US To Tighten Green Card Rules, Warns Immigration Attorney

Washington: A highly coveted permit among immigrants in the US the Permanent Resident Card, popularly known as the Green Card, is set to become much harder to attain. 

Brad Bernstein, an American immigration attorney, has warned that immigrants keen to fulfil their ‘American Dream’ will need to go through more stringent tests if they are to become permanent of the world’s sole superpower.

What is the Green Card?

The Permanent Resident Card, more popularly known as the Green Card, grants immigrants the right to live and work in the US and puts them on the path to eventually obtain American citizenship. Although Green Card holders do not enjoy the same standing as full-blown American citizens, the document allows them to enjoy many of the same rights. 

How is a Green Card obtained?

One of the most common methods to acquire a Green Card is to marry an American citizen. However, Bernstein has warned this method will not allow immigrants an easy access to a Green Card any longer as immigration officials will subject such cases to much more stringent scrutiny. 

What are the new measures?

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, a spouse of a US citizen falls under the category of an "immediate relative of a US citizen". According to American law, immediate relatives, including husbands and wives of US citizens are eligible to apply for the Green Card. 

However, with the Donald Trump administration tightening the rules regarding US citizenship, marriage-based Green Card applications are being examined in a more strict manner, with officials placing greater emphasis on whether a marriage is genuine rather than merely legal on paper. The increased scrutiny of the Green Card programme saw the Trump administration suspend the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, which offered up to 50,000 immigrants visas every year through a random selection process to people from countries with low levels of immigration to the United States.

"Being in a relationship does not get you a Green Card. Living together gets you a Green Card," Bernstein told the media.

"If spouses do not share a home, then their Green Card case is already going down," he added.

"Immigration officers do not care why you live apart, and they do not care if it's for work, school, money, or convenience." 

He informed that US immigration rules classify a bona fide marriage as one in which spouses live in the same home.

"So, if you're not living in the same house every day, immigration is going to start questioning the marriage. And once they question it, they're investigating, and once they come knocking on your door, they're looking to deny you. So, if you want a marriage green card, you live together. Period," he said.

"If you're married and not living together full-time, you need legal guidance before you file anything," he added.