THIS SOUNDS UNFORTUNATE: Marine’s Widow Hits Visa Snag.

The phone call devastated Robin Ferschke, the mother of a Marine killed in Iraq.

Her Okinawan daughter-in-law, six months pregnant with the couple’s child, tearfully called earlier this week and said she was having problems getting a residency visa to live in the United States. . . .

Because of problems with fraudulent marriages, in 1986 Congress revised the rules for immigration through marriage, requiring foreigners to be married to U.S. citizens for at least two years before they can receive a residency visa.

The rule’s goal was to ensure that the marriages are performed in good faith and not for immigration purposes.

But Hotaru Ferschke, 24, and Marine Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr., 22, a radio operator with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, had been married only one month before he was killed July 10 while conducting door-to-door searches in Iraq.

Perhaps someone can look into this?