Hold onto your wedding rings, folks—getting a green card through marriage to a U.S. citizen just got a whole lot trickier under the Trump administration.

The latest policy shifts from federal agencies, driven by concerns over marriage fraud, have ramped up scrutiny on migrant-U.S. citizen unions, introduced tougher residency rules, and even axed the diversity visa lottery after a high-profile criminal case, as Breitbart reports.

For years, tying the knot with an American was seen as a near-certain path to legal status for many migrants.

Cracking Down on Marriage Fraud Concerns

That’s no longer the case, as the Trump team has zeroed in on rooting out visa fraud, particularly cases where temporary marriages are arranged for a quick payout.

Federal agencies like U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are now giving these applications the kind of once-over that would make a tax auditor blush.

Immigration lawyers are sounding the alarm, noting that officers are increasingly skeptical about whether these marriages are genuine partnerships or just convenient deals.

Shared Home Now a Must-Have

One of the biggest changes is a strict new emphasis on shared residency—couples must live under the same roof every single day, no exceptions.

As immigration attorney Brad Bernstein bluntly put it, “Immigration officers do not care why you live apart, and they do not care if it’s for work, school, money, or convenience."

Well, isn’t that a charming way to ignore the realities of modern life, where jobs or education often pull spouses apart for perfectly valid reasons?

No Excuses for Separate Addresses

Bernstein doubled down, warning, “So, if you’re not living in the same house every day, immigration is going to start questioning the marriage. And once they question it, they’re investigating, and once they come knocking on your door, they’re looking to deny you."

Translation: if you’re not sharing a toothbrush holder, you might as well kiss that green card goodbye. This rigid stance feels like a sledgehammer approach when a scalpel might do.

USCIS itself has made it crystal clear that marriages must be bona fide, not just arrangements to skirt immigration laws, and they’re ready to reject applications that don’t pass the smell test.

Green Card Holders Under Review Too

Adding to the pressure, the Trump administration recently floated the idea of reexamining existing green card holders’ statuses, leaving no stone unturned.

On Thanksgiving Day, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow announced a sweeping directive for a thorough reassessment of green cards for migrants from certain countries deemed a concern. It’s a bold move, though one wonders if it risks painting with too broad a brush.

Meanwhile, the diversity visa lottery, which once brought up to 55,000 migrants annually to the U.S., has been scrapped entirely following the arrest of a 2017 lottery winner charged in connection with deadly shootings at Brown University and MIT—a tragic case that fueled the decision.