The penalties for marriage fraud are severe on both sides of the aisle: a federal felony conviction carrying up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, and for the non-citizen, deportation plus a permanent bar on ever returning to the United States. Both spouses face the criminal exposure. The immigration consequences fall only on the foreign national, but they are usually the harsher half of the punishment.
What the Government Treats as Marriage Fraud
Marriage fraud, as federal law defines it, is a legally valid marriage entered into to evade U.S. immigration law.1U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. TOP STORY: ICE Leading Nationwide Campaign to Stop Marriage Fraud The ceremony can be real. The license can be real. What matters is why the couple married. If the purpose was a green card rather than a shared life, the marriage is fraudulent in the eyes of the government, no matter how clean the paperwork looks.
That covers obvious cases, like a U.S. citizen taking payment to marry a foreign national, often arranged through a facilitator who coaches the couple before their USCIS interview.1U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. TOP STORY: ICE Leading Nationwide Campaign to Stop Marriage Fraud It also reaches quieter arrangements where a foreign national pursues a relationship purely to secure status and plans to leave once the green card is in hand. A paper marriage with no shared household is the classic case, but short-term cohabitation doesn’t shield a couple if the evidence shows the marriage was a means to an end.
Prison Time and Fines
The core statute is 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c). It makes it a federal felony for any person to knowingly enter a marriage to evade immigration law, and sets the maximum sentence at five years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.2Justia Law. 8 USC 1325 – Improper Entry by Alien The U.S. citizen who knowingly participates is just as exposed as the foreign national. There is no lesser version of the offense for the citizen side.
Prosecutors rarely stop there. When the fraud involves false statements on immigration forms or forged supporting documents, charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1546 usually follow. That statute carries up to ten years for a first or second offense, and the ceiling rises to twenty or twenty-five years if the fraud is tied to drug trafficking or terrorism.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1546 – Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits, and Other Documents Anyone who organizes multiple fraudulent marriages for a fee can also be charged with federal conspiracy, which stacks additional prison time on top.
What a Non-Citizen Loses
The criminal case is only part of what happens to a foreign national caught in marriage fraud. A separate layer of immigration consequences applies on top, and in most cases these are what permanently change the person’s life.
Deportation
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227, a non-citizen is deportable if they were admitted based on a marriage entered into less than two years before admission and that marriage is annulled or terminated within two years after admission, unless they can prove the marriage was genuine. The same statute makes someone deportable if the government concludes they refused to honor the terms of a marital arrangement made to secure their admission.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
A Permanent Bar on Returning
Marriage fraud also triggers the fraud and misrepresentation ground of inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i). That provision makes the person permanently inadmissible to the United States. No tourist visa, no student visa, no later green card through a different family member, no second chance through a different route. A narrow waiver is available if the person is the spouse, son, or daughter of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and can show that denying admission would cause extreme hardship to that qualifying relative, but the waiver is discretionary and hard to win.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
Losing a Green Card or Citizenship Already Obtained
Fraud discovered after a green card has been issued does not stand. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1256, the government has five years from the date of adjustment to rescind permanent resident status if the person was never actually eligible. A removal order from an immigration judge is enough to accomplish the rescission; no separate rescission proceeding is required. If the person went on to naturalize using that fraudulent green card, the citizenship can be revoked as well.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1256 – Rescission of Adjustment of Status; Effect Upon Naturalized Citizen
The Two-Year Conditional Green Card
Much of the enforcement machinery around marriage fraud runs through the conditional green card. When a couple has been married less than two years at the point the foreign spouse obtains permanent resident status, that status is automatically conditional. The card is valid for only two years, and during that window the government can terminate the person’s status if it determines the marriage was entered into to evade immigration law or that a fee was paid to file the underlying petition.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters
To lift the conditions, both spouses must jointly file Form I-751 in the 90-day window immediately before the two-year card expires, and both must appear for an in-person interview with a USCIS officer.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Removing Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage Missing the 90-day filing window without good cause automatically terminates the conditional resident’s status.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters This is where many fraudulent marriages come apart. The citizen spouse refuses to sign, or the couple cannot hold up a shared life under direct questioning.
If the Marriage Was Genuine on Your Side
These penalties are built around intent at the time of the marriage, and they are not meant to punish a foreign national who married in good faith and later found out the other person was abusive or had ulterior motives. The Violence Against Women Act lets a non-citizen abused by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse self-petition for immigration status without the abuser’s knowledge or cooperation. The self-petitioner has to show the marriage was entered in good faith, not to evade immigration law. If approved, the victim can apply for a green card on their own. VAWA self-petitions have no filing fee, and unmarried children under 21 can be included.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Abused Spouses, Children and Parents
VAWA eligibility also reaches cases where the marriage turned out to be legally invalid because the abusive spouse was a bigamist, and cases where the abusive spouse lost or renounced immigration status due to domestic violence within the two years before filing.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Abused Spouses, Children and Parents The conditional green card system has a parallel safety valve: individual waivers of the joint I-751 filing requirement are available when a joint filing is impossible because of abuse or when the marriage ended for reasons connected to the abuse.