On June 4, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a thoughtful and important decision clarifying how far the marriage fraud bar at INA § 204(c) actually extends.
What is INA 204(c)?
The statute is harsh: if the government finds that someone previously entered into a fraudulent marriage to get an immigration benefit, they are permanently barred from receiving any future spousal visa, even through a different, legitimate relationship. This applies even after a divorce, even after falling in love for real, and even decades later.
Some courts have extended it so far that it blocks adult U.S. citizen children from ever filing for their parent if there was a past marriage fraud finding (see Ikenokwalu White v. Gonzalez).
What Does Matter of Otiende Say?
In Matter of Otiende, DHS tried to take it even further. In that case, a stepfather filed a visa petition for his stepchild, but USCIS denied it, arguing that because the child’s mother had previously been involved in marriage fraud, the petition should be barred under § 204(c).
That stretched the statute well beyond its plain language.
Fortunately, the BIA pushed back. It held that § 204(c) applies only to spousal petitions—not to petitions for children or stepchildren. A parent’s prior misconduct can’t be held against a child seeking status through a separate, legitimate relationship. The decision ensures that petitions for children are adjudicated based on their own merit, not their parent’s past.
This is a welcome limitation on one of the harshest immigration bars in the INA, and a reminder that not every relationship should be tainted by past mistakes.