This may sound like fairy tale, but it is real. A Nigerian couple that migrated to God’s own country in search of greener pastures resorted to pseudo marriage to secure the green card believed to be a ticket to heaven. First, the man introduces his betrothed wife to his American darling as his sister to pave way for his marriage to the American lady.

When the marriage crashed, his wife marries an American to secure the life ticket. So how did it fail? Attempt by a friend to sleep with his pseudo sister (Nigerian wife) foiled the deal. His ‘oyibo wife realized she was a guinea pig and quit the affair.

Nigerians at a recent function in the United States were informed about the travails of fellow countrymen in a bid to get the coveted green card. A was asked: “Can a man betroth his wife to another in exchange for U.S. green card or a woman disguise as sister to the hubby under the same roof with another woman to enable him get a green card?
“Oh yes!” KK, a Nigerian, responded at the event, adding: “We know some people here who have married and divorced up to 18 times,” he jocularly remarked at the end of year party in Silverspring, Maryland, last December.

“In fact, there are some people here that betrothed their wives to other men to get papers,” the man fondly called KK said.
According to him, the craze for green card defies the sanctity of the biblical injunction that “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
To validate his point, he paints a gloomy picture. “One of our brothers who lived in the US for 28 years was deported last October after he handed his wife to another man to get papers.”
The man in his early 50’s identified as Johnson, from the South Eastern part of the country, may have to live with the psychological torture for the rest of his life. After 28 years of sojourn in the U.S., he was deported as an illegal alien.

How did it happen? He had gone to the Immigration office for green card interview after several failed marriages. After the interview, he was asked to go with his wife. As he stepped to the door, the immigration officer ordered him back and instructed him to look at the volume of file about him on the table. When he opened the file, he discovered that he had been advised to report for voluntary departure, which he failed and was placed on deportation status for violation of the order.

Johnson’s case is a bitter pill for the couple. He arrived the U.S. with his betrothed wife from Nigeria, but the couple cohabited as brother and sister under the same roof to accommodate the man’s American wife married to secure papers with the hope that once it was successful, Johnson would file a divorce and remarry his betrothed wife. The union lasted until the man’s friend attempted to date his real (Nigerian) wife. His resistance incurred his friend’s wrath and the latter spilled the beans by reporting him to the American wife. The wife lived with this emotional torture for years until the burble burst and they parted ways, yet the green card could not be secured.

Having exhausted the man’s option, the alternative was for the woman to move in with an American man as husband with the same intention. Since the woman and her hubby were at the mercy of the American, the woman appeased her new heartthrob with material and human needs in a bid to get papers. Interestingly, after several years of savouring the woman and milking her of hard-earned dollar as fees for the services, the Americana hubby declined on the interview date, leaving the woman in the cold at the Immigration and Citizenship Services that concluded that the marriage was contracted for immigration purposes.

But that would not deter the couple. With the couple’s fate hanging in the balance, the wife filed a divorce with her pseudo American husband and re-married another. This time, the process was thorough but short-lived. The snag was that having secured her green card, the attempt to file for her original husband landed them in trouble, resulting in the deportation of her husband by immigration officials. Efforts by his town union and lawyers to rescue the man were unsuccessful.

The joke that led to the revelation was initially intended to lighten the mood at the dinner party. However, it stirred various reactions from the audience and offered an insight into the trauma many Nigerians experience abroad. For many, it evoked feelings of anguish, nightmare, depression, and helplessness that characterize their daily life as they struggle to secure the ‘the green card’ perceived as ‘the life card’ in the United States of America. For some, the joke was reminiscent of the murky waters they swam to acquire the green card, widely believed to be ticket to heaven.
Shortly after the discussion that dominated a chunk of the discussion settled, further probing by Sunday Sun opened the floodgate of gory tales from the Nigerian comedian in his early 50’s, who is a chauffeur in a popular state in the US.

“My brother, I have lived in more than five states. I first lived in New York 23 years ago, when I arrived U.S. I married a lady but that didn’t work out, and because of the fear that she might report my illegal status to the immigration, I moved to Tennessee. Again in Tennessee, I remarried another lady. The marriage also crashed,” he told Sunday Sun.

According to him, the failure of the second marriage worsened his problem.
How? “After the necessary protocol by our attorney, we were invited for green card interview by the immigration. On the appointment day, I was full of joy, hoping for the ticket for a better opportunity to access educational grants that would transform my life.”

Unfortunately, KK’s dream never materialized. He was denied the green card. Worst still, he was requested to report for voluntarily deportation on a fixed date. The voluntary deportation warrant by the immigration sent jitters into his spine, having left Nigeria eight years then. He eloped. “I relocated to Missouri with cab driving as the only option of surviving, since I could not get work permit for employment” he further disclosed.

[size=16pt]Twenty-five years down the line, KK was yet to visit home because that would amount to his voluntary departure. To persuade him to visit Nigeria, his brothers sent a mail purporting that his father had passed on, but that would not bring him home. Now in his early 50’s, KK still has no wife or child. But, he believes it shall get better someday.[/size]

pple are desperate. the so call green card as a way to better life is faux. one is still limited in jobs even with green card. . . you are at the mercy of the person who files for you. scholarship or grants? NO way for a green card holder. getting a loan for school? NO way unless you have a cosigner. pple just don't know. green card gives limited opportunity.

Erm, You can get any kind of loan with a green card. Even a mortgage loan. All you need is a good credit score. Which many dont know the first thing about! These stories just puzzle me. Why would you handover your wife or husband to sleep with someone else when all you have to do is pay anything from $5000 to $10000 to contract a marriage. If its so important to you, then thats the way to do it. Its the easiest way. No one has to sleep with anyone . Its a business arrangement. period.

How many pple with green card can say proudly i have that good credit score to get me a good loan or mortgage with low interest rates? and that will even come abt if you have a good job (good job with green card?) not common.

by the time they get the green card, most are starting off life some already loaded with gbese

Hauwa, do you know how the green card works?
Bad credit is not a function of whether you have a green card or not. American citizens have messed up credit too. It has nothing to do with nationality.

*Hauwa*:

How many people with green card can say proudly i have that good credit score to get me a good loan or mortgage with low interest rates? and that will even come about if you have a good job (good job with green card?) not common.

by the time they get the green card, most are starting off life some already loaded with gbese

NOT TRUE!!

My mother is an example!1

my point is there are but not many.

so your mama maybe among the few ones.

Nurses are exempted

*Hauwa*:

my point is there are but not many.

so your mama maybe among the few ones.

Nurses are exempted

I work in the financial industry. All day long i'm pulling people's credit. Its an interesting eye opener. people who make so much money are not exempt from bad credit.

its not by force to live in obodo oyibo for christsake

spoilt, that's true i strongly agree with you. you know keeping up with the Jones.

may god help us, this happens everywhere in the world where you have africans, maybe god help us all, jah bless

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Yes Hauwa, you are talking sense, no one can boldly say that.

na waoo, have will i get to that country

kai misinformation of the highest order i know people on work visas not even green card holders who live better , have access to loans and have better credit than some US citizens. A Green card holder status has nothing to do with credit status. For your information it is not everybody who has a green card that got it by marrying someone, some got it based on their place of employment , doctors , accountants , least i say more madam from Russia who should stick to talking about what she knows about

It is terrible to read all these. Anyways, i`m planning to study in usa and i believe with God n my side, i`ll pass through the hurdles.

SHALOM

I disagree with you all when you say a green card limits you. In fact, with a green card, you share the same rights as americans. You are able to secure a social security card and number which enables you to all the rights of the country as long as your green card is valid and in date and most often without a co-signer. You are also able to obtain student grants and loans to go to school if your income allows, there are economic cut off limits on what you or your spouse can make a year. Of course with everyone, credit is going to have to be established in order to obtain high end commodities such as, loans, cars, homes, etc. but it is not impossible to do so. Non-citizens and citizens of the United States must all follow this process. It is called "Establishing Credit" and good credit and bad credit is based on you credit score. If you can prove that you have been working on a job for more than 6 months and your debt ratio is low, and you pay your debt on time, then you can obtain whatever your money allows. I agree with the "Keeping Up With The Jones" thing, I think it is foolish to try to do so if it is not in your financial budget. Besides, if you buy things you can't afford, the Jones isn't going to take care of you!!! So live within your means. Yes, the green card holder is at the descretion of the sponsor, but isn't that a good reason to make perfectly sure you know your spouse before you marry. My husband is Nigerian and I would never do anything that would make him feel as if he has to be anything other than what he is. I feel in love with him for who he is. I respect him and his culture and never want him to change or deviate from that. It is who he is and I love him,

stupid useless desponded idea so because of green card you will use my wwife as roasted chicken for suyalistic mood?? jhameeeen

Nigerians are dishonest, devious, fraudulent pigs.

No wonder they are hated by other africans.

NordicRace:

Nigerians are dishonest, devious, fraudulent pigs.

No wonder they are hated by other africans.

where are you typing from? a rehab center of what? do you work there or you live there?

What in the world is wrong with Nigerians? All those years spent seeking for the green card in the most immoral ways would have been enough time to make something of themselves here in Nigeria.

I just cant understand the tendency for us to choose the "easy way out". Like the case of someone who has a good job here in Nigeria . With his wife(who also has a good job), suddenly decides to move to the states? Abandon everything here to move to an uncertain terrain just because they feel its the USA so they are guaranteed to "make it" there.

There are young boys and girls selling all they have to move to countries like Thailand and Malaysia(illegally ) and I ask, for what?

Na wa oh!

men pathetic, people dey suffer for yankee ooo with this LABEL tagged "[size=15pt]GREEN CARD[/size]"

i really dont believe this story. if his been in the US for twenty Five yrs, he would have gotten permanent residency from the amnesty program in the late 1980's.
His still entitled to that if he can prove that he was in the US before the Bill was passed and signed into law by Pres. Reagan.

ThIs is serious..

The story is not adding up

...

johnkent: i really dont believe this story. if his been in the US for twenty Five yrs, he would have gotten permanent residency from the amnesty program in the late 1980's.
His still entitled to that if he can prove that he was in the US before the Bill was passed and signed into law by Pres. Reagan.

Ask yourself...in what year was the bill signed?....then find out what year is this year....get a calculator and subtract 25 to find if he was in the country before or after the amnesty.@ topic.....being illegal in the US period is a big stress and living on edge in that at any moment you can be held or arrested for an unrelated matter and end up in the hands of Immigration. I believe most people end up in desperation because they never looked before they leaped....that once they get to the US everything will be fine in time. It is sad to know that some people's lives have sunk to gutter level all because of green card.....the ticket to a chance at the Americn Dream.