Breaking a mother's heart through lies and deception

An elderly Filipina came to my office for a consultation about her son’s case. Tears started flowing almost as soon as she started telling her story. And she kept reaching for the box of Kleenex, as the tears poured from her eyes.

It seems that in January 1992, she petitioned her son while she was still an immigrant, in category F-2B (single adult child of immigrant). Her son swore to her that although he had a live-in common law wife, they had never married. Later that year, in December 1992, she naturalized, which resulted in the case being converted from F2B to F-1 (single adult child of US Citizen).

The years went by, and this mother anxiously waited for the time when her son would be able to immigrate to the US, and her “American Dream” could finally be fulfilled.

In 2007, she started receiving documents and forms from the National Visa Center, which she dutifully filled out, including the affidavit of support, etc. She also paid hundreds of dollars in fees to the National Visa Center in order for her son’s visa to be processed. But the time, effort, and money were worth it to this mother, and she looked forward to the day when her son would be interviewed at the Embassy and he could join her in America.

When the time finally came for her son’s interview, disaster and tragedy struck: The Embassy discovered the son had a “secret marriage” in 1989, which he never told his mother about. Because of this marriage, the mother’s petition, that was filed in January 1992, was void and of no legal effect. This is because an immigrant can never have a married child under petition. (If the child is married at the time the petition is filed or gets married before the parent naturalizes, or marries before the child enters the US as “single”, the petition becomes automatically void.). Consequently, the son’s visa was refused, and he was charged with fraud.

If the mother still wanted her son to come to America, she would have to file a brand-new petition, as a “married” child of US Citizen (F-3), which will have a new priority date, resulting in another wait of approximately 15 to 20 years, along with the eventual need for a fraud waiver. The mother cried, “I’m already too old, and may not live to see my son in America now”.

My point is why did this son have to hide the truth from his mother? There is no such thing as a “secret” marriage. While the marriage may be secret from the parents, it will be discovered by the US Embassy, which will definitely search for records of any marriages, in cases where a person is being petitioned as “single”. Just because a person thinks his marriage contract will not be recorded at NSO does not mean the marriage never took place. If you said “I do”, you’re married, regardless of any tricks or games you may play trying to hide the marriage, or justifications you come up with why you think you should not be considered married.

Why did this son also have his mother waste her time in filling out the forms, and waste her money in paying hundreds of dollars in visa fees, when he knew the petition was void at the outset?

In addition, in this particular case, had the son been truthful with his mother about his marriage, when she became a US citizen in December 1992, she could have properly filed a new petition for him as a married child of a US Citizen, and he would have been able to legally immigrate in about a year or so. Instead, he held back the truth for over 15 years, hoping he could fool the Embassy just like he was fooling his mother. That is 15 lost years that could have been applied to a valid petition. Now he faces an additional 15 to 20 years, along with a possible lifetime ban for fraud, for lying about his marital status to the US Embassy.

My advice is that if you are under petition as “single” but are really married, you should seek the advice of a reputable attorney, to see whether or not the marriage affects your immigration status. If it does, then you can consider what possible steps you can take to either salvage the existing case, or file a new, proper case.

But you should not hide this information from your parents, because you will only wind up breaking their hearts and wasting their money. Remember, secret marriages are only a secret from your parents and not from the US government, so don’t take chances with your future or your family’s future by thinking you’re going to be able to immigrate as single and get away with it without any future repercussions.

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