Some Are Less Married Than Others

Some Israeli students living in the United States are paying American women to marry them temporarily so that they can qualify for work permits in order to support themselves while attending college, the Tel Aviv University student weekly “Yatoosh” (Mosquito) reported. The subterfuge is necessary because high tuition fees and high living costs in the U.S. make it imperative for the students to seek jobs for which they need the coveted “green card,” the work permit issued to aliens married to American citizens, “Yatoosh” said.

In some cases the newly-wed students get reductions in fees and rent and qualify for American citizenship. When their financial burdens are eased, the students divorce their American wives, by prearrangement and often bring over their Israeli girlfriends to get married. The American women know they are being used but cooperate for a certain sum of money. The U.S. immigration authorities are aware of the practice but can do nothing about it because it is legal, “Yatoosh” said.