Will a secret marriage affect my parent's petition to me?

Question

i am already 21 y/o me and my boyfriend wants to have a secret marriage before i left the country. I am petitioned by my parents and expecting its aproval in a few months. Will a secret marriage be detected by the "authorities" i mean by the embassy? and will it affect my parents petition?

Answer 1

You are going to make a huge mistake. Secret marriage? Only 21? This has disaster all over it.

Answer 2

Uh, you better talk to an attorney about this one.  The answer is that your "secret marriage" will most probably throw a monkey-wrench into your parents petition! But exactly what and how, don't know. That's where you better talk to an expert on these matters.

Answer 3

It sounds like a typical scheme from the Philippines.  Read this article....

FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED GREENCARD DOES NOT MAKE YOU “LEGAL” By Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.

Dear Attorney Gurfinkel:

I got my green card through my mother, who petitioned me as an adult, unmarried child. At the Embassy interview, I lied, by declaring that I was single, when in fact I was married at that time. I have been a green card holder for more than 10 years now, and I want to apply for naturalization and petition my family. (I already married my spouse a second time, to hide my first marriage.) I am worried that the USCIS or Embassy will find out about my misrepresentation when they process my naturalization application and/or family petition. What should I do?

Very truly yours,

RF

Dear RF:

Just because the Embassy or USCIS did not catch your misrepresentation during your own immigrant visa processing years ago does not mean your green card is “legal” or was legitimately obtained. It is highly possible that if you apply for citizenship or petition your family, the USCIS or Embassy will investigate your case anew and discover your true marital status at the time you immigrated. Once they discover the truth, the USCIS will not only deny your application for naturalization, they could also put you in deportation/removal proceedings, and void your green card, because it was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.

Any time a person immigrates to the U.S. in a family-based category requiring that he be single (i.e. F-1 or F-2B), and the person later seeks additional immigration benefits (such as naturalization or petitioning their family), his entire file is opened. The Embassy and/or USCIS would then review your old file, to see how you got your green card, and “double-check” your old records, to make sure you didn’t slip through the first time.

When a person obtained a green card through fraud or misrepresentation, he does not become a “lawful resident” of the U.S. , and is not considered in “legal” status and /or entitled to his own immigration status. In fact, the Board of Immigration Appeals (which hears appeals of deportation orders) has specifically held that “an alien who acquired permanent resident status [green card] through fraud or misrepresentation has never been ‘lawfully admitted for permanent residence’…”.

Therefore, you will put yourself at risk if you apply for citizenship and /or petition your family, based on your fraudulently obtained green card.

I know that many people were able to obtain their green cards through fraud, and were even able to acquire citizenship (by continuing to claim that they were “single”.) However, this does not erase the fact that they were never legally entitled to their own green card. The USCIS and the Embassy are now a lot wiser to these schemes. In fact, the Embassy has noted that people trying to immigrate to the U.S. as “married singles” is one of the largest fraud problems in the Philippines! The Embassy’s denial form directly addresses this type of situation, stating that, “Your petitioner entered the US illegally and may not petition for you.” In other words, even if you were able to naturalize and then try to petition your family, the Embassy will not issue visas to your family if you originally entered the U.S. illegally (because you were a “married/single”).

If you committed fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining your green card, I suggest that you consult with a reputable attorney for advice and guidance on your situation, to explore legitimate ways to correct your misdeed and possibly allow you to bring your family to the U.S. “legally”.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com

Four offices to serve you: PHILIPPINES: 894-0258 or 894-0239;

LOS ANGELES: [phone]; SAN FRANCISCO: [phone];

NEW YORK: [phone]

Answer 4

Don't do it.  Think of if your parents would ever trust you again.

Answer 5

The government will find out anything it wants to know about you. If your marriage has to be kept a secret then you have no business being married to this person int he first place. Don't do it.

Answer 6

The application will be refused, they can not sponsor you if you are married. Why not wait a few months?

They do check out your information you know, so they will find out. Just don't lie.

Answer 7

Talk to an immigration attorney.  For something this important, don't rely on advice you get from random strangers on the internet.

Answer 8

a secret what? do you really think that you will put that one off? are you kidding yourself ?

first of all, the USA will look at your records, and it is not over yet, you think you will be sponsored by your parents, it will be annulled immediately, your parents will become suspects as well.......! i hope you have enough respect for your parents not to do such a lowly thing and stupid at that?! YES IT WILL BE DETECTED , you can be sure of that, if you got away with it? you could be in the states and seeing yourself deported, with fines and jail time first,and think twice, because your husband will not be brought to the states, because you lied on your application, and that is for sure !

for if you wanted to petition him, you marriage date will come out, and then? look out for troubles!

Answer 9

FORGET IT!! it's a very HUGE mistakes! if ur BF doesn't trust u enough,we'll he must "work" for his self confidence...

don't enter that trouble...

Answer 10

If this is an attempt to get your boyfriend into the country it is doomed to failure.  As previously stated, you would not then be eligible for your parents' petition, so you would have to petition for him yourself.  There is just one problem with that - because you are no longer included on your parents' petition, you would have to apply to get into the country yourself first.

If you go ahead and marry beforehand and then declare that you are not married (which you will have to do) you are committing a serious immigration offense.  The maximum penalty is a $250,000 fine and 10 years in jail.  Because it is a federal offense you would serve the full sentence - no chance of parole.

Please think carefully about all the consequences.

Answer 11

Once you inked the deal, it is filed in the civil registry and, for all legal intents and purposes, including documentatios for immigration, it is no longer a secret.

THERE is no such thing as  "SECRET MARRIAGE." We term marriages as "legal" or "illegal," or "void" or "voidable". If you want your marriage to be a "SECRET," as you seem to believe, then do not register it in the civil registry so no one will know. In this case, however, since there is no marriage contract to register, there is no other way but call such secret marriage  "illegal".

Again, to make a marriage legal, it must be registered in the civil registry.

Remember, every child born out of illegal marriages is termed "illegitimate".

Answer 12

They will find out if you marry.

Marrying by law you become a law binding couple so it'll be written in the books no matter how much of a secret u try to keep it.

Marry the person if you love them but dont keep it a secret if its going to create problems