Hello,
This is my first time here. I was referred by a friend who thought I could find some answers here. I hope so. Here is my situation. My husband and I have been married a little over a year. I am the USC and he came over on a K3 visa. We were debating whether to have adjust status or do CR1 so we haven’t started either one yet. The problem is that our marriage is falling apart and it’s my fault. He still loves me and wants to make things work but we are too different and we have different goals. Yes, it’s our fault for not discussing these details before getting married. As everyone here knows, in this kind of relationship, you don’t get a chance to date “normally” and really know someone until you’re already done with the visa process and the person is with you every day. You just take a leap of faith as you go into it. That’s what we did and unfortunately things aren’t working out. I take full responsibility for that. I should’ve thought it through more. My feelings for him have changed. We’ve already done the counseling thing and I still feel the same way.

Since coming here, my husband has gotten a job, made friends, established a life, etc. He left everything he knew to come here. I don’t want him to be deported after we get a divorce. We haven’t hit the 2yr mark and he doesn’t have permanent residency yet. He didn’t marry me just to get a green card but I want him to get his green card. I want him to continue living here and building a life here. How can we go about doing this? Staying married for another year is not an option. It’s already hard enough for us to get a divorce knowing that he still loves me and I care about his well being. Despite that, we both know that this is for the best. If we go the CR1 route, will he get a permanent green card or is it still conditional? I don’t want this green card process to bind us together for years to come when we both need to get closure and move on. What are my options? What should I do? Please help.

Tracy

I'm sorry to hear things didn't work out.

I'm not positive about the ins and outs of how he can stay while not married to you, but you indicate that you don't want the green card process to bind you for years to come...however that's exactly what it will do, as you, the USC, signs a document (I-864) saying that you'll support him financially for 10 employment quarters. That document is still binding should you divorce.

I believe in some circumstances he would be able to lift conditions without being married to you, but I don't think he can adjust status without it, without extenuating circumstances. Physical abuse is the only one that comes to mind, but there may be others.

Hopefully someone can add to what I've said here.

Best of luck for your future.

I know I'm financially binded, that's okay. He knows that I will help him out financially anyway that I can. I have no problems doing that. I don't want us to be so emotionally dependent on each other. We're trying to move away from that.

Just for kicks i asked this of our co a month ago, I asked if i get mad at him and kick him out, if he would have to leave the country, he said not usually, it means he wont be eligible for citizen ship for 5 years. Like mermaid says the intention of coming here is established, co said he met the goal of getting married within the deadline and thats all needed to be eligible.

sorry to hear about your differences, how people turn love on et off like a faucet is beyond me, live and let live.

No, cindishah, not "live and let live", because you made a point to mention it. The OP has suffered an outcome that many of us could ultimately face. Of course none of us think we will, but I bet she never did either. Assuming she has been honest in her post, nothing about what she wrote sounds like she's turning her "faucet" off very easily or casually at all.

trlarson, I don't know enough about this side of things to give you any advice, but I really do wish you luck. I find it downright touching to read about someone who is standing up to make the very best of a sad mistake.

Alice

Tracy,

I appreciate your honesty. Hopefully, someone will give you a good advice here.

I was hoping I could get more suggestions on whether he should adjust status or do CR1. My question is if we go the CR1 route, will he get a permanent green card or is it still conditional? I read something about lifting conditions. What is that? Can anyone explain? I would appreciate it.



Tracy,

I appreciate your honesty. Hopefully, someone will give you a good advice here.
[/quote]

Tracy,



Regretably, everyone here does not know this. Many threads over the years show that many people do not realize that daily communication by phone or e-mail is not the same as breathing the same air 24/7.



You should have a consultation with an immigration attorney to discuss the facts and the issues. Recognize that the advice given by the attorney to your husband alone, to you alone, or to the both of you together may be quite different. So think about how you want to go about it.

Yodrak

I am very sorry to heart that.

As to what I have come to know, is that the marriage has to be 2 years old for IR-1 status to be given. If CR-1 is not converted into IR-1, the person loses his status and would be subjected to deportation procedures. I doubt that there would be a way out. An immigration attorney may find a way.

Shakil

Yodrak's advice is sound, as usual. I admire your willingness to fulfill your financial obligation to him and I hope that your respective attorneys share the same mindset. Be prepared.

There have been many discussions here about 'leaps of faith'... I'm not going to comment on this but I do have strong feelings about it.

I am sorry that you have found yourself in this situation. Once the dust settles, take some time for yourself to discern what is was that you were supposed to have learned from all of this. Everything happens for a reason.

Best wishes,

Jen

(edited to add a personal experience: I was the one who filed for divorce in my first marriage. My ex's mindset at the time was similar to your husband's... BUT once he realized that there was no hope for reconciliation and we started to divide assets, things were not so amicable. Prepare yourself for a posible change in your husband's character. I was, frankly, shocked, at how greedy a person my ex turned out to be. In hindsight, I'm sure that was the only way he felt as though he could receive retribution for having been hurt.... but still...)

Then you doubt wrongly.

The I-751 can be filed alone under some circumstances.

Thank you everyone for your advice. Is there anyone here who has successfully lifted conditions using
I-751 AFTER a divorce? I'd like to hear your experience with that please. I am more than willing to attend the interview with my husband, well soon to be ex-husband, and provide documention that we did indeed have a bonafide marriage.

trlarson,

My ex-wife. I did not participate in the exercise.

Yodrak

well i hope all work sout for you in the end, good luck and let us know how it all goes.

Am I confused? Or is the OP confused?

It appears that the husband has not filed for AOS yet. So why is the talk of lifting conditions? Why is the talk of CR1, as the husband is in the US already on K3?

Since he entered as a K-3, the issue is to Adjust status with the I-485. Any talk of CR-1 and removal of conditions are not relavant at this point.

As part of the submitting the I-485 is that you, the US Citizen will have to submit a I 484 Aff. of Support. Are you prepared to do that??

Also, if he goes to an Adjust of Status interview alone, Im under the impression that it will be an automatic rejection, especially if you are still married. Im a little fuzzy on this. So that is exactly why you both need to go and talk to an immigration attorney if you are still on good terms. It may be necessary to get divorced now and that would enable him to Adjust Status based on good faith marriage, but Im not really sure.

An Immigration Attorney is what you need.

kc456,

Re. your first question Tracy may be confused, the issue immediately at hand is gaining PR status.

Re. your second question you appear to be confused, since applying for an immigrant visa is one way for a K3 to obtain PR status.

But thanks for waking me up to something.

Yodrak





Tracy,

Very interesting question, one that your husband (or you and he together) might want to explore with the immigration attorney who you're going to consult. For adjustment of status you will have to attend the interview with him, for the immigrant visa you will not. There could be some interesting and subtle differences in the questions that are asked, or in the way that similar questions might be asked, and there might be some differences in the way that the questions could be answered. Fine lines to be alert to and perhaps approach without crossing.

Whether the immigrant visa option is chosen or the adjustment option, the resulting status will depend on the length of the marriage at the time status is granted - conditional if less than 2 years, without conditions if more than 2 years. (Recognize that on the visa route status does not come with the visa, it comes with entry after getting the visa.)

Yodrak

How is your husband working if he hasn't AOS'd yet? Surely thats totally against all the rules?

mrs jenjen.

u dont need to aos to work. all u need is EAD.

It's different for K3's...

allynella,

Different from what? Different how?

Yodrak

Sorry for the late reply on this. I haven't checked VJ in the last few days. No, my husband has not adjusted status yet so he does not have his EAD. My dad owns a small family business. He does estate hauling. My dad agreed to let my husband help out while teaching him the business. My husband and my dad get along great, which makes this divorce even harder. Technically, my husband is not supposed to work but it's not a real paying job. I'm sure many people here will debate this but it's a decision we made and we'll accept any criticism. He just got so tired of sitting around doing nothing that my dad invited him to go with him on a couple of jobs. My husband enjoyed it and found it rewarding to be able to do something to contribute. We both live at home with my parents and they have financially helped us out a lot.

Tracy,

There's no connection between the two, except that a person who has adjusted status no longer needs employment authorization and an EAD. It the people who have not yet adjusted status - people such as your husband - who need EA and an EAD if they want to work. I think you mean that your husband has still not applied to adjust status?

Yodrak

ko,

Because when the US Petitioner files the I-130 and the I-129F, it makes the beneficary eligible to apply for both the K3 and the CR1/IR1 visa.

If the approved I-130 reaches the Consulate before the approved I-129F, then the beneficiary will be scheduled for the CR1/IR1 visa interview and depending on how old the marriage is, will be awarded with one of the 2 visas, resulting in either a CPR or an LPR status on entry. The approved I-129F would then be terminated and the K3 visa would be a moot point.

However, if the I-129F reaches the Consulate before the approved I-130, then the beneficiary will be scheduled for the K3 interview and upon approval, will enter the US on a non-immigrant visa leading to a non-immigrant status and apply for AOS. Even then, the alien spouse has the option of returning back to his home country and take the CR1/IR1 immigrant visa interview, in case that has been scheduled, obtain that visa, get the K3 invalidated and use the CR1/IR1 visa to re-enter the US, this time an an immigrant instead of a non-immigrant, and hence be awarded with either the 2 year or the 10 year permanent residence status, accordingly.

Hope that clears up the confusion.

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. But if you are living at home with your folks (& they are helping you financially) - how do you plan on helping HIM financially as per your I-864? You've had over a year to file for his work permit & haven't? Why not?

These two statements really throw me off, b/c they totally contradict one another.



So far, so good. Up to this point, your story had felt so real, so human, so emotional, it made me cry like a sissy. Women like her don't exist anymore!



Now what happened here? Yes, I cried like a sissy here too, but only after feeling the intense pain your surprisingly hard slap on my face caused me. Closure? Moving on? Non-binding?

Those are words with huge meanings and usually sad outcomes!