We’d all like to think we marry up. But if you hold a security clearance you may want to reconsider the role of position and authority when you find your next love match. And if you’re dreaming of the days when travel will once again be easier and you’ll be able to move more freely across the globe, you’ll want to make sure your travels don’t include marriage tourism – a real issue, and one that has ensnared at least a few security clearance holders and applicants.
“We’ve seen the whole gambit here in terms of these types of issues, and the common denominator for the ones that raise the government’s suspicions in my experience is that there really seems to be a disconnect between the spouses,” said Sean Bigley, national security attorney and partner with Bigley Ranish. “Joking aside, of course there may be cases where opposites attract or people where you generally wouldn’t expect being together wind up together for perfectly legitimate reasons. But you have other reasons, people who are maybe three or four decades older than their spouse, and that’s going to raise some questions.”
The length of courtship can be a key factor in many cases, noted Bigley. “We often see these cases come up where someone has met and subsequently married their spouse in a very short amount of time.” That timeline is going to create scrutiny and questions for the government.
Outside of length of time, there aren’t necessarily specific rules concerning a foreign national relationship, other than the need to report it to a security officer. Common issues that come up with a foreign national relationship are issues around Visa fraud, or potentially even human trafficking or sextortion.
“Don’t think that whatever you’re doing isn’t something that a whole bunch of people have tried before. It’s very rare we see something we haven’t seen before,” said Bigley.
Marriage Tourism
Marriage tourism is a more prevalent problem in specific countries, and that means those countries will generate more questions if a spouse or love interest comes from those locations. Bigley notes that “Russia, the Ukraine, the Philippines, and certain parts of Asia, specifically Thailand and sometimes Vietnam” all stand out as countries that may have a problem in this area.
Behind the obvious issues of marriage tourism, any foreign-born love interest will create issues of foreign influence risks. The more common issue is not necessarily with the individual himself, but with family members who may still live abroad and create security risks.
It can help if there is documentation, advises Bigley, so reporting a foreign national relationship to your security officer and leaving a paper trail is important.
