WHAT WE CAN EXPECT WITH TRUMP'S NEW POLICY ON MARRIAGE RESIDENCY PROCESSING

WHAT WE CAN EXPECT WITH TRUMP'S NEW POLICY ON MARRIAGE RESIDENCY PROCESSING

There will be many changes with the arrival of Trump in many areas of immigration law.

Originally Published in Spanish in El Vocero Hispano on
December 13, 2024

We know in advance that there will be many negative changes with the arrival of Trump in many areas of immigration law, including deportation, asylum, naturalization, etc.

One of the areas where there will be negative changes with stricter requirements is in the process of residency by marriage which has been one of the most stable procedures to do so within the United States.

We are going to review some of the policies that Trump implemented in his first term making the processing of legal permanent residency through marriage more complicated and that could return starting in 2025.

Note: These changes have NOT passed yet but are very likely.

1. Country bans, as we know Trump banned people from several countries in Africa, the Middle East, Venezuela and others from entering the United States or applying for legal permanent residency. This means that if your spouse is from any of these countries it will be much more difficult to obtain residency, most likely this will affect Muslim and Middle Eastern countries but also countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua.

2. New requirement of public charge, as you may remember Trump tried to complicate life for people applying for legal permanent residency by marriage, demanding requirements that have to do with public charge, although there has always been a table on the income or earnings that the U.S. spouse must meet or failing that use a guarantor, Trump tried to implement other requirements such as verifying if the family members had received any type of aid in the past including aid that goes beyond cash payments.

He also tried to implement a new form that had to be accompanied by proof of previous jobs, schools, education, languages, etc.

4. Mandatory interview for all applicants, currently if a lot of evidence of the marriage relationship is presented it is generally not necessary. This will also make the process take longer.

5. They will look for small reasons to deny the case for example in the last Trump era if applicants left any questions blank they tried to deny cases, also for other reasons like misspelled names or last names on birth certificates.

6. Researching applicants' phone numbers and social networks. Also during the Trump era some officials investigated people applying for marriage both at consulates and immigration offices asked to check phones to find reasons however small to deny the application or ask for more information.

7. The advance parole will be riskier. The advance parole program is a special permit that can be requested when they are applying for permanent residency so that the immigrant can travel and return to the United States without affecting their application, which can be riskier, in Trump's first term there were cases in which people left the country and upon returning their applications were rejected. If it is not for an emergency it would be better not to travel, especially if they have been in the country out of status for a while.

8. Ask for more proof that the couple lives together, which can be difficult for people of more modest income, who do not have bank accounts, credit cards, real estate or insurance.

These are some of the problems we may face when applying for legal permanent residency through marriage. In the future I will talk about other areas of immigration that will change with Trump.

This does not mean that it will be impossible and that people should not apply for residency through marriage, only that they should be more careful, it is a good idea to use the services of an attorney specialized in family immigration cases to prepare the cases very well.