INS marriages
 

I have a close friend who married a girl so she could get in the country. The two of them represented themselves as married for the entire time that they were required by INS to be married (the process was supposed to take less than two years, but guv'ment being what it is they had to be married for five).

At the end of the five years, instead of getting divorced, they stayed married and are still married today (10 years after the initial marriage).

The interesting thing is that almost everyone to whom I tell this story knows someone who married completely for INS reasons AND it is often the case that the couple stayed together after their five year yoke was up.

So: Post here if you know anyone involved in an INS marriage (or if you were in an INS marriage or considered an INS marriage) and if there are interesting related details.

Re: INS marriages
 

I was involved in an "INS marriage." I'm certain that's a bad term for it, but ah well ...

I married my girlfriend on our lunch break at the courthouse in Arlington, Va. She was from Ecuador, we'd been together several years intended to get married but weren't sure how to cope with pressure of her student visa and so on. We'd just gotten back from a few months in Barcelona, graduated college eight months before...

There are no good "stories." For the vast number of couples who do this, it's all about waiting in lines, praying the INS paperwork makes it through, being harassed in airport customs and waiting years for everything to go through. We got married only briefly before September 11, so what should have been like a two year process stretched to five.

The most interesting story I have is about waiting in 20-degree weather at 5 a.m., trying to see someone at the INS office when it opened. The line forms early.

The most boring stories are the everyday squabbles couples have. We didn't work out - we seperated, the paperwork was still pending so we just waited until it went through to divorce. We'd been together something like seven years at that point, we just got caught in a bad timing situation, didn't know what to do, and so on.

That's life. She's a wonderful girl, and sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if it had worked out differently. But I hate our immigration system - it's hell for people who want to be here legitimately. It shouldn't be this hard.

Our country has strayed far, far from the ideals we claim to be based around. I love what this country stands for, on paper. But what it's become is something entirely different.

Re: INS marriages
 

I believe that more people legally immigrate to the USA than all other countries combine, despite the USA being the toughest country to immigrate to.

"The interesting thing is that almost everyone to whom I tell this story knows someone who married completely for INS reasons AND it is often the case that the couple stayed together after their five year yoke was up."

I think this has a lot to do with the man being the US citizen most of the time and the girls coming from cultures that are a lot more patriarchal than the West. After you are with a girl who worships you and waits on you hand and foot, its probably real tough to go back to a standard American nag.

Re: INS marriages
 

I don't have much to contribute but I was seriously considering it with a close friend from college who was a German citizen. We'd never been romantically involved (and still haven't been 5+ years later) but know each other very well. We figured the biggest hurdle would be the effects it would have on dating other people.

Re: INS marriages
 

people who marry for the sole purpose of gaining entrance to this country are scumbags in my book.

Re: INS marriages
 

My wife is not a US citizen and it was a huge hassle for us to get her a green card, and we even had a legitimate marriage. The actual interviews and things were not that bad but getting them scheduled was. It took a few years for everything. Her first green card was conditional - we had to re-apply after two years. After we re-applied, we got a letter saying "Please come to this INS office on Date X and such-and-such time. If you do not come to the office for your appointment it will be assumed that you are dropping your application." Of course, Date X had already passed by the time we got the letter. . .

Re: INS marriages
 

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I believe that more people legally immigrate to the USA than all other countries combine, despite the USA being the toughest country to immigrate to.

[/ QUOTE ]
I know there's a lot of bureaucratic paperwork and delay, and I know plenty of people who have had issues with "la migra" including H1Bs (work visa), immigrants from south of the border, adoptive parents bringing a child from overseas, "legit" (for "love", not "INS") marriages and so forth. Lots of bad experiences - but - do you have any sort of real evidence to back this claim up? Seems to me that a country that regularly offers amnesty to illegal immigrants cannot possibly be the most difficult country to immigrate to, nor can it be the most difficult when we take in more immigrants than pretty much anyone else.

Re: INS marriages
 

"do you have any sort of real evidence to back this claim up?"

No, and I should have included more of a disclaimer than "I believe". The information came unsolicited from the mouth of an Immigration attorney specializing in Visas to the USA. I found it interesting and wanted to add it to the discussion, but obviously should have included the source in my post. Thanks.

Re: INS marriages
 

[ QUOTE ]
people who marry for the sole purpose of gaining entrance to this country are scumbags in my book.

[/ QUOTE ]

YEAH! KEEP EVERYONE OUT!

Re: INS marriages
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
people who marry for the sole purpose of gaining entrance to this country are scumbags in my book.

[/ QUOTE ]

YEAH! KEEP EVERYONE OUT!

[/ QUOTE ]

Its pretty lol that you say this to bytor. Less trolilng in EDGD please.