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Comment by Aloisius | Hacker News Reader

How difficult is it really to have a green card wedding? The only knowledge I have of it is from TV, but surely in a country where a good chunk of the population doesn't take marriage seriously, finding someone to marry you for citizenship wouldn't be difficult.

You could even build a startup out of it... USMailOrderSpouses.com.

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I have a friend who works in Canadian immigration as a marriage interviewer (i.e., that guy who interrogates you both, separately, to determine if yours is a green card marriage). According to him, it's very difficult to sneak past them - they've seen it all.

Might wanna have a look at the list of questions asked during a marriage fraud interview here:

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/familybasedimmigration/mar...

Hmm. Well I suppose you'd have to live together in order to pass that kind of exam, but you should be able to answer most of those questions after a few weeks. Odd though that a lot of those questions assume quite a bit of time has gone by.

I know you are joking, but it is not a good idea. I know some people who have done it successfully, but it is risky and can even lead to revocation of citizenship if it is discovered many years later. Operating a startup like this would result in a lengthy prison term if you were found inside the US, as in >20 years.

Residency is conditional the first 2 years of marriage. Both spouses need to go through interviews, appear they are a couple - have joint bank accounts, bills, live together, etc. It's also not a given that somebody with no existing legal status will be granted residency even if legitimately married.

There is a lot of variability in what the USCIS actually checks. When my wife and I went for our interview the immigration officer only asked to see our wedding photos; since our parents and other family were present he decided it was legitimate (apparently most sham marriages are hidden from families). We had spent a lot of time assembling all the other recommended evidence but no one ever bothered to look at it.

I know you were being facetious, but they actually do a considerable background check when you marry a foreigner to ensure it's not a green card wedding. I think it's a felony if you stage it.

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