Immigration authorities are increasingly skeptical of claims of legitimate marital relationships when immigrants assert them, following a crackdown by President Donald Trump's administration on visa fraud cases involving immigrants paying Americans for temporary marriages, Breitbart News reported on the 2nd (local time).

While marrying a U.S. citizen did not guarantee the issuance of permanent residency, it is true that in the past, marriage significantly aided an immigrant's application for legal residency. However, immigration attorneys are suggesting this situation may change, as they are finding that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is conducting much stricter scrutiny of these marriages than before.

According to an NDTV report, Brad Bernstein, an immigration attorney at Spar & Bernstein, is warning clients that marrying a U.S. citizen is no longer a reliable means for a foreigner to secure legal residency.

One of the newly added variables in applications for permanent residency through marriage is the cohabitation requirement. The Trump administration prioritizes the joint residence of immigrants and U.S. citizens, a requirement that was not considered important in the past, Bernstein stated.

"Immigration officers do not care why you live separately, whether it is for work, for studies, for money, or for convenience," the attorney added.

"So, if you are not living in the same house every day, USCIS will begin to question the marriage. Once they question it, they will start an investigation, and it is highly likely they will eventually visit your home and deny your green card application. Therefore, if you want a green card through marriage, you must live together. That's all there is to it," he explained.

USCIS has warned that marriages to U.S. citizens must be genuine, not merely marriages of convenience. USCIS also stated that it will deny permanent residency to those who enter into marriage "without the intent to establish a genuine marital union or to live together and for the purpose of evading immigration laws."

Last November, the Trump administration even suggested the possibility that the residency status of immigrants who already hold permanent residency could be re-examined and re-evaluated.

In a message posted on Thanksgiving, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow announced, "Under the direction of the President of the United States, I have ordered a comprehensive and thorough re-examination of all green cards for all aliens from all countries of concern."

"The safety of this country and the American people is paramount, and the American people will not bear the costs of reckless resettlement policies of prior administrations. The safety of Americans is not negotiable," he continued.

The administration abolished the diversity visa lottery program, which brings approximately 500,000 immigrants into the U.S. annually, after Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, was arrested and charged as a suspect in shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Valente had obtained legal residency through the lottery in 2017.

U.S. NNP=Hong Seong-gu Chief Reporter / Special Correspondent NNP info@newsandpost.com