If you’re one of many Kentucky residents who came to the United States from another country of origin in order to marry a U.S. citizen, you likely understand the various types of challenge and stress that accompany such situations. It can also be quite stressful if you’re worried about legal issues that pertain to your status or green card. It’s no secret that having immigration officials show up at your door or call your residence into question may do more than cause personal stress; it could lead to deportation.
There are even situations where immigration officials may accuse you of entering a fraudulent marriage in order to obtain a green card. If that happens, you will likely have to attend a marriage interview, designed to force you to prove that your marriage is authentic. Talk about stressful! It’s best to try not to panic in such circumstances, however, as there are often resources available to help you achieve a positive outcome.
Understand the marriage interview process ahead of time
Preparation on your part may be key to avoiding deportation if the government believes your marriage is a fraud. The following information explains the interview process and also what types of questions you can expect immigration officials to ask you and your spouse:
- As a Kentucky immigrant, you may have already overcome certain language barriers as you adapted to life in the United States. If you believe your struggle to understand or speak English will negatively impact your interview results, you may ask a translator to accompany you to the interview.
- General procedures often include officials questioning you and your spouse at the same time, in the same room, then separating you and asking additional questions. Their intent is to see if your answers coincide or if there are major discrepancies.
- Officials may want you to talk about matters that are very personal or intimate, such as what time your spouse usually goes to bed at night or where you went on your first date.
- Documentation is also critical to proving marriage validity. Officials may instruct you to bring evidence of banking information, tax documents, your marriage certificate or bills that you and your spouse pay on a regular basis.
- Don’t be surprised if interviewers also want you to bring your family photo album to show photographic evidence of your relationship history together.
Hopefully, you’ll have all necessary documents on hand and will be able to show that your marriage was entered into with honest intentions to forge a life-long commitment to your spouse. If the interviewers doubt your word and do not believe you have produced sufficient marriage validity evidence, things may get a lot worse before they get better.
Other married couples in Kentucky have successfully avoided deportation by relying on assistance from experienced immigration law attorneys.
