To report a fake marriage for U.S. citizenship or a green card, submit a tip to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through the HSI Tip Form at ice.gov or by calling 1-866-347-2423, and consider sending the same information to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services through its online fraud reporting form. If the foreign spouse is still abroad applying for a fiancé or spousal visa, send the tip to the Department of State instead. Anonymous reports are accepted, but a tip with specific names, dates, addresses, and evidence is far more likely to be acted on.
Where to Send the Report
Three federal agencies take these tips, and which one fits depends on where the suspected fraud sits in the process.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations
ICE is the primary investigative agency for immigration fraud. Use the HSI Tip Form, select “Benefit/Marriage Fraud,” then “Marriage or Fiance(e) Visa Fraud.” The form has fields for a narrative, identifying information about the people involved, and file uploads for digital evidence. To report by phone, call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) and an operator will take the information.1U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE Tip Form
USCIS
USCIS decides marriage-based green card and citizenship applications, so a tip sent there lands with the officers who will actually adjudicate the case. The agency has its own fraud reporting form, which routes to its fraud detection unit.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Report Fraud Sending the report to both ICE and USCIS is reasonable: ICE investigates and prosecutes, and USCIS decides whether to approve, deny, or revoke the immigration benefit.
Fraud Involving a Visa Applicant Abroad
If the foreign spouse or fiancé is still outside the United States, the Department of State handles that stage. Submit a tip through the Diplomatic Security Service portal at dsscrimetips.state.gov, or contact the U.S. embassy or consulate that will process the visa.3U.S. Department of State. DSS Crime Tips – Visa Fraud Tip
What to Include in the Tip
Specific, first-hand facts move a tip forward. Vague suspicion does not. Before you submit, put together what you actually know.
Identifying information for both spouses: full legal names, any aliases, dates of birth, and the foreign national’s country of origin. If you know the immigrant’s Alien Registration Number (A-Number), include it. That number links straight to the person’s immigration file.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Glossary
The living situation matters most. Write down the address the couple claims to share and anything you’ve seen suggesting they live apart. Note any admissions you heard directly, any indication money changed hands, and any obvious gaps: no shared language, no knowledge of each other’s daily lives, no shared belongings at the claimed residence.
Attach supporting material if you have it. Text messages, emails, social media posts, photographs, and videos that contradict the couple’s account all strengthen the report. A public social media profile showing one spouse in a relationship with someone else is the kind of concrete contradiction investigators can verify.
Reporting Anonymously
The ICE tip form and phone line both accept anonymous reports. You can leave the contact fields blank and still submit.1U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE Tip Form
There’s a real cost, though. If investigators need one more detail to move forward and have no way to reach you, the tip can stall. Providing contact information keeps the door open for follow-up. ICE states it will not disclose your personal information under the Freedom of Information Act except as required by law.1U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE Tip Form
What Actually Counts as Marriage Fraud
Federal law targets anyone who “knowingly enters into a marriage for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws.”5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1325 – Improper Entry by Alien The typical fact pattern is a U.S. citizen paid to marry a foreign national so that person can apply for a green card. The couple completes a valid license and ceremony but never intends to build a life together.6United States Department of Justice Archives. 1948 Marriage Fraud – 8 USC 1325(c) and 18 USC 1546
The statute covers “any individual,” so the U.S. citizen in a sham marriage faces the same criminal exposure as the foreign national. Organizers who broker multiple fraudulent marriages have also been prosecuted.7U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. TOP STORY: ICE Leading Nationwide Campaign to Stop Marriage Fraud A marriage that struggles, or one where the couple met through immigration motives but built a genuine relationship, is not what the statute reaches. The fraud is the intent to evade immigration law from the outset.
The consequences are heavy on both sides. Criminal penalties reach five years in federal prison and fines up to $250,000.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1325 – Improper Entry by Alien A foreign national found to have committed marriage fraud becomes deportable8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens and hits a permanent bar on future spouse-based visa petitions, even if a later marriage is genuine.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1154 – Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status
What Happens After You Submit
Not every tip triggers an investigation. Agencies weigh specificity and credibility against a heavy volume of reports, and a tip with verifiable names, addresses, and evidence stands a much better chance than one built on rumor.
You won’t get a status update. Federal law exempts immigration investigation records from the usual disclosure requirements, so agencies cannot tell you whether your tip prompted an investigation, what was found, or what happened to the people you reported.10Federal Register. Privacy Act of 1974 Implementation of Exemptions – DHS/ICE-018 Analytical Records System of Records Once the report is in, your part is done.
Behind the scenes, the system has its own checkpoints. When someone gets a green card through a marriage less than two years old, the status is conditional, and the couple must jointly petition on Form I-751 during the 90 days before the second anniversary to remove those conditions.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters Tips often surface during that adjudication and prompt USCIS to look harder.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence USCIS also runs a Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate that conducts unannounced site visits to verify addresses and interview neighbors.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program
If You Are the Spouse Who Was Deceived
Not everyone in a fraudulent marriage is a willing participant. Some U.S. citizens realize only afterward that their spouse married them for a green card, and some foreign nationals were pressured or abused into the arrangement.
U.S. Citizens Who Were Used for Status
If USCIS has not yet decided a pending Form I-751 to remove conditions, you can submit a letter asking to withdraw the joint petition and decline to attend the interview. If the foreign spouse already holds an unconditional green card, report through the ICE or USCIS tip forms above. Talk to a family law attorney about divorce or annulment and an immigration attorney about your ongoing Form I-864 Affidavit of Support obligations, which do not automatically end with divorce.
Foreign Nationals in an Abusive Marriage
The Violence Against Women Act lets a foreign national abused by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse petition for immigration status independently, without the abuser’s knowledge. The self-petition is filed on Form I-360, with no filing fee for VAWA applicants, and if approved leads to a green card application. USCIS uses specially trained officers and strict confidentiality rules for these cases.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Abused Spouses, Children and Parents
Do Not File a Report You Can’t Stand Behind
Reporting suspected fraud is legal and encouraged. Deliberately filing a false report is a federal crime, and knowingly making a false statement to a federal agency can carry up to five years in prison.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally Base the report on what you have personally seen or know directly. Being wrong in good faith is not a crime; inventing facts to hurt someone is.