The U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is one of the busiest consular posts in the world. This post is responsible for processing all of the immigrant visas for Mexican nationals as well as some non-immigrant visas like the K1 fiance visa.

Consular processing can be very confusing and complicated for those who are not familiar with the process.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement has recently ramped up its efforts in investigating and arresting those who are involved in immigration marriage fraud. Recent reports from New York, Ohio, Arizona and other states across the country tell the story of immigrants, attorneys, and U.S. citizens being arrested for engaging in marriage fraud schemes.

The current U.S. immigration law system for family members of U.S. residents and Citizens is a preference system. Unless your family member is considered an immediate relative of a U.S. Citizen their visa applications will be subject to annual quotas and the preference system.

The preference system gives priority to visa applications based on the nature of the relationship between the petitioner (U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident) and the beneficiary. For example, the 1st preference is for unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens.

The immigrant visa process for many people involves a very long wait. Many people file immigrant visa petitions for their family members and end up waiting 10 or more years for an action on the petition. This is because there are annual limits on the numbers of visas available for most classes of prospective immigrants. Although the long waiting period is bad enough there are other problems that can arise and make the wait all for naught.

Many of the family-based immigrant visa preference classes depend on the marital status of the prospective immigration. For example, the 2b family sponsored preference is for unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents who are 21 or older. Currently, the waiting time for a prospective immigrant in this class is from 10 years to 18 years. A lot can happen in 10 years or more. One thing that happens a lot is that people get married. In a case involving a 2b class family member marriage will result in an automatic revocation of the visa if and when it is approved. The same result occurs for child in the 2a preference category.