Marrying US Citizen For Green Card? Might Not Work Anymore!

Article by Kumar Published on: 4:15 am, 2 January 2026

One of the most famous practices to grab the much sought after United States Green card is marrying United States citizen and this has been in existence for decades now.

But due to the relentless cracking down of the Donald Trump administration on immigration policies, this system of green card issuance based on marriage to U.S. citizen might not be as rewarding henceforth. 

The latest developments regarding the 2026 US immigration updates are suggesting that the authorities have started to intensify scrutiny on marriage-based green card applications. 

In the new visa issuance quota, the ‘immediate relative’ slab that previously used to be added advantage to spouses will not be as effective starting from January 1. 

Key changes include higher fees, updated forms requiring more evidence of genuine relationships, and potential delays from fraud checks, aiming to reduce fake marriages which revolve around green card issuance. 

This reflects Trump enforcement mechanism, with data from USCIS showing a 15% rise in marriage petition RFEs (Requests for Evidence) in 2025. The situation is only going to get that much tougher in the near future as well.

On one hand, Donald Trump has already started to limit the intake of immigration population and on the other he is making it tough for the existing Immigrant population to reside permanently in the country.

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