How serious is lying to immigration officials

| by Max Soni

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, who has many, many years of experience handling criminal and immigration cases. We pride ourselves on having over 40 years of combined experience representing clients in cases others call unwinnable. You may know us from the Anna Delvey Netflix series, or from our work on the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case. If you’re reading this, you’re probably worried about something you said to an immigration officer – or you’re wondering what happens if you lie.

Lying to immigration officials is catastrophic. A single material misrepresentation to CBP, USCIS, or a consular officer triggers a lifetime ban from the United States under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i). You can also face federal criminal charges carrying five years in prison. There’s no statute of limitations – a lie you told fifteen years ago can surface during your green card interview and end your case.

The Lifetime Bar

Under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), anyone who commits fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact to obtain a visa, admission to the U.S., or any immigration benefit becomes permanently inadmissible. Permanently means forever – you cannot enter the United States again unless you qualify for and receive a waiver, which is extraordinarily difficult to get.

This isn’t like a ten-year bar for unlawful presence where time eventually solves the problem. A misrepresentation finding follows you for life. Once you’re flagged in the system, that notation appears every single time you interact with U.S. immigration.

The law doesn’t distinguish between “big” lies and “small” lies. If the misrepresentation was material – meaning it could have affected the officer’s decision – you’re inadmissible. If the false information was relevant to your eligibility, it’s material.

What Counts as Lying

USCIS policy requires several elements to find willful misrepresentation: you must have made a false representation, the representation must have been willful, it must have been material, and you must have made it to a U.S. government official while seeking an immigration benefit.

Willfulness means you knew the statement was false when you made it. Honest mistakes don’t count – if you accidentally listed the wrong date because you genuinely forgot, that’s not willful. But if you deliberately omitted a prior deportation because you hoped USCIS wouldn’t find out, that’s willful.

Materiality is where most cases turn. A misrepresentation is material if it “tends to shut off a line of inquiry” relevant to your eligibility. Lying about criminal convictions, claiming to be unmarried when you’re married to avoid visa caps, saying you never worked without authorization – these lies directly affect eligibility. If the officer knew the truth, they would investigate further or deny the application.

Leaving a field blank or omitting information is still misrepresentation if your omission was intentional. Immigration forms ask direct questions, “Have you EVER been arrested?” means ever, leaving it blank when the answer is yes constitutes fraud.

Criminal Prosecution Risk

18 U.S.C. § 1001 makes it illegal to knowingly and willfully make materially false statements to any agency within the executive branch – that includes USCIS, CBP, and ICE. The statute carries up to five years in federal prison, or eight years if the false statement involves terrorism or certain sex offenses.

18 U.S.C. § 1546 specifically targets immigration document fraud. The Department of Justice actively prosecutes immigration fraud. Immigration prosecutions jumped 36.6% between February and March 2025, with U.S. Attorneys charging 4,550 defendants with immigration offenses in March alone. The current administration has made immigration enforcement a top DOJ priority.

Criminal prosecution happens separately from immigration proceedings. You can be found inadmissible in immigration court and simultaneously prosecuted in federal criminal court for the same conduct.

The Waiver Process Is Nearly Impossible

To overcome inadmissibility under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), you must file an I-601 Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility. The standard is brutal: you must prove that refusing your admission would cause “extreme hardship” to your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent.

Only your USC or LPR spouse or parent qualifies. Not your children, not your siblings, not your U.S. citizen children. If you have three U.S. citizen kids but no qualifying spouse or parent, you cannot apply for the waiver.

Even with a qualifying relative, proving extreme hardship is subjective. “Extreme hardship” means more than the normal hardship any family experiences when separated. USCIS evaluates health conditions, financial impact, country conditions – but there’s no formula that guarantees approval. Chances of success are lower for fraud or willful misrepresentation compared to other grounds.

There’s no provisional waiver option for misrepresentation. If you’re inadmissible for fraud, you must go through full consular processing abroad, get denied, then apply for the I-601 waiver and wait for a decision while stuck outside the United States. Processing times now average six to ten months. If denied, you’re barred for life with no appeal.

When Lies Get Discovered

Misrepresentation findings don’t expire. If you lied on a tourist visa application twenty years ago, that misrepresentation can be discovered today. USCIS maintains records indefinitely, officers have access to prior applications and visa history.

Officers are trained to detect inconsistencies – they compare your current application against prior applications, they run background checks. When you’re in an adjustment of status interview and the officer asks about your work history, they already have your tax records, your I-9 forms, your social security earnings statements. If your answer doesn’t match, you’re caught.

CBP officers at ports of entry see your travel history, your prior visa applications, any prior overstays or unauthorized work. When you claim you’re visiting for tourism but overstayed your last three visits, they notice. When you say you’ve never worked in the U.S. but your social security number shows employment history, they know. You’re denied entry and sent back.

What to Do If You Already Lied

If you already made a false statement to an immigration officer and haven’t been caught yet, you need an attorney immediately. Do not file additional applications, do not go to interviews, do not try to “fix” it yourself. Every action you take without legal advice can make the situation worse.

An experienced immigration attorney can evaluate whether the statement you made actually qualifies as material misrepresentation under the legal standard. Not every false statement triggers inadmissibility – if the statement wasn’t material to your eligibility, or if it was an honest mistake rather than willful, you may have defenses.

At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled immigration cases involving fraud findings, misrepresentation allegations, and criminal prosecutions for false statements. Our attorneys include former federal prosecutors who know how the government builds cases.

We don’t sugarcoat the situation. If you lied to an immigration officer and that lie was material, you’re facing serious consequences. But we also know that not every discrepancy constitutes willful misrepresentation under the law. Unlike other firms that take every case regardless of whether they can actually help, we only work with clients where we can make a real difference. Contact us – we’ll review your situation, explain your options honestly, and develop a strategy tailored to your circumstances.