Alicia Szyffer Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Having practiced law in the field of immigration for almost 30 years, I have represented countless clients who have applied for marriage based lawful permanent residence (green card) in the U.S.  When a couple appears at the USCIS office for the applicant’s adjustment of status interview, interviewing Examiners routinely ask questions pertaining to the couple’s marital relationship.  After scrutinizing their answers to those questions and the documents submitted in support of the visa petition, if the officer has any doubts as to the bona fides of the marriage, the case may be forwarded to another unit for what in New York is commonly known as a “Stokes” interview.   Stokes refers to a New York federal court decision that mandated that the USCIS adjudicate marriage-based visa petitions in a fair manner.

At the taped Stokes interview, the couple must again submit documentation to establish that they entered into their marriage because they love each other and not for the purpose of circumventing the immigration laws.  They are then interviewed separately and must answer numerous questions regarding details of their relationship before and after the marriage.  The examiner then compares the answers and if there are no discrepancies (or very few), then the visa petition is generally approved and the applicant can be granted a green card. If there are discrepancies in the answers, the examiner may not only deny the visa petition but will most probably place the applicant in removal proceedings.  If it is determined that it is a fraudulent marriage, the parties may even be taken into custody.      

I recently succeeded in obtaining approvals of an I-130 visa petition and subsequent application for permanent residence for a woman who is married to a U.S. citizen, despite a previous denial of the visa petition. That petition, which had been filed by the same spouse, had been denied after a Stokes interview because the Immigration Examiner found “discrepancies” between some of the answers given by the couple. What was particularly interesting in this case was the fact that most of those answers were not discrepancies at all, but a failure on the part of the husband to recall some details. The Examiner did not give the couple the benefit of the doubt and denied the visa petition.  The wife was then placed in removal proceedings.

All the attorneys in this office, including myself, instruct clients who must appear for a Stokes interview that if they cannot remember a particular detail, they should say so and NEVER fabricate an answer.  Saying you don’t remember is always better than making something up, especially because the other spouse will most likely not provide the same answer.  Even though in this particular case the husband followed my instructions, the Examiner denied the visa petition based mostly on his failure to remember some facts. 

When I entertained the possibility that the husband might suffer from memory problems, I recommended that he see a specialist.  It turned out that he indeed suffered from memory loss. I submitted a letter from his Neurologist confirming the diagnosis, detailing all the tests he had undergone, and stating that he had prescribed medication for the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s.  I filed another visa petition and the USCIS scheduled a 2^nd Stokes interview.  At my urging, considering the fact that the husband would again not be able to recall some details, the USCIS agreed to pose most questions to the wife only. The visa petition was approved, the Immigration Judge cancelled the woman’s removal proceedings and she was granted lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.

This article has been provided courtesy of our NY immigration lawyers, Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss, (646) 233-2774, www.ggw.com.