
Your first thing you need to do is read over carefully the interview notice you received, especially the list of documents you are asked to bring. Write this list of documents onto a separate sheet of paper so you the information will stand out and not be forgotten. When the day of the interview arrives, dress as though you are going to work or to a job interview, but don’t overdo it. You want to be presentable and neat, but you also want to be comfortable. The last thing you want is to be sitting in a small government cubicle wearing a tight collared shirt, sweating profusely because the cotton shirt you bought the night before simply doesn’t breathe.
Also be prepared for the fact that your interview will be in a federal building so you will be going through a metal detector. To make this a bit easier just go ahead and place your keys, your cell phone and anything else made of metal in one pocket so you can quickly place them in the tray and move through the detector without too much hassle. Once you enter into the lobby of the building you will be directed to a waiting room where other couples will be waiting to be called for their interview too. Just take a seat and try to relax by remembering to breathe. As silly as that might sound, the reality is that when we are stressed we often times don’t realize that our breathing is rapid and shallow. Just becoming aware of your breathing pattern will help you breathe in a more relaxed way.
Also, when you are just sitting there in the waiting room anticipating your interview, keep in mind that most of green card interviews go relatively fast, maybe fifteen minutes or so. The USCIS officers doing all the interviewing have enormous case loads and prefer to keep things going at a fast clip. So while in the interview, do your best to keep your responses centered on the question and don’t go off on some unrelated tangent. If there is an area of your response where the interviewing officer needs more clarification, he or she will be sure to ask you. We all have a tendency to try to fill voids in a conversation, that is we feel uncomfortable when there is a sudden pause while we are talking with someone and try to say just about anything to keep the conversation going. Resist that impulse at this interview.
You have to remember that while you are sitting there at the interview, the USCIS officer is actually multi-tasking. He is reading through your file while trying to interview you and your spouse at the same time. Just be patient and allow these somewhat uncomfortable pauses that may come and go during the interview. One of the other things you should be sure to do before the interview, is to gather all of the original documents that you had made copies of and mailed to the USCIS with your adjustment of status application and bring them with you to the interview.
While the officer will not be keeping these orginal documents, he or she may want to compare them with the copies that will be in your application file. If anything has changed in your life since you first submitted your adjustment of status application, make sure you bring some documentation to substantiate it. For example, if you have since had a baby, bring along the birth certificate. If you have recently purchased a new home, bring the loan documentation and other pertinent paperwork.
Another thing that you should make you feel a bit more comfortable about the interview, is that this is not a miniature version of Jeopardy. You don’t have to come with every little detail and date of your relationship memorized. If you are asked a question pertaining to something on your application, a particular date lets say, you can simply take a look and read what you had written.
If you and your spouse have only been married for less than two years, the odds are that the level of questioning may not be as intense as it otherwise might be because any green card issued will only be conditional and good for only two years. This is not always the case, but generally the officer knows that even if he grants you the green card you are still not completely free of the USCIS.
A very good first step in getting your spouse and yourself prepared for the interview is to start just by going over some basic questions you are sure to get at the very beginning: How did you meet? What’s your wife’s middle name? What does her father do for a living? etc. After a little bit of time you will realize you know a lot more about your spouse than you thought you did. You are on your way to a successful green card interview outcome.
