Marriage for Citizenship

[Taualumna]

A girl who lived on my floor said her best friend married a guy from the "old country" a week after high school graduation. She told me it was basically so he could stay here. They divorced about a year after.

[honeychile]

OTW, I am truly happy that your family's experience worked out so well - and a generation or two ago, I think many such arrangements did. I can personally name three such couples who married, then had a child in each country, to establish dual citizenship.

I purposely left a LOT of details out of the example I gave - including the chill that runs down my spine each time I think of that dear, wonderful sister who had such a wild sense of humor and joi de vivre. Some day, I may be able to tell the whole story, but right now, it still hurts too much. My New Member class (and the one after mine) were instrumental in our chapter's Spirit Award being named in her memory. I best stop while I'm still making a little bit of sense...

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Originally posted by chopperLI905
Nope bc there would go any chances at a TS Clearance.

False. Spoken from someone who has one.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by honeychile
A sister of mine did. She made the mistake of visiting his native country with him, where their laws are ENTIRELY different from ours.

She's dead now.

OMG...that sounds like the "Not Without My Daughter" situation... Terrible. (I assume that he, or his family, killed her?)

[BetteDavisEyes]

Originally posted by honeychile
A sister of mine did. She made the mistake of visiting his native country with him, where their laws are ENTIRELY different from ours.

She's dead now.


No, I wouldn't even consider it for a moment.

I'm sorry to hear this. It's stories like this that would make me say definitely not. Not everyone gets a happy ending.

My uncle did and he's rich now. She turned out to be from a very wealthy family in Mexico.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by CutiePie2000
OMG...that sounds like the "Not Without My Daughter" situation... Terrible. (I assume that he, or his family, killed her?)

Exactly. More like executed, though - he's a "hero" for killing her.

The last letter I have from her was smuggled out of the country, and at the end, in little teeny-tiny letters incorporated into a design, she had written not to ever let someone you love do what she did. She was trying to contact the Consulate, and having no success, even though she had been tricked into "visiting". She definitely feared for her life, and (I'll never forget this part) said, "DO NOT EVER give up your American citizenship, or go to a country where it can be forfieted through marriage!"

I heard on Christmas Eve of that year of her execution, for disobeying her husband.

[Jill1228]

Honeychile, I am sorry for your loss. That's messed up and I hope karma comes back and kicks the sumbitch's ass!

Would I marry someone just for citizenship? HELL NO! Mr. 1228's first wife married him for a meal ticket, FORGED his name on the immigration docs to get her parents over here. He learned that lesson.

I did marry someone from another country, but we waited until after we got married to file paperwork.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by honeychile
She definitely feared for her life, and (I'll never forget this part) said, "DO NOT EVER .......go to a country where it can be forfieted through marriage!"

This is so important. It wouldn't have mattered what citizenship you have. As soon as as woman sets foot on certain foreign soils, she's regarded as property.

I am so sorry for your loss. Sadly, she is among MANY women who have experienced this. (I read "Not Without My Daughter" and the book that Betty Mahmoody published afterwards...I think it was called "For the Love of a Child"). There were French women, German women, etc., all stuck in countries that didn't recognize their citizenship. They were "property" of their husbands.

[AGDee]

I treated Betty's son for a severely broken leg and arm when doing my fieldwork for Occupational Therapy. It was right when her book was coming out and I met that little girl. Her eyes were empty, haunted and she looked completely traumatized. I will never forget the look in her eyes. Incidentally, my copy of the book was signed in their living room. Seeing them and reading what they went through definitely made an impact on me.

/hijack

Dee

[cash78mere]

not a chance in hell would i do it.

for me, marriage is about love. i plan on marrying once (hopefully!!!) and that's it. i'm nobody's meal ticket or green card. i want to live my life with a man i want to have kids and a life with, not some stranger who is using me.

[carnation]

When illegal Hispanics started coming to Georgia about 12-15 yers ago, a lot of them married the trashiest, meanest women they could to get citizenship.(Nobody else would marry these women.) After getting it, they usually split, leaving gorgeous children behind. I remember remarking to a colleague back in the day that these babies would be some of our worst problems in school when they hit middle school. They would be raised in some of the worst trailer parks in Georgia with horrible moms and neighbors.

Unfortunately, this prediction has come true. I would say that at least a third of the suspended kids currently in our school system are half Hispanic and nobody knows where the dad is. Most of the moms have split too, leaving grandparents to raise the kids.

[AchtungBaby80]

My sister actually did this. She and her South American dude were supposedly going to get married anyway, so they went ahead and got married so he could come here but now they have to keep this a secret from all the grandmothers and aunts in the family or they'd have a fit.

Don't know if I'd do it, though. I think not.

[RUgreek]

Originally posted by TheEpitome1920
Would you marry someone just so they could become an American citizen??

No, but I think people think it's automatic and instantaneous that you give citizenship to someone when you marry them. All you get or can get for a foreigner is the ability to apply for permanent resident status within 90 days of marriage. Then they have to wait 3 years or so to get naturalized. It's a 3+ year commitment and they do treat this process seriously. Kind of funny since recent reports show over 10 million illegal immigrants are working and living in this country. So I guess the question is why bother getting citizenship?

[Sister Havana]

Heck no.

I have a friend who is going to do this, though. I think it's a bad idea, but she will have none of our naysaying.