In this article I will be discussing life insurance, but not from an asset management, protection or investment angle but from an immigration perspective. If you're interested in life insurance for any reason other than immigration, you should seek the advice of a qualified insurance agent. They will be more knowledgeable than I to answer your questions. However, if you are wondering how life insurance involves immigration, then keep reading to find out.

What is life insurance?

At its basic, life insurance is a contract between an Insurer (i.e. Insurance Company) and the Policy holder (i.e. You), where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary (i.e. Your spouse, Parent, Child, etc.) a sum of money upon the death of an insured person (often the policyholder), or the occurrence of some other event such as terminal illness or critical illness. Benefits may include other expenses, such as funeral expenses.

Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:

• Protection policies: designed to provide a benefit, typically a lump-sum payment, in the event of a specified occurrence. A common form of a protection-policy design is term insurance.

• Investment policies: the main objective of these policies is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms are whole life, universal life, and variable life policies.

*Again, if you are interested in life insurance as a protection or investment vehicle, then please seek qualified advice.

What life insurance is not?

The reason why I am writing this article is because many people confuse the actual purpose of life insurance. As stated, it is for protection and investment. What life insurance is not, it is not evidence of a bonafide marriage. You may have seen the term "bonafide marriage" in many of my past articles. This term is used in immigration to mean a sincere, genuine relationship. When immigration says "bonafide marriage", they are referring to whether or not a marriage is valid and real, and not a fake marriage. Under INA, a sham marriage is one that is entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit (i.e. Green card). How USCIS determines this question is by scheduling an interview, reviewing your comingled funds/joint documents and/or conducting site visits.

Interviews are straightforward. They call you and your spouse in and ask you questions about your marriage. With site visits Immigration officers go to the address on record to see if you and your spouse are present. What about comingled funds/joint documents? That's a separate category. Think of this as documents which tend to show that you and your spouse share a life together. For example, the joint filing of tax returns, lease agreements and a bank account together.

Do you need life insurance as evidence for immigration?

The short answer is No: you do not need life insurance for Immigration purposes. In fact, if that is the only reason you're purchasing life insurance, I would say save your money. Just because you have it does not mean, in of itself, that you have a bonafide marriage. It might be additional evidence, but it is not the only one. In addition, depending on the circumstances, having life insurance may be a negative thing. For example, I've heard of couples who recently married and right before the interview, went out and purchased life insurance. This caused a red flag with the immigration officer because of the proximity of the purchase and the interview date. It was as if the couple purchased it just to show immigration more evidence that their marriage was "bonafide". In another case, the wife purchased life insurance and named her US citizen husband as a beneficiary. Because it was not a joint policy and only the wife purchased the policy naming her US citizen husband as a beneficiary, it carried very little weight as bonafide evidence.

In closing, as you have read, do not purchase a life insurance policy if your intent is solely for Immigration purposes. Doing so will not increase your chance of success, it is a waste of money and is also fraudulent.

As always, if you have any questions still left unanswered or you have general questions regarding other legal issues, or even if you have comments, please email me at: JC4LAW@HOTMAIL.COM or call/text my Thai direct line at (818) 505-4921. Also be sure to check us out on the web at: WWW.JC4LAW.COM, and on FACEBOOK at: https://www.facebook.com/ThaiAttorney Be sure to follow (and "like") me for the most recent updates in the law! For those of you who are in Thailand or outside of the United States, my LINE ID is: JC_Esq For my YouTube Videos, search "Joseph Chitmongran", or check my FACEBOOK for Links.

Disclaimer: The information contained herein have been prepared for informational purposes only and are not to be considered legal advice unless otherwise specified. If you have a specific question regarding your personal case, please contact the Law Offices of Joseph Chitmongran for a full consultation.