Marriage complications

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

My mother filed for my brothers who were born in Jamaica but working/living in the Cayman Islands. Two years into the filing, one of my brothers got married, but did not tell my mom or inform the authorities. After another five years, the paperwork came through in 2017. After they arrived in the United States (US), my mother sent in paperwork to get their two-year green cards. One got his and the other was denied. The brother whose green card was denied is the one who is married. Immigration said that the reason for the denial is that he did not stay in the US until he got his green card. When he came here, he only spent one week and then left.

Could you give us some advice? The denial letter came in February 2018.

– K.D.

Dear K.D.,

I am unsure what documents your mother filed after your brothers arrived. If a parent is the petitioner for a green card, the beneficiary receives a ten-year green card, not one valid for two years. A two-year green card is issued to persons who are the beneficiaries or derivative beneficiaries of petitions filed by their spouses or step-parents and at the time of the issuance of the green card, married for less than two years. Persons who are married for two years or more at the time of the issuance of their green cards receive cards valid for 10 years.

I would have to read the denial notice for the second brother who did not receive a permanent resident card, because I am unaware of a stipulation t hat requires a person to remain in the US until they physically receive their green card. Actually, the I-551 stamp that beneficiaries receive at the US Embassy is normally valid for multiple entries in and out of the US. If persons are unclear or if their stamps are unclear, it is suggested that they make an InfoPass appointment and visit a local US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) office for clarification on whether they can leave the States or receive an updated I551 stamp.

The brother who got married and failed to notify USCIS, the National Visa Center or the US Embassy has committed immigration fraud, because he processed his documents as a single adult son (F1 or F2b preference category) and not as a married son.

If your mother is a green-card holder herself, the petition she filed for your brother became invalid the moment he got married. However, if your mother is a US citizen, your brother’s preference category would have changed from F1 to F3 – married son of a US citizen. The ‘married’ categor y takes significantly longer than the single category – currently five years longer. Proceeding as a single son when he is in fact married is misrepresentation. This means that he could never file for his wife, and if he was successful with the fraud, he would always be in danger of deportation.

Your family needs to seek counsel with a US immigration lawyer, because there are delicate issues at stake.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States and family, criminal, international and personal injury law in Florida. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com