I am very happy that I have found this site. I hope I can find some info out and some guidance to our situation.
Our divorced was final last month and we wish to reconciliate our marriage now. My wife and myself found out that it was mis-understanding between us that lead to this divorce. We where lied to by one of her friends that she was running around on me and I was going to divorce her and send her back to her country. Like fools we went to see Attorneys instead of us trying to talk things out. Her Attorney is a real looser. He had her file a false domestic violence charge on me. So she could gain the green card thru the abuse statue and he could try to extort the greatest possible amount of cash from me. Her false claim was I tried to run her over in a car. She had no witnesses to back up her false claims on me and all her Attorney did was tell my attorney that he would settle out of court for $50,000, then it was 25k, 10k and 3k then finally zero. She withdrew the domestic violence charge and we divorced on the grounds of neglect.
I did notify USCIS that we where getting divorced and they have subpoena our divorce filings now.
Her incompentant attorney had her file a I-360 pettition on the grounds of mental abuse by me. No such act was committed by me and there is no proof once again. We where only married last summer and seperated 9 weeks later and I filed a divorce after she went and filed her domestic violence order. during this time I did not file for the green card for her. We have discovered that we would like to get back together and try and make our marriage work out. My big question if we did get back together what is the Immigration Department going to say about her being able to stay in the USA.

It really sounds to me, especially given the above information, that you need to consult a competent immigration attorney. Presumably they subpoenaed your divorce filing in order to take some kind of action against your wife.

Did your wife come to the US on a K-1 visa and did you marry within the 90 days as required?

Did you ever file for AOS?

Do you plan to re-marry? I'm taking a wild guess that you would certainly at least have to do this for her to stay and adjust status...

Hopefully someone will be along soon who knows more... I'm glad you were able to work things out with your partner and I wish you luck in sorting this out...

Maya

Yes we used the K-1 Visa or 129-F. I never did file for the AOS for her.

AW, you may also want to try asking your question on this forum:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=127

I second the suggestion that you consult an expert immigration attorney, and quite possibly a second consultation so that you can be sure that the advice being given is sound. However, my opinion is that you would simply re-marry and file the I-130 and I-485 concurrently. Since she is already in the country, entered legally, although out of status now, she should remain until the I-130 is adjudicated, and any overstay would be forgiven. Of course, I suspect any tricky matters might crop up at adjustment of status time, so it might be wise to ask the attorney what, if any, might result from the former accusations of DV and abuse.

We live in SW Ohio and does anyone know of a good Immigration Attorney in Columbus, Cincinnati or Dayton, Ohio Area.

Since you are divorced, you would need to re-marry, and file the I-130 and I-485 concurrently. Overstay won't be a problem. The divorce will raise all kinds of red flags, but if you are married, everything will be okay eventually (it will just take longer).

People who are married legitimately DO have problems.

Do start seeing a marriage counselor. Don't rush to get married again.

The only reason you should even consider re-marrying is that you both think that you made a mistake.

Don't decide what you are going to do because of the green card.

They will almost certainly ask you about everything that happened. "I was upset and over reacted." is probably what you will tell them.

Get a lawyer (talk to several first). Keep in mind, they will tell you and your ex-wife different things.

Working things out will not be easy after what has happened. My wife and I nearly divorced 6 months ago (changed our minds 1 hour before the final hearing). Our AOS interview is in 3 days. (So, it is not impossible to recover from).

Keep in mind that getting your family and friends to accept things will be nearly impossible. Don't plan on seeing them for at least a few years.

My friends and family wish to see us happy. I was very fortunate to have them for support during this ordeal. I have been so down and out since this whole business started. I love my wife very much and I have missed her terribly so.
We have talked of Marriage Conseling and she is Vietnamese and we have a language barrier that really help lead to this tradgic event in our lives. We both have learned never to go to 3rd parties for help unless they are professional conselors. No matter how friendly the Fox is never let him into your Hen House.

sorry i only know an immigration attorny in cleveland that handled our paperwork.

hi. a few comments on your case based on a discussion with a seasoned immigration attorney who is a good friend. so, i got the advice free and pass it along.

1. alien spouse filing abuse charge on USC to get green card. this type of trick is not new to CIS, in fact, an alien spouse filing such charges against USC actually triggered a lot of red flags against the aliens from CIS and CIS will initiate investigation procedure. abusive charge is not determined at CIS level (for green card purpose) based on hearsay. CIS wants to see evidence and proof of abuse. from police report, hospital report (also apply to mental abuse), colloborating evidence from people around you, your neighbor, friends, co- workers etc. so, don't worry about abusive charges (if you did not do it) because the alien spouse has more to worry when s/he filed such charges. it will backfire. also, filing false claim in such cases will result in felony charge for Visa Fraud, that's a sure way to get a fast trip OUT of the USA. LOL. bottom line is, for adjustment of status, the alien do need your support to file, both of you do need to keep the paperwork in order and comply with the laws strictly. missing any of that, CIS will view your case with lots of suspicions and complicates matter. so, you spouse's filing abuse did not help the case. however, if the charge did not go to CIS yet and it was just a threat from the unethical attorney, then the case is still salvagable (but then you also informed CIS of your divorce).

2. given what you reported. even if you remarry to this alien spouse, CIS will view your case with lots of suspicions. you may not be able to get a new condidtional or permenent green card given the case story on her/his file.

3. the fellow board members are right urging you to get a good immigration attorney. seems like you have been doing a lot of hearsay from the immigrant community (most of the info from them are inaccurate or half truth). unless you want your spouse to become an illegal alien, from here on out, you need a solidly good attorney on your side. it can be difficult to find a good attorney as there are so many. however, my suggestion is to start with some reputable law firms in your area. laws firms that have a huge law practice and with at least 30 or more lawyers. there are good sole practitioner attorney but it is difficult to know if you are on the outside.

best of luck.

When my wife talked to her attorney he had her go down to the court and file a Domestic Violence restraining order on me. Her complaint was that I threatened her life and I was going to make her sleep outside. Her Attorney added that I used a car to try and run her over. Her Attorney IMHO did not care about getting her the Green Card but how much money he could take from me in an out of court settlement. I was not arrested in this charge. There was no Police Report made. No hospital reports Nothing.

These are pretty common things for anyone getting divorced. To be honest, they aren't really a big deal in most states (unless of course you violate the terms of it). They are also sometimes called domestic violence injunctions. Since you are not typically present when the judge orders these, and no evidence is typically required, they do not mean very much. In most states, a reasonable fear that someone may harm you in the future is enough for a judge to sign one.

If this is all your ex-wife did (she didn't yet claim relief as an abused spouse with USCIS), you don't have too much to worry about. A sizable percentage of divorces involve these, since they can also govern things like possesion of residences, cars, etc in many states.

Your wife may be in a tough situation. To put it directly:

A) If she was honest about what she requested on the restraining order, why would she reconcile with you? This would set off red flags for USCIS I would guess.

If she was not honest, she was lying to a court. USCIS probably isn't a big fan of perjury. In the real world no one looks at it this way (as far as I know). Ask a lawyer about the way USCIS will see it.

As for you - don't worry. It isn't proof of anything. I beleive that in most states, these are not handled by criminal courts. You can't be arrested unless you violate the injunction. If there were grounds and evidence for any type of violent crime, the police are more than happy to arrest and charge someone.

For AOS, as long as you are happily married and living together, you have nothing to worry about. The worst thing that can happen is that it will take longer. Even if they reject your I485, you can just file another one. I believe that as long as one is pending, it is an affirmative defense to removal proceedings (the date of the I-130).

Lawyers may not want to take your case, as they will probably doubt how sincere your ex-wife is. (it is their job after all).


I AM NOT A LAWYER. Please do not take any of this as legal advice.

your wife or ex wife has just established a documented precedent that you abused her. this is useful to support her claim of spousal abuse to advance her cause. unless you don't mind people slender you and leave a rap sheet on you, then you do need a good family law attorney. these types of charges went unanswered is actually detrimental to you even if you don't care whether she gets her green card or not. go get a family lawyer quick and seek advice how to answer these false claims and leave a paper trail. at the end of the day, CIS will come after you if she filed for abusive spouse. at this time, she has more documentation than you and all you have is "i didn't do it". guess who wins?

Good for you guys! Life is hard, marriage under the best circumstances is very hard, and then, language and cultural differences..wow.. I know we (my German SO and I have made a pact. The deal is, we still love each other no matter what. breaking up is not on the table, so when we argue, that is not part of the equation. We are also getting to know our ways better. We will argue, but I know two weeks later we will discuss it. This helps, now I know I don't have to 'drill it into his head". It is sinking in, but he isnt going to react for a while. But, the bottom line is, we are not breaking up. Knowing this we are always careful to never cross the line of an arguement and say something you might say to someone carelessly, thinking you are done with them. so far, this works for us. Language barriers are tough.
Bobbie

My wife and I are still trying to work out the details of our reconciliation attempt. One big misunderstanding. We should have never went to attorneys! We should have cooled down and thought about everything 1st. Attorneys are like Pandora's Box. They are only out for money. They do not care about the clients they represent. Just give me the money and you are on your own.
An Immigration attorney told us that it could get sticky with the USCIS especially with the domestic violence charge and we divorced could through up big red flags or they could view this as one big misunderstanding and let it go.
The other day I met a man from a divorce support group I have been going to and he had a very similar problem with his ex-wife. He is not trying to reconciliate with his ex-wife. He told me that he filed a complaint with ICE and provided them with all kinds of evidence that she had no intention of staying married to him and she had a pre-mediated agenda to fleece him for everything he had and move onto other men and doing the same to them. He told me that she has already taken another man for a a large sum of money and has now moved in with another man. He told me that it has been over 11 months since he filed the complaint to ICE and he has updated them on more evidence he has and has heard nothing from them on his complaints nor has ICE taken any action against her.
Is our Government this liberal concerning Immigration?

I'm not so sure I'd be inclined to jump at the conclusion that the government is too liberal, just because a claimant sees no action taken on the part of the agency to which he reported his suspicions. One thing to bear in mind is that if a USC petitioner divorces and reports allegations of fraud to USCIS or ICE for that matter, since the marital relationship with the alien has been terminated, USCIS or ICE have no obligation to keep the petitioner informed of any action or progress in any investigation that might be taking place.