Stricter Green Card Eligibility for Married Spouses in U.S.
In a bid to strengthen the integrity of the immigration system, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced stricter and clearer guidelines for family-based immigrant visa petitions, effective from August 1, 2025. These changes, outlined in the USCIS Policy Manual update, aim to identify fraudulent applications and ensure only genuine family ties lead to lawful permanent residency.
The new policies emphasize enhanced screening, vetting, and fraud detection for all petition types, but particularly for marriage-based applications. The updates follow several high-profile marriage fraud cases, including one involving Indian national Aakash Prakash Makwana, who pleaded guilty to entering a fake marriage after overstaying his J-1 visa.
Evidence required for family-based petitions will now include joint financial records, photos, and possibly letters from friends or family. USCIS will also pay closer attention to the immigration history of applicants, particularly for those already in the US on other visas seeking adjustment of status through marriage.
The policy update mandates detailed interviews to prove the authenticity of relationships in family-based petitions. USCIS will scrutinize prior applications, including multiple petitions filed by the same sponsor or on behalf of the same beneficiary. If it finds anything suspicious, such as repeated sponsorships by the same person or mismatches in immigration history, it can trigger deeper investigation or even deportation proceedings.
It's important to note that petition approval does not automatically protect the beneficiary from deportation. The beneficiary must still qualify for lawful status and is subject to removal if found ineligible.
The USCIS Policy Manual update provides clearer criteria for eligibility to file and required documentation, guidance on handling multiple petitions by the same petitioner, procedures for filing petitions from abroad in specific cases, and clarification that petition approval does not confer legal status.
These policy revisions modernize and streamline adjudication processes while reinforcing protections against fraud, consistent with USCIS’s leadership priorities. The guidelines support Executive Order 14161 on protecting national security and public safety.
In the case of marriage-based petitions, USCIS now explicitly states that they will more rigorously assess the authenticity of marriages and may require in-person interviews to validate the relationship. The updates aim to maintain the integrity of the immigration system and ensure that only genuine family ties lead to lawful permanent residency.
- These changes in the USCIS Policy Manual, starting from August 1, 2025, will significantly impact relationships, as they involve stricter guidelines for family-based immigrant visa petitions, with a focus on marriage-based applications due to previous fraud cases.
- The policy-and-legislation update in the USCIS Policy Manual will affect family-dynamics, as it requires additional evidence such as joint financial records, photos, and letters from friends or family for family-based petitions.
- As part of the updating of the USCIS Policy Manual, the policy and practices of US Citizenship and Immigration Services will reflect changes in general-news, such as the need for enhanced screening and vetting, particularly in cases of ongoing residence in the United States seeking adjustment of status through marriage, which might influence family-dynamics and politics.
