Ukrainian woman in Florida sold Russian-speaking immigrants US citizenship through marriage

Photo: Facebook / Larisa De Lima

Larisa De Lima, an immigrant from Ukraine, worked as an organizer of weddings in Florida, but in most cases the unions organized by her were directed not to unite loving hearts, but to avoid deportation.

59-year-old De Lima, with the help of relatives and employees, has turned one of the largest fraudulent marriage frauds in the history of South Florida, writes Miami Herald.

She organized about two dozen marriages between Cuban American women who are legal permanent residents or US citizens with male immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union who tried in this way to obtain green cards and American citizenship.

De Lima took 25 000 dollars from illegal grooms, 5000 went to pay for the services of their wives - Cuban American women. The rest of the woman took over her services.

De Lima's scheme, which ran from 2013 to 2015, was uncovered when some of the fake wives began cooperating with USCIS. They said de Lima organized real weddings for them - ceremonies and receptions, and even helped prepare for interviews so that male citizenship seekers felt confident during them.

De Lima, who was arrested in May, also involved Almir’s husband and her daughter, Milena Díaz, who signed fake marriage licenses as notaries. Both accomplices admitted their guilt, Milena was sentenced to six months in prison, Almir awaits a court sentence. De Lima remains in federal prison.

According to the indictment, De Lima specifically chose Cuban-American women with special immigration status in the United States. After living in Florida for a year, they have the right to apply for citizenship, and any foreign citizen who creates a family with them receives the same privileges.

During interrogations, De Lima talked a lot about her personal life, but not about her crimes. She presented herself as a single mother, who in the past had to work three jobs, and also stressed that she had suffered a head injury as a result of a car accident involving a drunk driver. She described her husband as a person with attention deficit and mental problems.

Most of the roughly 40 defendants in this case pleaded guilty after receiving suspended sentences or a correctional sentence. De Lima, as the organizer of the whole scheme, may be sentenced to several years in prison.

At least 8 illegal immigrants involved in this scheme with fictitious marriages were deported from the United States, and because of the scheme, two American women who helped organize weddings were deprived of their citizenship.

De Lima was born in Ukraine, for some time she lived in Brazil, after which she moved to the United States, where she underwent the naturalization process, she did not specify the reasons for obtaining her American citizenship.

The De Lima case is one of many investigations in Miami and other regions of the United States that involve illegal immigrants who paid thousands of dollars to Cuban Americans for fictitious marriage with them in order to then receive a green card and American citizenship.

Immigration lawyers in Miami admit that immigration fraud through marriage is very common in the city because of the large number of Cubans who live there, who have special status in the United States and are eligible for fast-track citizenship - a rule adopted in the United States after taking power in Cuba Fidel Castro.

“Many immigrants coming to this country are worried about their visas expiring, causing them to do desperate things to stay in the country. And at the same time, there are many Cubans with green cards who are looking for additional income,” explained lawyer Michael Murray.

He added that a “culture of marriage frauds” had formed in Miami, given the huge number of similar crimes in the city.

Marriage with Cuban Americans is preferable for many immigrants who are not eligible to reside permanently in the United States, since close relatives of Cubans who have been granted permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act 1966 of the Year can also be granted permanent residence in America under an expedited procedure.

Another advantage: after registration of a marriage with a Cuban American, it is possible to legalize even an illegal immigrant.

The Citizenship and Immigration Services does not keep official statistics on the number of fictitious marriages for the sake of obtaining US citizenship, but the authorities admit that there are many such cases, since immigrants are willing to pay a lot of money for this, and Cubans with the right to reside in the US often need this money.

Earlier in the 2017 year, 15 people, most of whom were Cuban-Americans, were accused of conspiring to provide assistance to immigrants who want to get a residence permit in the United States for money.

In 2016, a fraudulent scheme was revealed, in which one Cuban American woman married at least 10 men in the 2002 period of the 2012 year in exchange for money, which enabled them to receive green cards.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How Foreigners Get American Citizenship Through Bogus Marriages

How to get a green card through marriage

Personal: Fictitious marriage in the USA: how much does it cost and what are the risks?

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