Ongoing immigration enforcement: Visa fraud bust involving 1,000 'sham' marriages

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(The Center Square) – The Trump administration continues cracking down on visa fraud and marriage fraud. 

In the latest case in New York, 11 people were indicted for their alleged role in a visa scam involving more than 1,000 sham marriages primarily involving Chinese nationals.

It’s “one of the largest marriage fraud schemes in United States history,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. McDonald's office is prosecuting the case.

“The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly operated a nationwide and international, multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme, using participants to abuse United States immigration laws for their own profit,” he said. 

McDonald’s office unsealed a two-count indictment charging 11 people for their alleged role in facilitating marriage fraud, immigration fraud and “conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States.”  

Of the 11 defendants arrested and arraigned on Wednesday, eight are Chinese. They were primarily living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Flushing, Queens, and Staten Island. 

The operation was based in New York City with the alleged sham marriages arranged nationwide, including in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. The alleged sham marriages involved U.S. citizens and primarily citizens of the People’s Republic of China as well as Vanuatu in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean. 

From at least 2016 through July 2026, they operated a nationwide and international marriage fraud network that arranged sham marriages between foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, according to the charges. 

The network involved multiple players, investigators found. They include facilitators, who oversaw the scheme and identified foreign-national customers; recruiters who found willing U.S. citizens to participate and assistants who prepared fraudulent immigration paperwork. Marriage officiants, attorneys, tax preparers, insurance providers, and other service providers were also involved, according to the charges.

Foreign nationals paid roughly $100,000 for each sham marriage and to obtain lawful permanent resident status through fraudulent Green Card applications, federal authorities allege. U.S. participants received roughly $30,000 to marry the foreign national; recruiters received a commission of approximately $5,000 for each U.S. citizen participant, investigators found. 

The scheme facilitated more than 1,000 sham marriages, according to prosecutors. Defendants and co-conspirators recruited hundreds of U.S. citizens to participate, according to the charges. 

The scam involved pairing foreign nationals with U.S. citizens, arranging for them to meet immediately prior to obtaining a marriage license and having a sham wedding ceremony, including overseas, authorities allege. After the ceremony, participants manufactured evidence to make the marriage appear genuine, “including by staging additional photographs, opening joint financial and utility accounts, filing joint tax returns, and obtaining insurance policies,” according to the charges. 

After this paperwork was submitted, they submitted Green Card applications with materially false statements and paperwork, investigators alleged. Those facilitating the scam also helped the couples interview with USCIS “on how to conceal the true nature of their relationships and provide false answers to immigration officers,” prosecutors allege.

The result was “at least hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications and supporting documents” were submitted to USCIS. “Based on the scale and duration of the scheme, the defendants’ network is believed to have collected tens of millions of dollars from foreign nationals seeking lawful permanent resident status,” the complaint states.  

The USCIS, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division and Westchester County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the case. 

Convictions for marriage fraud and immigration fraud carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. “Conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States” carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Those who commit visa fraud are having their visas revoked and being processed for deportation, The Center Square reported. 

The New York bust came as Chinese spies continue to be arrested and charged in the U.S. and after the greatest number of Chinese nationals, more than 176,000, illegally entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. It’s also similar to hundreds of visa fraud and marriage fraud cases being prosecuted in Minnesota, The Center Square reported.

China is designated as a Country of Particular Concern for its policies of “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom,” including “torture, prolonged detention without charges, forced disappearance, or other flagrant denial of life, liberty, or security of persons.”

In his first term, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency related to China, which former President Joe Biden extended multiple times, The Center Square reported.