A recent New York Times article linked to a USCIS Fraud Referral Sheet, a sort of a field officer’s guide to general and case-specific fraud indicators.
In the I-130 family-based context, listed fraud indicators include features that can be found in a great many marriages in America: “unusual cultural differences,” “low employment/financial status of petitioner,” and “divorce/new marriage dates close.”
Another listed fraud indicator is “short time between entry and marriage,” which is of course something parents and priests have longed warned against.
In a follow-up article, the Times listed sample marriage interview questions meant to ferret out fraud. Among the examples:
⇒ If you are standing at and facing your kitchen sink, where is the microwave oven?
⇒ Is your microwave stationary or does it have a revolving plate?
⇒ Do you have any tattoos? Where? What do they look like? What about your spouse?
⇒ If you are lying in bed, which side does your spouse sleep on?
⇒ How is your bedroom closet split up?
⇒ Where do you keep your clean underwear?
⇒ Do you and your spouse use birth control? What kind?
⇒ What was the last movie you went out to see together?
Although the Times readership generally comprises people who do well on tests, many readers who have written into the paper claim to have failed this one, and miserably. Some representative responses:
“My wife and I got eight answers wrong! We’re both American citizens who’ve been married 10 years. If one of us were an immigrant, he/she’d probably be on a boat right now.”
“My husband and I have been happily married for 38 years but I’m sure he couldn’t answer many of these questions. I’m going to start packing his bags.”
“I think that we met in December, On second thought maybe September, But now it appears After Sixty great years, The truth is I just don’t remember.”