Marrying a US citizen is no longer a guaranteed path to obtaining a US Green Card, according to American immigration attorney Brad Bernstein. He has warned that non-cohabiting couples are subject to rejection of their Green Card applications with a high probability.

For many years, if a person married a US citizen, they were often along the quickest paths to permanent residency and ultimately, citizenship. This situation led to the fact that many foreign nationals, especially Indians, considered marriage-based immigration as an important way to move to the US. Confidently, immigration specialists today, however, argue that marriage is not enough.

Brad Bernstein, a lawyer of the US immigration law for three decades, explained that per the guidelines of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the spouse of a US citizen is deemed “immediate relative” and is thus entitled to legally submit a Green Card application. Nevertheless, being entitled does not mean that approval will be granted automatically.

Bernstein pointed out that immigration officials focus heavily now on the issue of the couple really living together as man and wife. “If it is found that the spouses are living separately, the chances of rejection are extremely high,” he said, adding that applicants must convincingly prove they share the same residence.

He further clarified that reasons such as employment commitments or children’s education are unlikely to be accepted as justification for living apart. Immigration laws consider cohabitation under one roof as the strongest evidence of a genuine marriage.

According to Bernstein, he suggested that married but separated couples first get the influence of a lawyer before submitting a petition for separation. Also, he cautioned that if the immigration authorities consider the couple as having been married only to gain immigration advantages, the applicants might be subjected to severe legal repercussions, among which are the denial of application and the imposition of a ban.

Under the administration of Donald Trump, the investigation of marriage-based Green Card applications has become more strict. The officials are examining very carefully the authenticity of marriages and are not people involved in such marriages being allowed as file a case even if they are not recognized as getting married at all.

The Trump government has also made a complete mess of the immigration policies. The Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery that used to deliver up to 50,000 visas a year is no more. Moreover, the government has significantly progressed in removing the holders of Green Cards from 19 specified countries through the application of rigorous background checks on them, which is the shedding of further enforcement.

Immigration law professionals assert that this series of government actions points to the necessity for honest and open communication, the establishment of real marital ties, and adherence to the US immigration laws before one is granted the right to stay permanently.