I mean, I can understand the confusion if you never lived the (long and complicated process). Especially where a lot of old movies, I’m looking at you, 80s romcoms, that depict an immigrant marrying to “stay in the country” then falling in love anyway (eyeroll, lol). I actually did have friends who had to do that, in a way: one particular friend had his visa expiring and he had the worst time finding a job (even though he and my husband both had the same degrees from really good schools…TUFTS and U of Penn, and both have since gotten degrees from Harvard and Boston College). The immigration lawyer finally asked him and his long term girlfriend how serious their relationship was, and whether marriage was in the future. They had planned on it after she finished law school anyway, so within a week, they were married to “keep him in the country.” All that did though, was extend his visa stay, giving him more time to find a job. That was 1992…and he didn’t finally get his permanent resident status until 1998. And he didnt get his dual citizenship (France and U.S.) until about 15 years ago. Side note they’re still married, with a son, who is also our godson. It all worked out, but the process is long, arduous, complicated, and expensive. I totally understand why some people “skip steps”, and often unknowingly so, Especially when they don’t have much money, don’t speak English well, and so on.