Prosecutors say foreign nationals, mostly Chinese citizens, paid up to $100,000 each for sham unions with US citizens in one of the largest marriage fraud cases in American history.
US federal authorities have charged 11 people with running a sophisticated, decade-long network that arranged more than 1,000 sham marriages to help foreign nationals fraudulently obtain green cards, according to an indictment unsealed by the Department of Justice.
US Marriage Fraud Network Generated Millions:
The scheme, which operated from at least 2016 through July 2026, was centred in the New York area but functioned nationwide. Foreign clients, primarily citizens of China, allegedly paid facilitators as much as $100,000 for a arranged marriage to a US citizen and assistance navigating the immigration process. Participating American citizens were paid up to $30,000, often in instalments tied to milestones in the green card application, while recruiters received commissions of as much as $5,000 for each US citizen brought into the operation.
Prosecutors described the enterprise as one of the largest marriage fraud schemes ever charged in the United States. The network is believed to have generated tens of millions of dollars and caused hundreds of fraudulent permanent residency applications to be submitted to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
“This Department of Justice is rooting out fraud everywhere-including in our immigration system,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. Officials characterised the operation as a deliberate attempt to circumvent US immigration law by turning marriage into a commercial pathway to legal status.
11 Defendants Face Immigration Fraud Charges:
According to the indictment, the defendants recruited hundreds of US citizens willing to enter into marriages of convenience. In some cases, the couples met for the first time shortly before obtaining marriage licences. Facilitators allegedly arranged ceremonies, staged photographs to create the appearance of genuine relationships, coached participants on how to answer immigration interviews, and coordinated with attorneys, tax preparers and other service providers to support the applications.
The 11 defendants, most of them based in the New York metropolitan area, face charges including conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, as well as conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of non-citizens. If convicted, they could face substantial prison terms.
The case emerges amid heightened scrutiny of immigration pathways under the current US administration. Officials have linked enforcement actions against fraud to broader efforts to tighten controls on legal and irregular migration. Marriage to a US citizen remains one of the most common routes to permanent residency, making it a frequent target for organised fraud.
While authorities presented the takedown as a significant blow against large-scale immigration fraud, immigration advocates have long argued that complex and backlogged legal channels can create incentives for people to seek informal or illicit alternatives. The indictment does not detail the individual circumstances of the foreign nationals who paid for the arrangements, many of whom may now face immigration consequences if their cases are reviewed.
Investigators said the probe began with a single suspicious communication that led to the unravelling of a far larger network. Homeland Security Investigations and USCIS played key roles alongside federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.
The charges mark a high-profile enforcement action against an alleged organised industry that turned the institution of marriage into a commodity for immigration benefits. Whether the case leads to wider reviews of previously approved green cards obtained through similar channels remains to be seen.