Marriage for Citizenship

[Optimist Prime]

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

they changed that now, accordding to news I heard somewhere, but, I would marry someone for Eruopean citizenship. Then I'd have 2 out of 3.

[PhoenixAzul]

It would depend on the situation the person was in...IE their iminant danger/trauma/disadvantage. I'm going abroad next year so I don't know how Americans are viewed...but I always get dry heaves when I hear "if you come to America, you have to speak ENGLISH!". What most people don't remember is that it wasn't too many generations ago that our grandfathers and grandmothers came here and couldn't speak a damn word of English and were ripped off, swindled, and mistreated because of it.

[Private I]

I debated it-I was a legal resident, and had a green card, but was ineligible to work in the country. I was still in high school and was in the top 2% of my graduating class, but couldn't receive any scholarships to go to college. I didn't know what to do, so I did think about marrying my boyfriend (we'd been together 2 years at the time, now 5). It was a tough situation, and I know several people who have married their significant others of several years so that they could live together in the same country.

As it turned out, I became a citizen, thanks to the Child Adjustment Act of 1997, 2 weeks before my 18th birthday...although it still took another 2 years to get my certificate of citizenship.

[squirrely girl]

i've gotta go with the 'love' part of marriage - especially since i'm already married

if things were different - well, i guess it would depend on how well i knew the person and what was to be involved on my end...


-marissa

[_Opi_]

Originally posted by Private I
I debated it-I was a legal resident, and had a green card, but was ineligible to work in the country. I was still in high school and was in the top 2% of my graduating class, but couldn't receive any scholarships to go to college. I didn't know what to do, so I did think about marrying my boyfriend (we'd been together 2 years at the time, now 5). It was a tough situation, and I know several people who have married their significant others of several years so that they could live together in the same country.

I think you can get scholarships as a legal resident.. I received a few (I'm a legal "alien"). But legal residents miss out on many opportunities, like interning for any government agencies(which I really wanted to do).

[Private I]

I know I couldn't find any at the time that I was looking, plus what I was aiming for was Florida Bright Future's (full ride to a state school in Florida with a high enough GPA, SAT scores or an IB diploma), for which I needed the citizenship...everywhere else I looked I couldn't find anything that would help...I remember trying to do searches online and the best match I could find was a scholarship for Russian boy scouts...

[roqueemae]

Some good friends of mine had dated when he was in the marines. Her dad worked for an embassy. It was years before I met them so I don't remember where. They kept in touch for 8 years but dated other people, (I always thought he was afraid of commitment). Then she comes in from Canada and stays with him for a while. They got married so she did not have to go back. It was a bit of a quick adjustment and it was rough at first.

They are very much in love. She just had a baby yesterday. He has been in Iraq with my husband and made it home the evening she had the little boy. She has developed an entirely new social network because he is really all she had here. She lived with his mother for a while but she died in August. She has dual citizenship.

I guess that was a hijack--sorry. I do think it is okay to marry when it is a situation like this. This couple had to go through so much to "prove" it is a legitimate marriage. It is sad that people abuse this law that is meant to allow people who love each other to be together.