India, Jan. 3 -- Marriage-based Green Card applications in the United States are being subjected to closer scrutiny, with immigration officials focusing less on marital status and more on whether couples actually live together, according to US immigration attorney Brad Bernstein.

In a recent Facebook video, Bernstein, a partner at law firm Spar & Bernstein, warned that couples who are married but living apart face a high risk of denial under current immigration enforcement practices.

Bernstein said US immigration officers are trained to look for one core requirement when assessing marriage-based Green Card applications: cohabitation.

"For a marriage Green Card, immigration only cares about one thing. Do you live together as husband and...