The Legislature has approved a bill giving the Division of Immigration more teeth in its campaign against sham marriages.
House Bill 15-224, authored by Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua, passed the Senate in a 7-2 vote. It will become law once signed by the governor.
If enacted, the bill would strengthen an existing law created to deter fraudulent marriages. A person who enters into marriage for immigration purposes would no longer be guilty of just immigration fraud, but of marriage fraud. Penalties are up to five years in prison, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
The Division of Immigration would be designated as the official enforcement authority of the anti-marriage fraud law, with power to investigate applications for entry permits and reports of possible sham marriages.
The CNMI has an existing law against fraudulent marriages, Public Law 13-49. But there is still an increasing number of nonresidents who marry CNMI residents to secure immigration status as an immediate relative of a resident.
A nonresident who gains IR status under CNMI immigration laws or permanent residency status under U.S. immigration laws may do business, seek jobs normally offered only to non-aliens, or simply remain in the CNMI unemployed with no repercussions of being deported based on his or her immigration status.
An alien involved in fraudulent marriages may pay the non-alien spouse a substantial fee to enter into these relationships. These couples usually do not cohabitate, or hold themselves out to the public as husband and wife.
“The arrangement is somewhat of a business deal in total contradiction to the sanctity of marriage,” Quitugua says in his bill.
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