Vetting knot: New spouses of US citizens face tough checks

Marrying a US citizen or green card holder once meant you had a smooth one-way ticket to the American Dream. But newlywed spouses can no longer expect to just hop on to a flight with a heart full of hope and a suitcase full of namkeen.

The days of waived interviews and easy approvals under the Biden administration are over - one more casualty of the Trump regime's crackdown on suspected immigration fraud. Instead, each case will now be subjected to vetting.


While there was always a waiting period involved, the first step is tackling the interview - which only got tougher. If the spouse (say wife) is in India, the interview will be conducted by US consulate officials.

If the spouse is already in US, say on a non-immigrant H-1B work visa, after marriage, they can apply for a green card (known as adjustment of status). In this case, the interview will be carried out by US Citizenship and Immigration Services officials.

Spoiler alert: make sure all your paperwork is in order, and be prepared for some intense questioning. "Officers will be looking deeper... leaning into their discretion more often than they did in the Biden years. They are already spending more time verifying marriages and we are seeing an increase in requests for evidence," says immigration attorney Ashwin Sharma.