Indian man’s unfinished 17-year journey to be US citizen

NEW YORK - A 45-year-old Indian man, married to an American woman for nearly 17 years, has been trying to convince federal immigration authorities that his marriage was not a charade to get a green card.

Inderjit Singh, a car service driver, and Shari Feldman reflect what legal scholars see as a regulation of marriage through immigration laws.

Singh entered the country illegally in 1992, but could be granted a spousal green card under the more forgiving immigration laws governing those who wed citizens before May 2001.

However, the couple has made three petitions and had five marriage interviews over the years, but still failed to convince the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials.

Singh estimates that he has spent 20,000 dollars on immigration fees, fines and legal costs, most of it borrowed from an uncle.

He did not visit his mother in India after his father’s death two years ago, over fears that he would not be allowed to return to his wife.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m going to jump out the window and finish, but I know she need me,” The New York Times quoted Singh, as saying.

Last year, after they reapplied with a new lawyer, the USCIS refused to interrogate them again, citing the conflicting answers they gave four years ago to several questions.

The couple may be an extreme case, but they are not alone, as petitions by 20,507 citizens were denied in the last fiscal year, of these, only 506 were for fraud, and the rest were for reasons like discrepancies in the couples’ answers. (ANI)