'Marriage Not Enough For Green Card': US Immigration Attorney Warns Couples

According to immigration attorney Brad Bernstein of Spar & Bernstein, marriage-based Green Card applications are facing heightened scrutiny under the current Trump administration.

01 Jan 2026, 15:46 · NDTV

A Green Card, officially called a Permanent Resident Card, grants a foreign national the legal right to live and work permanently in the US. One can get a Green Card by marrying an American citizen. However, an immigration attorney has thrown light on the fact that marrying a US citizen will no longer guarantee a Green Card.

Green Card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). They can apply for US citizenship after meeting certain requirements. Usually, they need to live in the US continuously for a certain period, typically 1 to 5 years, and show good moral character.

According to immigration attorney Brad Bernstein of Spar & Bernstein, marriage-based Green Card applications are facing heightened scrutiny under the current Trump administration. Officials are now prioritising proof that the marriage is bona fide, rather than entered into solely for immigration benefits, with factors like living apart often triggering deeper fraud investigations and potential denials.

"If spouses do not share a home, then their Green Card case is already going down," Bernstein said. "Being in a relationship does not get you a Green Card. Living together gets you a Green Card."

In a Facebook video, he said that the immigration officials will check if the husband and wife live together. "Immigration officers do not care why you live apart, and they do not care if it's for work, school, money, or convenience," he said.

"So, if you're not living in the same house every day, immigration is going to start questioning the marriage. And once they question it, they're investigating, and once they come knocking on your door, they're looking to deny you. So, if you want a marriage green card, you live together. Period," he added.

According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), even a legally valid marriage does not qualify as bona fide and may lead to denial of a marriage-based application if the parties entered into it with "no good faith, intent to live together as spouses and intended to circumvent immigration laws."

The Trump administration recently suspended the green card lottery because a man believed to be behind both a mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor entered the United States through that route.

The US green card lottery grants up to 55,000 permanent resident visas annually to people "from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States," according to the State Department.

"At President Trump's direction, I am immediately directing USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to pause the DV1 programme to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.

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