The Ninth Circuit has determined that the marriage fraud bar applies when a non-citizen attempts or conspires to enter into a marriage for the purpose of evading the immigration laws, even if no immigration benefit is ever sought based on that marriage. The court rejected the argument that 8 USC 1154(c)(2) requires the filing of an immigration application or petition, explaining that “if a noncitizen attempts or conspires ‘to enter into a marriage for the purpose of evading the immigration laws,’ then the marriage fraud bar applies, full stop. Whether the noncitizen takes any further actions, such as marrying and filing for immigration benefits, is immaterial.”
The Court also determined that USCIS did not violate due process by relying on the non-citizen’s ex-wife’s sworn statement without producing her for cross-examination. Unlike in Ching v. Mayorkas, the ex-wife’s statement was not the only adverse evidence, the petitioners had multiple opportunities to respond, there was a dearth of evidence of the bona fides of the marriage, and the record contained independent evidence that the non-citizen had admitted paying his ex-wife to marry him “in order to get a green card.”
The full text of Hanan v. USCIS can be found here: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/04/27/24-6193.pdf