we have been married for almost 2 years now and my wife was married twice and she got divorced she is an abuser but not phisicly i mean she is mean and she is mad all the time and iam not happy with her any more like before,everyday i try to save our marriage but yesterday we decided to get divorced but here is the deal
i have green card for 2 years i got it 5 months ago so after the divorce i will file I-751 alone here are the evidence that i have
joint bank account
joint car insurance
one letter from a friend
joint lease agreement
joint electric bill
tax return jointly
2 bills in my name
some pictures
thats all i have and in I-751 iam jut gonna check i entered into a marriage with a good faith but ended up with a divorce thats all ,but i have never read a post that shows somone in the same situation got approved iam really afraid that USCIS will deny my application,thanks a lot guys.

Aliens that divorce shortly after receiving the conditional green card are approved. It depends wholly upon how much evidence one has to support one's contention that the marriage was not solely for immigration benefit. You'll need to add the divorce decree to the list of accompaniements for your I-751 waiver and provide samples of joint evidence that covers the entire period of time you were married up to the date that you separated. Good luck!

you seem to be very smart thanks a lot ,but i have never heard of somone was approved ,wait a minute yes i heard just one person posted that he was approved but iam afraid to be denied and deported i made life here friends job money ...i think i wil hire an immigration attorney what you think???this USC wife is driving me crazy ,she doesnt beat me or somthing just EMOTION ABUSE oh my god i really dont know how porve it to UCIS ,thanks a lot.

Emotional abuse is worse than physical, imho. No one should have to go through what you are going through, and if you wish to remain in the US, you have every right to.

Get an attorney and collect as much evidence of bona fide marriage as you can. Your wife could tell you that she would report you to USCIS and tell them you married her for the green card. Don't be afraid of that - she will need some serious proof to support this accusation, and unless she has something on paper, she can't hurt you.

Be safe. Emotional abuse tends to destroy one's self-esteem and make one feel worthless. Maybe you could get some counseling just to make yourself feel better. Just a piece of advice. Counseling records can also be a good proof of emotional abuse. If you have any friends or relatives who know about your relationship issues, they can write affidavits for you as well.

If you decide to lift conditions on the basis of bona fide marriage, you don't have to claim abuse. However, you will be asked to provide a statement of why your marriage broke up, so you can write about emotional abuse in this statement. Some people recommend writing a diary of abuse on a daily basis, recording every incident, - it's great if you could do it.

Good luck and be sure you will have a lot of support from people here

i think emotional abuse is the worsest of all the abuses
you should and you must record all the voice recording when she is abusing you thats important
hire a lawyer she can guide u much better coz its worthless to getting abused this way ,
i can only tell that start collecting maximum eveidences ,
tk care , i hope your scene gets better

I think I am having a similar situation as you, Jasper. My husband is very emotional abusive towards me. Yes, towards me only. I am having a hard time deciding whether to (1) divorce him and then file the divorce waiver or (2) file for the extreme cruelty wavier. Because it is emotional abusive and only happens at home, I don't have friends to witness the abuse. However, I have been seeing a therapist and she would be able to write a letter for me.

I'm not working right now and it makes it hard for me to move out. I really can't stand living with him as he also has addiction problem. I am afraid to file for anything since our marriage is a little less than a year. What if the immigration thinks that I marry him for green card. On the other hand, if I stay with him, I know he will destory me.

I am even hestitate to ask my friends if they seen anything abusive because my husband L@@K like an innocent man.

Advice? Anyone?

Yes! Get to a local Women's Resource Centre, or Family Health Service Centre and ask questions. Make sure your visits are documented. Call beforehand to make an appointment so there is a record of the day you went. Gather as much documentation of these events as you can. If he chooses to abuse in private, make sure that you document what steps you take immediately afterwards with the appropriate authorities.
Also, get copies of all evidence of a bonafide marriage and stow it out of his reach, until you need it to self-petiotion. Copies of documents that show you jointly handle finances and you're a beneficiary of his estate etc.
Do you have your conditional green card yet?

Thank you for the reply, Mermaid.

I have already got my conditional green card half a year ago. I think it makes life a little easier. However, I have heard that filing battered spouse waiver is harder than filing for divorce waiver. Is that correct? I don't know what to do. I have been talking to several lawyers and they suggested different waivers.

I wonder has anyone filed for battered spouse waiver based on emotional abuse/extreme cruelty and got approved in this forum? It is definitely extreme cruelty because of his addiction. I have also been taking anti-depressant and going to annoymous meeting. However, I doubt if people from those meeting will be willing to write a letter for me since they will have to break their annoymonsity (sp).

Thoughts?

Colada

If you have a conditional green card, I'd opt to file the waiver under the "good faith" marriage, that is, unless you can't secure sufficient documentation to support that claim. Of courser, nothing precludes you from filing under any of the various options. You are not restricted to simply one basis for a waiver.

for the benefit of your own petition to CIS. you must immediately drop the idea of even mumbling something about "abuse", emotional or physical. the minute you mention this, CIS will flag you and start a series of investigation and consider your are a high risk Visa Fraud. this will not be what you want. if you not already done that "abuse" charge, it is not too late to drop it. if you already filed that, try to withdraw the charge may be the "less worse" of a bad decision you made.

Is this your opinion, jasonbrus, or do you have factual documentation to support what you recommend?

this is not my opinion. i have no documentation proof of this.

what he/she is doing is actually detrimental to the intended objective. again, don't believe me. consult a reputable attorney from a major law firm specializing in immigration laws. you will get a reliable read from these people as they are at the front line dealing with case work, have contacts with the local CIS administration, feel the political sentiments and how the wind is blowing. again, filing for "abusive charge" is a significant event with great impact on the case. it is not he sez, she sez. CIS deals with these cases with lots of scrutiny. if there is a bona fide abuse, then definitely file but also be prepared to answer CIS with convincing evidence.

I'm not inclined to refute what you say, but the onus is always on the alien to prove that their basis for benefit exists. I think that the depth to which USCIS would scrutinise depends highly on if the claim of abuse occurs prior to adjustment of status to that of a PR. VAWA claims, for example, where the alien has not passed the first hurdle of adjustment, would, in my opinion, require more compelling evidence.

Are you saying that it makes a different if the abuse was occur before the status was adjust or not?

I think for every abused spouse it is hard for us to decide if we want to leave or not. There is always part of me that think "maybe he will change." He apologized and things have improved. However, before you know it, he returns to the way he was before. I think I understand from the gov't point of view that it might look supicious if a conditional resident file for waiver soon after getting the CGC. However, one might wonder "why she can tolerate the abuse for so long and not leave him." I really don't know what to do. It really is hard for an abused wife to leave or not leave. Adding the immigration issue certainly doesn't help. There is always a voice back in my head wondering if he will change.

The abuse is not different, but the available immigration options vary and the requirements to meet eligibility are different, dependent upon where the alien is in the process of securing residency. If the alien has already adjusted status to that of a PR (permanent resident, even if conditional) using abuse as a basis for self-petitioning to remove conditions requires less proofs because USCIS has already reviewed the application and determined that on its face the marriage appears bonafide.

If the abuse occurs prior to adjustment of status, and the alien must leave the marriage because the abuse is not tolerable any more, then in order to secure permanent resident status, the alien must not only demonstrate that the abuse occured, but also that the marriage was bonafide (save for the rare exception). Often times there is little evidence to present on both counts if this occurs early on in the relationship.

Mermaid,

Thank you for your reply and clear things up. You seem to be so knowledgable about the waiver. Was it because you file for it before or have done a lot of research on it?

Colada