Nowhere is love a principal consideration in law than in US immigration law. A fiancé must prove love is the sole and primary reason for filing a visa petition. The law requires that love be exhibited in longstatements of courtship, love, commitment, future plans together and evidencethat the couple see each other an average of every two years. Inevitably those in love will have perfume-smelling or lipstick-stained notes carefully pressed between pages of a book, words swirling around a page melting young hearts as they declare undying love and
recently, pagesof instant messaging exposing sweet vulnerabilities in missing vowels, and loads of photographs of couples in warm embraces on a distant beach.   

U.S. Congress mandates that love be the reason a man file a petition for a foreign-born spouse – and be prepared to prove it.   Couples express angst at separations, make frequent international trips, plan lavish wedding receptions with multi-tiered cakes, beautiful wedding gowns, flowers, gift registration, spend months planning a honeymoon in a far off place and welcome the arrival of their first baby. For those who love deeply and passionately, the power of love always promises a smooth sailing at their visa interview.   

Love is also the yardstick by which a parent’s petition will be measured.  US immigration law requires that a parent establish more than a biological tie prior to approving a visa.  Before granting a visa to a child, the love ofthe parent is calculated through the number of visits he makes to the child, the amount and frequency of financial support and involvement in a child’s life. Loving parents will worry andfuss over their children
and this will manifest itself in wire transfers, correspondence with teachers, family photographs at events such as weddings, graduations,birthday parties and baptismal ceremonies.  

By law then, an applicant who fails to exhibit and preserve evidence of love will fail to secure a visa for his wife, parent or child. Love is central to many things in our livesbut for my practice, love is always the primary consideration of immigration family law.

Happy Valentine's Day and may love abound!

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