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Indian man pleads guilty to marriage and green card fraud
The accused entered a contractual wedlock with a female to fraudently obtain a Green Card
A citizen of India pled guilty in front of a judge in New York for his role in a marriage fraud conspiracy. After an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, Vikrant Chauhan, 35, of Chicago, Illinois, pled guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a US $250,000 fine.
The investigation found that Chauhan married a female U.S. citizen in Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 2, 2018. The marriage, however, was a forgery because the couple was not in a genuine relationship and had not lived together. They entered into a contractual marriage solely to obtain a permanent resident card, also known as a green card, for Chauhan.
He applied to register permanent residence or adjust status to the Department of Homeland Security, on June 1, 2018, using his Indian passport, citing the April 2, 2018, fraudulent marriage. The following year Chauhan was interviewed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during which his “wife” said she lived with him in Connecticut.
In a second interview by the USCIS, Chauhan falsely claimed that he continued to live with his “wife” in Connecticut and that they were expecting a child together. Further investigations revealed that the female had brokered multiple fraudulent marriages during the conspiracy, that were conducted in Hamburg, New York, and facilitated multiple USCIS interviews that were conducted in Buffalo, New York.
Chauhan is due in court for the sentencing hearing on January 26, 2024.
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