US charges 11 people in sham marriage green card scheme.
US citizens were reportedly paid up to $30,000 to marry immigrants seeking lawful permanent residency through fraudulent arrangements.
- The DOJ has charged 11 people in a decade-long scheme that arranged over 1,000 sham marriages, mostly between Chinese nationals and US citizens, to obtain green cards.
- US citizens were paid up to $30,000 to enter fake marriages, while foreign nationals paid facilitators as much as $100,000 per green card.
- The network staged fake weddings and family photos to make the marriages appear legitimate before guiding immigrants through the application process.
- Attorney General Todd Blanche called it a “multibillion dollar cottage industry” that undermines US immigration integrity and national security.
- The defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud in an indictment filed in New York.
officials said on Wednesday. American citizens were paid as much as $30,000 to enter into bogus marriages with immigrants seeking lawful permanent resident status as part of the scheme orchestrated from New York, according to court papers. The defendants charged up to $100,000 per green card, bringing in tens of millions of dollars over the course of the decade-long scheme.
A decade-long “cottage industry”
Authorities say they believe the group arranged more than 1,000 sham weddings, describing it as one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in US history. “This scheme was not a quick, fly-by-night operation but rather a yearslong, multibillion dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become.
How the scheme worked
After recruiting US citizens, the defendants would arrange fake weddings and in some cases stage photos of families at places such as restaurants afterward to make them look legitimate, according to officials. The defendants would then help the immigrants through the lawful permanent status application process. Some foreign nationals paid facilitators as much as approximately $100,000 for assistance in obtaining a sham marriage and applying for a green card. Facilitators, in turn, allegedly paid participating US citizens as much as approximately $30,000—generally in installments tied to milestones in the green card application process—and paid recruiters commissions of as much as approximately $5,000 for each citizen recruited.
“These schemes have real cost”
“These schemes have real cost. They rob our country of its ability to know who should be and who should not be allowed in America,” Blanche said. The 11 defendants, including people accused of officiating the sham weddings, are charged in an indictment filed in New York. The two-count indictment alleges conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, with prosecutors saying the network operated from at least 2016 through July 2026.
Why marriage fraud matters
Marriage-based green cards are among the fastest routes to lawful permanent residence in the US, which is why they are closely scrutinised by immigration authorities. When marriages are entered into solely for immigration benefits, it undermines the integrity of the system and can create security risks. In some cases, US citizens who participate in these schemes face criminal charges, fines and prison time, while immigrants can be deported and barred from future entry.