DEARBORN — After five years of marriage, Marwa received her divorce papers on the same day her husband obtained his Green Card. Marwa, who chose not to reveal her real name, is a U.S. citizen. 

“He used me. He just married me for my U.S. papers,” she said. 

Like a number of other Arab American women, Marwa identifies herself as one who unknowingly went through what is called a “Green Card marriage.” 

She was inveigled into marrying a man who was only interested in obtaining a permanent residency in the United States. 

Men who want to marry women for the sole purpose of obtaining a Green Card begin the process in college. Many international students seeking to become permanent residents are interested in women living in the United States for various reasons, including obtaining a Green Card, which ensures that they will not be deported after their student visa expires. 

Marwa, 35, met her ex-husband in college. He arrived in the U.S. on a student visa from a country in the Middle East. At first, flattery, flowers and a proposal made Marwa fall in love and eventually become his wife. Soon after their wedding, she began the process of his naturalization. 

In some cases, receiving a permanent residency can take up to one year. However, Marwa’s husband obtained his after five years. During the duration of their marriage, her husband managed to bring in his parents from overseas using Marwa’s U.S. papers.  

“He exploited me,” she said. “After I was of no use to him, he left me.”

Marwa met with a lawyer for consultation to see if there was any way of having her husband’s permanent residency revoked because it was a sham marriage. 

“The lawyer said it was too late to do anything about it, because my ex-husband already had the Green Card,” Marwa said. 

There are several reasons international students want to become U.S. citizens. It could be the fact that a permanent residency gives them the opportunity to live a better lifestyle and have the ability to travel back and forth to their homelands. 

It is common for friends and family of local women to question a foreign man’s intentions and residency status when they becomes engaged. 

“One of the first questions I was asked from my Arab American friends after announcing my engagement was if my fiancé has his papers or if he is overseas,” said Raghd from Dearborn, who chose not to reveal her real name. 

Raghd, 19, will be travelling to an Arab country in December to have her wedding. 

“Then I will come back to the U.S. soon after and start the paperwork to bring in my spouse, so we can live here,” she said. 

Even with all the warnings from her friends of becoming a victim of  “Green Card marriage,” Raghd is optimistic about the future. 

The turmoil and chaos in the Middle East has left many men unemployed and with hopes of a better life in the United States.  In one case involving a Dearborn woman named Syndos, a man from her village overseas asked her father for her hand in marriage.  

It takes an exhausting amount of time and money to have the paperwork processed and filed. The fathers of the women often receive money for legal fees and travel from the husband. 

 “It took me six years to bring my husband from overseas,” said Syndos, who also did not want to be identified by her real name. “He was overwhelmed with all the responsibilities when he arrived. I guess he thought Americans had an easy and rich life without any hard work; so he left.” 

A divorced mother of a four-year-old daughter, Syndos, 24, hopes to share her story and educate Arab American women about the risks involved in marrying a man overseas. Her ex-husband has since remarried and is now a U.S citizen. 

“Many women have to realize the implication of marrying from outside the United States to a non-citizen,” she said. “Not every guy is bad, but no one knows the true intentions of a prospective husband until after marriage.”