One of my wife's friends has been in the US about two years, came here on a K-1 visa and they got married, but her husband has never filed ANY paperwork. He lost his job and has been diagnosed as bi-polar, so he has not tried to find a job and spends most of his time alone upstairs.

They survive on help from his family and she cleans houses and babysits, but she cannot get a job because she doesn't have a SSN. There are a couple of places willing to hire her as soon as she gets her SSN.

The husband will not take his medication or go back to the doctor, so she does not know what to do from here. I have been told that failure to file the papers can be considered as abuse and she could try and go that way to get her status adjusted. She is trying to find a co-sponsor as well from her family that lives in the US as well.

The husband keeps saying he is going to sign the papers so she can turn in the affidavit of support and then try for a co-sponsor, but never has.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Oh dear. Why doesn't she get the joint sponsors lined up first, and the I-485 completed and then present it to him for his signature? Is it a matter of the filing fees?

Everything is ready, he just keeps putting off signing the papers and if she asks him to sign them he gets mad at her.

that's horrible.
I wish her well.

Can she have one of his family members help her talk to him about getting her papers in? If they live with his family then there should be someone there that he listens to.

Maybe she should confide in his doctor and his doctor could speak to him about it?

If his family is helping them surive, they should know that adjusting her status is the key to allow her to be able to be employed legally. Is there nobody in his family that the husband will listen to, take advice from?
As others have suggested, maybe she can have all the forms filled out, line up the co-sponsor and enlist his family to help with getting him to sign on the 'dotted line'.

If there is a valid diagnosis of mental illness, is that not sufficient to allow a member of the family to attain Power of Attorney, and sign the AOS papers? Has your friend consulted w/ an immigration attorney for options?

-P

The wife should get an INFOPASS appointment to speak with a INS representative. She should bring medical papers detailing and showing that her husband has bi-polar problem. Then she should explain because her husband is mentally unstable, she can not rely on him to file papers.

Maybe she could get some special waiver.

I have the opposite issue here and I feel for her greatly. It feels like one is living in the twilight zone if the SO has a disorder which prohibits him from performing the basic tasks necessary to thrive here in the US. I would suggest she get the family to try get him to sign. Secondly, can she get documentation from his doctor about his diagnosis and what he is capable or not capable of doing? If privacy laws prohibit her from getting information, then have an attorney write up a release statement that she can use. If all else fails, how about power of attorney or living trust. Mental illness and immigration feels, to me, like I have exploded on the inside and can't get out.
Wish her luck.

I agree with this.

What special waiver?

He signs or it does not happen.

Well..... technically, he signs or she attempts to demonstrate that his emotional disorder is extreme cruelty, or that she would suffer hardship if sent back.

It's her adjustment application - his signature is not required (except for the Affidavit of Support - one lousy document.)

The papers referred to in the post above are the Affidavit of Support!

Oops, my bad.

I'd submit the I-485 paperwork anyway - even without his signature. She would
probably get RFE'd for it eventually, but her EAD application is likely to be approved
first (within 90 days of filing.)

I will talk to her about that, the biggest problem I see is her getting to an office for her appointment, I don't know where the closest office is to western kentucky, but I am sure it will be several hours drive (or longer bus ride) away.

She has thought about just going back home, but she worries about her husband because she does love him, just is so confused about him being sick.

Actually this is a good idea....at least it would give her some time, and w/ an EAD she can get some in the house. In the meantime, she can continue to try to get his signature on the Affidavit of Support.
-P

Won't work.

An incomplete I865 will shut down the I485 process before the interims can be processed.

Not true. I received an RFE for my I-485 one year after my work permit and advance parole had been approved.

For a vaccination certificate - one year after you filed for adjustment and at about the time USCIS was trying to decide if they really wanted the I693 in the package or not. When you initially filed, they weren't concerned with the form.

An incomplete I864 will shut down processing of the interims. (I had a typo above and referred to it as I865). You weren't RFE'd for that document, Mark.

I-485 processing can take years. The "interims" are processed within 90 days.

The main application and the "interims" are processed separately - physically separate -
the I-485 is not even looked at at that point. In my case, the I-485 was sent to a
different Service Center!

They'd have to look at the I-485 *very* closely to notice that a signature is missing.
That can only be done by the adjudicator assigned to the case. The approval of the
I-765 (work permit) application is more or less automatic.


I disagree. If you're so sure, cite your source.

The speed w/ which EAD's are being processed and approved (I've seen a few cases recently that have been approved in a little over a month) it could work.
In any case, if the signature on the Affidavit of Support is all that is missing, what does the OP's friend have to lose?
-P

If she gets an RFE and can't get him to sign it and return the paperwork, she could risk denial. That's all I see that she has to lose, but it's still quite a bit.

I think what rebbecajo is referring to is that recently, after the Final Rule on Affidavits of Support was issued, now the Affidavit of Support is reviewed for sufficiency. Usually, an EAD is issued within 90 days.

In the past the local office would review the I-864 at the interview, in fact, many aliens could simply take their Affidavit to the interview at the district office. So with this review occuring upon submission of the package rather than at interview time or before, the issue of the EAD within 90 days could be delayed until the local office receives a response to an RFE.

Mark,

I am not talking about the I485. I am talking about the I864 - the affidavit of support.

As the mermaid says, they are now reviewing the I864 BEFORE the case goes forward. So if your affidavit of support gets RFE'd, everything else comes to a screeching halt. Interims are not issued without an underlying I485. The service position on this now (apparently) is there is no underlying petition without an affidavit of support underlying that.

My 'source' is what I read anecdotally. This has been occuring for a year or so - since you filed.

Also, historically here, there's been a difference between a package that is incomplete (missing evidence) and one that is missing a signature. Plus, as rebeccajo says, they do seem to be doing an initial quick review of the I-864 prior to people getting their EADs, and if they require evidence (like the W2s), it's been common to see the entire package held up.

We were one of those that had the whole package held up because of an RFE. Apparently they didn't like our documentation so we resubmitted everything and the second time around passed muster. So yeah, they seem to be doing a quick review and if they find anything out of whack it WILL hold things up.

Of course it's possible. The question is, will the quick review reveal a missing signature on
the I-864 (or perhaps the wrong signature if she accidentally-on-purpose signs the form
herself to pass the review ("oops silly me, didn't know I wasn't supposed to sign that, wink wink")

Anything can happen Mark I suppose it's up to the OP to decide for herself, eh?

OK, some good news!

He has finally gotten all his tax info and the co-sponsor has their papers as well.

He signed the papers and she gave them to a friend for her to mail today. She went to church with us last night and she asked us to stop so she could pick up a newspaper because he wanted to see the want ads. He seems to be doing better and maybe he has gotten over being laid off and is ready to start looking for a new job.

That is good news! You made my day