In this episode, Shai and Roderick analyze the Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winning Romantic Comedy, Green Card, staring French sensation Gerard Depardieu and early 90’s darling Andie MacDowell. In addition to talking the shenanigans that the protagonist couple went through for real estate and Immigration benefits, our co-hosts wonder if this movie should be re-categorized into a new genre called Immigrom-Com.
The Immigration concepts they will explore include the marriage based Green Card sponsorship process and the possible consequences of a sham marriage for Immigration purposes. Plus, our co-hosts discuss all-time Rom-Com classics.
Listen to the Episode:
Show Notes
Welcome to The Hasta La Visa, Baby podcast, a deep-dive into the relationship between U.S. immigration law and fictitious characters from some of your favorite television shows and movies. Hosted by Gibney Immigration group attorneys Shai Dayan and Roderick Potts, each episode focuses on a particular character from a well-known show or film and guides listeners through an in-depth and entertaining exploration into the possible U.S. visa status that the featured character may have held while in the U.S. Listeners will learn about key immigration considerations through the prism of the fun and fictitious worlds presented in television and film.
After the positive response to their two-part Cultural Heritage Series, Shai and Rod decide that today’s episode will kick off another series: the Rom-Com Fraudulent Marriage Extravaganza Series!
The movie they select to start the series has perhaps the most on-the-nose name for an immigration-related film to date; the movie is the 1990 rom-com Green Card, which follows the story of Bronte, a woman seeking her dream NYC apartment, and Georges, a French tourist who has overstayed his visa.
Bronte and Georges enter into a sham marriage with the aim of helping Bronte with her real estate aspirations and enabling Georges to get a Green Card. However, when subjected to separate immigration interviews, Georges is found out and says he will concede to deportation if Bronte does not face legal trouble.
After considering interesting facts about the movie, Shai and Rod shift attention to Georges as the episode’s foreign national character of focus. They work through the actual steps of getting a Green Card through marriage to a US citizen, including entering into a legal marriage, having each spouse file necessary paperwork, providing supporting documents/evidence, and going through the process of interview and review.
The steps are depicted somewhat differently in the movie, and Shai and Rod talk through the ways in which the movie veers from reality. They share favorite rom-coms before shifting to a consultation with Georges and Bronte as a couple.
The consultation will begin with Shai and Rod trying to ascertain the legitimacy of the marriage; if they are comfortable with the marriage, Shai and Rod can move on to helping with paperwork. If not, they won’t take on Georges and Bronte as clients, but will warn of the consequences for fraud.
The episode ends with hot takes and takeaways, along with a teaser for next month’s episode on The Proposal!
Links:
Learn more about green cards for relatives of a U.S. Citizen.
Learn more about the movie featured in this episode: Green Card.
Learn more about Shai Dayan, Roderick Potts, and Gibney Anthony & Flaherty, LLP.
Connect with us at hastalavisa@gibney.com.
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