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I have a friend who is married to an Indian from Pakistan. She is from NYC and wants to put single on her passport application, will there be any trouble? She is a US citizen born and raised in the Bronx.

phoog
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Britt Nieves
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    What is her motivation for doing so? – Kyralessa Apr 03 '21 at 07:33
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    Lying on official documents can have unintended consequences in the future. Is this a passport renewal or a first time application? Why does she want to hide her legal marital status? – Traveller Apr 03 '21 at 07:49
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    Indian from Pakistan ?? – RedBaron Apr 03 '21 at 11:25
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    Would the question be any different if her spouse was a Mexican from Guatemala? – Robert Columbia Apr 03 '21 at 12:16
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    Note that US passports, unlike for some other countries, do not list marital status anywhere on the passport itself. So if it's a concern like "I don't want certain people who might see my passport to know that I am married", that should not be an issue. (Indian passports apparently do list it. I think we had a previous question from an Indian citizen who feared trouble if certain relatives found out they had married, and who wanted to lie about it on their Indian passport application in case those relatives should get a peek at their passport.) – Nate Eldredge Apr 03 '21 at 16:10
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    @RedBaron: Why not? A person's citizenship, country of birth, country where they grew up, country where they've most of their lives, country where they currently live, country with which they most closely identify, ethnicity, etc, can all be different. – Nate Eldredge Apr 03 '21 at 16:14
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    @NateEldredge Given that India and Pakistan have never quite gotten along since the partition of British India in 1947, individuals of one nationality living in the other country are generally not something you hear about very often, and hearing about them is likely to give anyone with knowledge of the ongoing conflict some pause. – Austin Hemmelgarn Apr 03 '21 at 22:05
  • @AustinHemmelgarn There were a lot of people with similar situations created when and in the next few years after the partition occurred as people moved from one side of the future border or the other by both voluntary and involuntary means. At low levels (~5k people in 2014) this is still occurring in modern times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India#Resettlement_of_refugees:_1947%E2%80%931951 – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Apr 04 '21 at 03:38
  • Did your friend change her name in connection with this marriage? – phoog Apr 04 '21 at 06:02
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    @NateEldredge You are correct in general sense but in case of India & Pakistan, it is very difficult for someone born in Pakistan to be granted Indian citizenship and vice versa. They'd have to come in as refugees and wait a long time and fulfill some not so easy conditions. My curiosity was piqued on reading that sentence. I hope OP was not characterizing all south asian origin people as Indians. – RedBaron Apr 04 '21 at 09:33
  • Why do you even have to enter this personal detail on a passport application??? What matters in a passport should just be nationality, shouldn't it? – d-b Apr 04 '21 at 23:52
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    Does the "Indian from Pakistan" spouse mean "Pakistani currently resident in India, seeking citizenship via refugee status in India"? which reportedly takes years(/decades), depending largely on the religion of the applicant. If so, did that refugee application predate the marriage? Also makes you wonder how they met, and why she wants to conceal this. You can see why people are asking about sham marriage. People are interpreting the question "Must [she] tell the truth on a passport application?" variously as narrowly affecting just her, or whether USCIS would suspect marriage fraud. – smci Apr 05 '21 at 01:58
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    @NateEldredge: it is even funnier in France. Women have on their passports, as the name, WOMAN_BIRTH_NAME spouse of MAN_BIRTH_NAME. Beside the 50's vibe, it gets complicated when a woman name is DE LEONARDY BRIGENAUX and the man's DUPONT-LEROY, it ends being DE LEONARDY BRIGENAUX ép DUPONT-LEROY", and that gets cut at , say DE LEONARDY BRIGENAUX ép DU and then good luck explaining this at the border. A close friend of mine had this issue a few times and she was not entertained :) – WoJ Apr 05 '21 at 08:59
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    Did your friend have a marriage license in the United States? If they are not "legally married", is "single" the correct marriage status to enter? – axus Apr 05 '21 at 13:28
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    @axus the US generally recognizes overseas marriage, even for US citizens. If it was legal in the country where it was performed and not contrary to US public policy (e.g. coerced, underage), then it's legal in the USA and requires a lawful divorce to dissolve. – Robert Columbia Apr 05 '21 at 16:16
  • @d-b marital status is one of several civil details traditionally used for identifying people. It may also be a legacy of the time when spouses would frequently share a single passport along with any minor children they might have. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 17:03
  • I've seen a question something like this before on SE, and the motivation is likely some awkward social situation like not wanting to tell one's parents they're already legally married to their "fiance" or something similar. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Apr 06 '21 at 03:10

4 Answers4

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Lying on a passport application is a serious crime punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 or up to 10 years in prison. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1542

will there be any trouble?

No one knows. Maybe she gets away with it, maybe she gets caught. Even if it works today, she still can be found out later. Maybe in ten years when she renews. Maybe in 20 years Pakistan, India and the US have a shared marriage date base, who knows?

Given that it's a serious crime with potential heavy penalty it is really NOT something she should do. Whatever the reason for hiding her status, she should consider alternatives in dealing with it. Talking to a lawyer might help: maybe her marriage can be annulled or can be considered "invalid" for US purposes.

Hilmar
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    Does the statute of limitation allow prosecuting a lie from 10-20 years ago? – Federico Poloni Apr 03 '21 at 18:37
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    @FedericoPoloni "Once someone is deemed to have committed marriage fraud, they are banned for life from getting immigration benefits based on a marriage". – Spehro Pefhany Apr 03 '21 at 18:43
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    @SpehroPefhany that's not the same thing as being prosecuted for a crime and sent to prison. – barbecue Apr 03 '21 at 19:14
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    @FedericoPoloni the Statute of limitations for this regulation is ten years, so prosecution after that is very unlikely, but there are other consequences besides criminal prosecution that could be just as devastating for some. – barbecue Apr 03 '21 at 19:18
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    It could also lead to the application being denied, because her data does not match the information the government already has from before. – Aganju Apr 03 '21 at 19:42
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    @SpehroPefhany US citizens can't get immigration benefits in any event. – phoog Apr 04 '21 at 05:27
  • Making a false statement about marital status does not violate 18 USC 1542. – phoog Apr 04 '21 at 05:30
  • @phoog hmm... "Whoever willfully and knowingly uses or attempts to use, or furnishes to another for use any passport the issue of which was secured in any way by reason of any false statement" sounds like it could still potentially apply (assuming the friend actually uses the passport at some point.) I'd definitely want to talk to a lawyer before testing the State Department on this... – reirab Apr 04 '21 at 06:03
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    @FedericoPoloni only 10-20 years? Nazi war criminals getting deported for lying 45 years prior to the deportation: Hold mein Bier – Golden Cuy Apr 04 '21 at 06:05
  • @phoog That statement (from a US lawyer) is referring to things like granting of a 'green card' under the Immediate Relative category. – Spehro Pefhany Apr 04 '21 at 16:13
  • @phoog: If it doesn't violate a specific prohibition in some other part of 18 USC, then it will very likely violate 18 USC 1001 anyway, because that's the catch-all "don't lie to the government" law. – Kevin Apr 04 '21 at 20:44
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    @barbecue US passports are only valid for 10 years, I'd assume if you file a renewal with the same fraudulent information it's a new crime. – IllusiveBrian Apr 04 '21 at 23:42
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    @Kevin my assertion about 18 USC 1542 is that a false statement about marital status is not material because it does not have an impact on the decision to issue the passport. Because 18 USC 1001 is also limited to material false statements, if the false statement is immaterial, it is not a crime. If I'm wrong about the question of materiality, the false statement does violate 18 USC 1001. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 14:49
  • @SpehroPefhany the granting of a green card in the immediate relative category is an immigration benefit granted to the foreign relative. But I suppose that marriage fraud committed by a US citizen might render the US citizen ineligible to petition for immigration of future spouses. That would be triggered by an immigration petition for a spouse in a marriage of convenience or some other fraud in connection with an immigration petition. It would not be triggered by falsely claiming to be single on a passport application, which, if it were fraud, would be passport fraud, not marriage fraud. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 17:10
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    It may be the opinion of some of us that marital status is not material, but absent a never-overruled court ruling saying so, I would not want to depend on the state department having that opinion. Some one obviously thought it needed to be on the application. – WGroleau Apr 05 '21 at 17:32
  • @WGroleau exactly, and actually materiality is irrelevant, any intentional lie on a passport app can result in punishment as this answer says. – eps Apr 06 '21 at 01:54
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If the Indian spouse is not a legal US resident, it may be possible to get residency on the basis of the marriage to a citizen. Lying on the passport application will make that possibility unlikely—but at great cost to the liar.

However, if the marriage was done with the intent of helping an immigrant get a green card, and she now regrets it, lying on the passport application is one way to get both of them in trouble quickly. Better to own up to the mistake and get the marriage ended. And the false motivation is grounds for doing so.

For what it’s worth, here is text copied from the actual DS-11 (06-2016):

WARNING: False statements made knowingly and willfully in passport applications, including affidavits or other documents submitted to support this application, are punishable by fine and/or imprisonment under U.S. law including the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1001, 18 U.S.C. 1542, and/or 18 U.S.C. 1621. Alteration or mutilation of a passport issued pursuant to this application is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1543. The use of a passport in violation of the restrictions contained herein or of the passport regulations is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. 1544. All statements and documents are subject to verification.

1001 may be construed as limiting the prohibition to “material” facts.

1542 has no such limitation, but prescribes punishment only for certain motives.

So, while the answer is “yes, you must,” others are correct in suggesting you might get away with it. But those who suggest you’re likely to regret doing so are also correct.

WGroleau
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  • Why would the US spouse's false passport application prevent the foreign spouse from becoming a US resident? – phoog Apr 04 '21 at 05:29
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    @phoog Making a statement on your passport application that you aren't married is going to look pretty suspicious when your spouse applies for a visa to the U.S. on the basis of you being their spouse with a marriage date prior to the date of your passport application. – reirab Apr 04 '21 at 06:06
  • @reirab sure, and then when the marriage certificate shows that the US citizen lied on her passport application, that will establish that the immigrant visa application is truthful, so there's no reason to think it would be refused. – phoog Apr 04 '21 at 06:41
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    @phoog But it may raise a lot of questions about whether the marriage is a legitimate one or a sham one done only for purposes of getting the spouse into the U.S. (which is common and illegal.) When marriage fraud is suspected, they tend to err on the side of denying admission. And if the investigation determines that the marriage was indeed conducted for purposes of the spouse entering the U.S., both the foreign spouse and the U.S. citizen spouse can potentially face federal felony charges (and the foreign spouse will definitely be banned from entering the U.S.) – reirab Apr 04 '21 at 07:31
  • @reirab it may indeed raise those questions, and everything else you say is true, but the possibility of these questions being raised does not justify an assertion as absolute as "lying on the passport application will eliminate that possibility." – phoog Apr 04 '21 at 07:38
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    If you lie about the marriage, you are definitely committing a crime. If it were a 'sham' marriage, at least the application would be truthful about being married. If lying, then it was A) definitely a sham marriage, and B) you lied about being married. If not lying then A) maybe it was a sham marriage, and B) you telled the truth about being married. There is no case where lying here will help out either you or your spouse. – Jason Goemaat Apr 04 '21 at 08:24
  • @JasonGormaat which criminal statute would the lie violate? But the question here is about saying one is not married when one in fact is. That is, there is a marriage (which may or may not be a sham) and the application says that the applicant is single. So I don't understand the third sentence of your comment, which seems to assume an application that claims that the applicant is married. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 15:00
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The other answers are rather alarmist. Whether the false statement is illegal depends on whether it is material to the passport application, which it likely is not, but in any event this would be a question for the jury at trial.

A false statement is material if it has "a natural tendency to influence, or is capable of influencing, the decision of the decision-making body to which it was addressed."

(From the Justice Department's Criminal Resource Manual)

The decision to grant a passport does not depend on the marital status of the applicant, so the statement is arguably not material. But the passport authority is likely to take a dim view of that argument. Is she prepared to go to court to present it in her defense in a perjury prosecution?

I haven't found a case bearing directly on a materiality requirement in 18 USC 1542, because few US citizens if any are prosecuted for lying about marital status on passport applications, but US v. Alferahin shows that there is such a requirement in the very similarly worded 18 USC 1425. Further, it finds that a false statement about marital status is not material to the case at hand. If such a statement is not material to naturalization, it cannot be material to a passport application.

The only evidence I've found so far related to prosecutions under 18 USC 1542 are cases in which the defendant is accused of having used a false passport application to obtain a passport under a false identity. Lying about marital status does not approach that level of fraud.

I have asked a question over at Law in the hope of finding some better references to support this answer: Does 18 USC 1542 contain a materiality requirement?

phoog
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    That quote is talking about perjury in general. So yes it seems that you possibly couldn't be pursued for perjury, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any other laws applicable that could be stricter. – Voo Apr 04 '21 at 09:36
  • If the information is not material, why are they asking for it? I was under the impression that citizens are automatically entitled to passports (except in special cases, like if ongoing legal proceedings prevent travel), and the application process is mainly about verifying the applicant’s identity. But I do not know how things work in the US. – Brian Drake Apr 04 '21 at 09:49
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    I’d be careful with this.. aside from the fact that the motivation for asking the question seems to make so little sense, US federal agencies are actually required to provide reasons for collecting the information asked for from the public. It would not surprise me if marriage status was deemed (at least administratively/internally by OPM) to be material to issuing a passport. Probably not the main reason OPs “friend” would face legal trouble, but could certainly be complicating in some situations – John-M Apr 04 '21 at 15:59
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    Whether it is material is irrelevant to the fact that it is officially a crime. Whether they choose to prosecute also doesn’t change that. – WGroleau Apr 04 '21 at 16:20
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    This answer is just plain wrong. – eps Apr 04 '21 at 18:13
  • @eps would you care to explain why you think so? I have edited the answer with some more information about materiality. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 15:15
  • @WGroleau on the contrary, whether the statement is material is an element of the crime. If the elements of the crime are not fulfilled, no crime is committed. Therefore, whether the statement is material is critically relevant, in each case, to the question of whether any given statement violates the statute in question. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 15:20
  • Even if it's not as catastrophic as other answers make us believe, how is lying to the government a good idea? – Quora Feans Apr 05 '21 at 15:23
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    @QuoraFeans it isn't a good idea. But we don't know the perceived benefit for this person. Maybe that benefit would outweigh the risks. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 16:00
  • @WGroleau regarding your second answer (now deleted, so I cannot post this comment there): Furthermore, the perjury statute does mention materiality explicitly, so the statement that it "implies that any falsehood is perjury" is incorrect. Similarly, 18 USC 1001 uses the word "material" or "materially" in each of the three acts it prohibits, so to say that it "may be construed as limiting the prohibition to material facts" (emphasizing "may") is perplexing at best. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 17:00
  • Well because materiality doesn't matter in this case , and that the suggestion that this would go to a jury trial is also unlikely and a common misconception people have about the US justice system. Only about 5-10% of cases go to trial. By far the most likely outcome would be the OP being offered a plea deal and their lawyer telling them that turning it down would be a gigantic mistake. Most take the deal, sometimes even if they are innocent. – eps Apr 06 '21 at 02:13
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There is no realistic circumstances where lying will help her or spouse.

Now, what might be helpful is that the name on the passport doesn’t match her spouses. If that is what your friend is after, she can just continue to use the name she was born with (or make up another name entirely, she’s not stuck with the one she was born with, in some states she can change it entirely simply by starting to use a new nam).

Lying to the government is always lying to the government, and it naturally takes a dim view of it. But saying your last name is Chewbacca is only a lie if you don’t go by Chewbacca in at least some circumstances.

If there’s something else your friend is after, I would suggest consulting an attorney.

jmoreno
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    "in some states she can change it entirely simply by starting to use a new name": New York is one of those states, but you can't get a US passport without some other documents showing the name you want to use in the passport. Acquiring those documents for a new name without a court order or marriage certificate is difficult and time consuming. – phoog Apr 05 '21 at 15:58
  • @phoog: in my case I got a passport with two signed affidavit’s (mother and grandmother) saying they had known me my entirely life and that was the name I had used for the last X number of years. The only problem I have ever had with it was when an immigration officer didn’t believe me and I had to send in documentation showing that it was legal, before she would process my wife’s adjustment of status. – jmoreno Apr 06 '21 at 11:26