Although it's probably true that not as many as 75% of ladies are green card scammers, it's also probably true that 75% are "throwing their hat in the ring... and hoping for the best." That would mean even if things didn't work out, all-in-all they believe their chances of a better life (or a better man) are somewhere in the U.S., and getting that green card will help them out. It's pretty common for them to "try to make it work" for a couple years while lining up their next guy or saving up some money, etc. That may not be an outright scam, but it does push the numbers up for those that aren't 100% into it for the man, but moreover, the green card.

If you dig back through some of the old threads, you'll see my take on the three types of Russian/FSU women. Basically, they go like this:

1. Outright Scammer (related to American Gold Digger.... could be for green card, could be for money, could be for both!)
2. Hoper (Looking for a better life with a good man.... we'll see what happens.)
3. Gem (Only cares about the man. Could care less about if he's in Russia or the U.S.)


Your last statement was the most accurate summary of U.S./FSU relationships that I've ever seen! You obviously know and have spent time with more than a few Russian women.

I just have to add that we all know at some point we have been duped, personally I admitted to my wife that I am a moron when it comes to women, you think I would know more I have 3 older sisters, no brothers, you would think I would have a clue, but I have always been the dreamer, always had hope and was willing to put myself out there and take a chance. Not to say Im a fool, if something seemed to good to be true it usually was. Actually if it hadnt been for a scam artist I wouldnt have met my wife. Its all serendipity.

You take the good you take the bad you take them both and there you have the facts of life. Everybody sing!!!!

Skinsfan, I am very sorry about your situation. Life ain't over and you can move forward. I have a few suggestions.
1. Get an Attorney NOW.
2. You can also check online with USCIS to see if the GC has been approved/issued. (Or call USCIS as suggested.)
3. Find witnesses who will testify about your good marriage - non-abusive. These can be family, neighbors, and others who know about your marriage and have been to your home or you both to thier home.
4. Start a Log about everything you can remember about what you have done for her and the children - new car, clothes, jewelry, money, flowers, dining out, etc. (Get receipts together for all you have done to include the trips for her to go home.)
5. Report her moving out to the police and show your concern because you have done nothing to cause her to move out.
6. Maybe, with advice from your attorney, report this to USCIS.
7. Do not even think about being with another woman even to just talk.
8. Do not get into a verbal argument with her. Bite you tongue. If you did shout or argue with her, it could be used against you as verbal and/or mental abuse. - Try and talk with her, if you can, with a witness or two.
9. Get witnesses for how good you treated the children while your wife was gone home. List all the things you did for them and what you did together.

I am sure there may be more, but this is all I can think of now. You will need all the information and witnesses you can get. Find out about the GC tomorrow and get an attorney tomorrow.

Good luck and I am keeping you in my prayers.

John

I'm in Russia now and having a great time. The family here is wonderful. I'm frustrated by my Russian, but if I pay attention I can follow most conversations. To be honest, it is exhausting trying to keep up with 5 people talking at once. On the other hand, it is getting easier. I can certainly relate to how hard it is for Russians moving to America.

I wouldn't call it a sad story in my case. Everyone has problems, but patience will usually overcome them.

--
Skinsfan - about the hearing you metioned. What was the petition for? In what court? Judges are generally pretty liberal in granting DV injuctions, when they side with the respondent, the petition is usually frivilous. Even if there is no order, don't talk to your wife except in the presence of your lawyer.



I would absolutely not do this without your lawyer present.

How can you tell....

1) Lies within lies within lies language barrier would make it hard for most to see the truth?
2) When the going get tough the though get going (their dream bubble has been burst.
3) Considering what is read here...
I propose to all. How do any of us know?
Any 20 year marriages here? 15? 10?

(Just stirring the pot)

There are a lot of very important steps you should be taking to protect yourself. I hope you got ahold of Maxx because he knows them all and can help you a lot.

I would suggest not contacting the USCIS. That would appear to your wife that you are trying to get her deported and may cause her to take more serious actions than she would otherwise. I have heard Maxx go over the steps for people many times. I know one is to never meet her alone in private without someone as a witness and to do the same on phone calls.

1) If she hasn't learned enough English to communicate effectively enough with you then she's not serious about you. If there's no language barrier at all (as in, she's "professional" enough to have taken classes already) it should be easy to weed out the lies. It's easy enough with American women, right?

2) That's where time comes in. Plus, it should've already been hard enough on her to prove that she's willing to "stick around" for a little while. "Hi, how are you, here's $4000 and a K-1 visa...." and then six months later, "I don't know why it didn't work out." It should've sounded more like "She spent her money to come meet me at this place, waited for X number of months/years, and did without anything nice for a long time.... just to be together with me." That just may be followed by "and now we've been married 10 years."

3) Consider what is read here. There are a lot of guys on here that set themselves up for failure. They themselves are "taking a shot" and then when it comes back around on them, most will say it was because the women did this or the women did that, etc. The guys on here recently have, for lack of a better term, sacked up and taken responsibility for what's been going on, but there are plenty of guys out there that have met a girl through a website, went to go see her, then been married six months later. Do that in the U.S. and see how far that gets you. Do it in Russia, and it's almost guaranteed to not work.

A) That said, there are amazing stories on here about people that happened to meet and fall in love, even if it was only a few months before they got married.


It's got to be up to you and your S/O to be true with what you expect and what you're looking for. And don't sugar coat it. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... call it a duck! The girls certainly will!!!

Well, It hasn't been 20 yrs, but my Wife just sold her Moscow Condo and I am responsible to investing the Money for our future.... yep she is scamming me for the green card

Bravo - again

Are u telling some of us to duck

Yes - it's the whole story we need to see. There is another post going on about summer vacation that has Anna and I interested.

I'll tune in there a bit.
Hope all is well Mr. and Mrs Slim

I'm sorry with all you are going through. It saddens me to think you were duped. It's seems unjust that such scammers are able to get through this and obtain greencards whilst people like me came here to marry a man I truly loved only to be abused by him. My case is totally genuine with lots of evidence of mental abuse yet I'm probably going to denied. I never lied about being pyhsically abused by him to obtain police records becasue I was not. In fact I was so under his control that I was infact too scared to even do so when his mother hit me. I did visit the police and spoke to them but could not make a formal complaint due to the repercussuions that would have entailed.



shona

A nice flat in Moscow is far pricier than waterfront in FL where we live... Just using a naive foriegner for thier money? The irony - real estate in Moscow has been a great investment - maybe you should have kept it for your future!

Yes - Maxx is his screen name. Not me. I have the same alias there also.

- David

Both of us do not trust Putin and his buddy's, so we wanted to make sure we have the money here. After all College for our Kids is coming soon.

I dont care how much, I am more insterested in how you got such a sizable sum of money out of the country???? I am a noob when it comes to this sort of thing so hoping you might be willing to share. if it wont get you in trouble

Paul and Anna

Easy, by Russian laws she can't get the money out without paying Taxes. (And probably bribes). She was however allowed to make a Gift to me and since I am American I do not pay taxes. So after the sale she wired the gift into my bank acct (she is on the Acct).

We do the same thing in reverse. I opened up a savings acct in my credit union and then got a visa check card (No fee's). That card we took to Russia with us. It never has more then $25 in it except on the 15th of the month when I put a few hundred in that her parents pull out.

So this was prior to you being married? Or can a russian spouse still gift monies to an American spouse? Wouldnt you have to pay taxes on the gift (US taxes that is)?

It just happened recently, so it was a gift to her Husband. Also taxes depend on what was the profit from the sale of the residence. No gift as far as the IRS is concerned. Money went to joint account

hi all...i just wanted to give an update...today was my domestic violence issue at court....she never came to court, so case was dissmissed....i am happy, and relieved....i only now wonder what will come nest....but at least i won this round...thanks to all for your support....

Great news!

Perhaps this was the "only way out" for her? Maybe she didn't really know what else to do and threatened all the DV stuff just to end it. Couldn't face herself when it came to being a grown-up and ending it with some dignity.

This whole deal is $#!tty. I'm glad to hear at least now you're in a better position to start moving on with your life. And don't waste too much time dwelling on it, either. You did your part. You were a good husband/father and did everything you could for her and her children. Focus on that, and move on. Leave this whole situation behind you and start over fresh.

Good luck, and hope to see you here in the future with some more good news!

Good to hear skins- it has to be a relief that its over for the most part. Any action she might take from here will be influenced by her failure to appear at a prior hearing. Most likely in front of the same judge which can color their decision.

Again, it was good to hear and life goes on, tomorrow is a new day, the greatest journey begins with a single step, good things come to those who wait, never look a gift horse in the mouth., a stitch in time saves nine,never eat spinach witha stranger,never lie in confession, a fool and his money are soon parted, nothing can keep an argument going like two people who cant remember what they are arguing about.(some of these dont apply but I was on a platitude roll)

People in glass houses sink ships.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

IF the sign says Posted Keep Out No Tresspassing- Steal it

If at first you don't succeed, keep on suckin' till you do succeed!

A fool and his money soon have parties!!!!

Why do you park on a driveway but drive on a parkway?

Why are there braille numbers on drive thru ATM's?

Why do round pizzas come in square boxes?

dayum, dude! how we go from accident, new car,accident, new boyfriend, russia to domestic violence

There is nothing right or wrong about the situation - women leave! People get divorced no matter how good of husbands or wifes they are, s$$t happens. Why is everybody so surprised?
DV case is no picnic but she probably thought she didn't have a choice.
Suck it up, skin... - life is horrible by definition and only drops of joy make it bearable...

Why do they put locks on stores that are open 24/7???

citycat, there is nothing to suck up, i am ok, but it was a total scam....i know everything completely, and my estranged wife has been ordered to leave the country immediately. i hope nobody else will have this happen, but unfortunately, i have found that my situation is not unique. my advice to anyone else that may encounter this situation is to protect yourself and act quickly with immigration...believe me, these women know how to work the legal system... there are many "how to" sites on the internet. it has been two months of hard work, but i refused to quit even when the odds seemed impossible.....

i am not suggesting that all FSU women are like the woman i married, but she was the best con i ever saw, i never had a clue until the day it happened. i simply will suggest that everyone keep their eye's wide open, and don't be blinded by love. Good luck to all, and i truely wish everyone happiness !!

Or any of that "other stuff" either.

Ice Cube said it best "you can't trust a big butt and a smile."

Well, it is the easiest scam in the world - to stay married for 3 years and then walk with a permanent GC. What is there to know? A gal just gotta be patient enough to survive with a disgusting fat smelly stupid and angry Yankee (I am generalizing and exaggerating, no offense meant) But what surprises me is - how do you care if it was a scam or not? Were you happy with her? I presume you were. Was she a good wife? Yes, probably. Oh, well, she left. Big deal! Scam or no scam, she left. Why do you even need to bother with immigration and laws? To get back at her? Well, that's very manly!..
If you ask me, every international marriage is a little bit of a scam, especially if the country of an international spouse is less fortunate economically, and it's understandable - every girl wants a better pair of shoes, every mother wants a better future for her kids, even if they will never know their real father. So every "I do" agrees not only to love but also to a big sign of $ That's the way it is if women had a courage to admit it. Some of us are just more patient or really hopeless than the other.

That's why there are 36,000 more waiting "to meet a good man" right now on the websites.

Citycat, you should be very careful with your words. There are 1000s of members here who would argue with you. Please don't make a claim like "every international marriage is a bit of a scam", unless you can back it up. Perhaps you're only speaking about your own marriage.

That wasn't a claim. That was an opinion. I don't believe in international romance, so what?
My marriage is not international per se - we met here and I lived in the country for a while before I met him. More than that, my marriage is nobody's business!
Besides, I mean come on, be honest with yourself - the majority of those women don't even speak the same language with their husbands and I mean, not a word!!! Literary! What is that about? A crush, a lust is possible in this case, love and real marriage? I doubt it.
Again, it's my opinion. I can be wrong.

Also, if it's possible, could you be more specific about the case? Why is she being removed? Did she have a GC? Conditional? You said, you had been married for a year and a half, right? So why would she be deported? She could remove conditions on her own.
Did you report her? That would be really mean...
I am just interested in the legal part of it.

Don't feed the Trolls.

Nice!
Correct me, if I am wrong, but calling people names is not exactly the most polite thing, whoever you mean by trolls... Please, let's stay civilized.

I tend to agree with CityCat. If you are in a marriage described by CityCat and you disagree with her; simply put you are as blinded as skinsfan was. Good luck though, sure hate to see your post in a year or two saying my wife scammed me....

I tend to agree with CityCat. If you are in a marriage described by CityCat and you disagree with her; simply put you are as blinded as skinsfan was. Good luck though, sure hate to see your post in a year or two saying my wife scammed me....
[/quote]

I fail to see how it is so different than marrying only for money, which happens all the time as well. They have websites for that as too: http://sugardaddie.com/

Once in such a marriage, it can be difficult to get out (divorce laws are no longer generous with alimony). Women have been known to kill wealthy husbands to stop divorces.

The lying about your intentions is what tends to bother most people.

Let me get this correct, sending a woman back who charged me with DV falsely, costing me an enormous amount of money defending my good name, taking her and her children in my heart and taking care of their every need, oh and by the way, she is fluent in English, is mean, then color me the meanest man in the entire world !! Do you really believe that crap that you are spewing ?? perhaps you should grow up ... and your description of American men is also a load of crap, i can assure you that is certainly not the case with me, and not knowing the appearance of the other men that have married FSU women and are living very happily together, i am sure their wives would have a large disagreement with you. It is not your business of how i accomplished what i did, i will save that for the people that may need it in the future... and i truely hope i will never be asked for this help....but little girl, nobody gets a free pass for fraud !! get a grip and join the real world.... i am quite certain that if what happened to me and others like me happened to you, you would scream like a stuck pig !! and yes, you offended me and all other American men. you either have a low opinion of American men, or an overly inflated opinion of yourself....and somehow think that FSU women who commit fraud should get a free pass....

Wow! Angry!.. Sorry! Didn't mean to push your buttons...
Ok, first of, false DV is bad and unforgivable, but do you really care what happens to her after the divorce? That's the part I don't understand. You divorce her, your assets are protected, what happens to her is not your care any more. She stays, she goes, how do you bother? That's what I don't get about reporting her.
My "description" of American men was basically a set of stereotypes, exaggerated and ridiculous, that I used to make a point. I love American men, I think they are strong, handsome, smart, great dads and usually good in bed. Now that's my official opinion on the matter.
I dare express my opinion on such situation because I myself have been through the whole drama of wrongful accusations, arrests, deportation threats, being scammed and other "pleasant" things like that. And guess what? I was the victim not the initiator. So I had my share fare of yelling like a stuck pig situations in spite being young.
I personally consider every marriage, international or local, a trade. Sometimes it's fair, sometimes it's not. Life is like this - you never know.
I can tell you also that amongst all my friends all over the country I can't name one that is happy with her American husband. I guess I am the only one who is ok.
I don't really have an opinion on the fraud. And you shouldn't either. You are not an immigration judge, so it's really up to them to decide who should pay for what.
At least she had a courage to leave. I know families where women live miserably with men they don't love till the day they die. Do you think it's better?
With all that said, I rest my case and apologize deeply to the topic starter - no offense was meant.
I gotta go now and give my great-looking and strong and smart and totally American stud a kiss!!!

Sounds like you speak from personal experience.





City, please share. I'm sure many here could benefit from your experience. Please elaborate on your "Visa Journey" from Russia to the USA. I know I'm curious and I'm sure others are too. How did you (a young Russian girl) get a visa to enter the USA (K visa, student visa)?

Cheers,

I think you're all full of crap.

There's a reason there are 36,000 women on websites looking for "nice men 18-80" and some of them are looking for love... some of them are looking for money.... some of them are looking for something they need... there are a variety of reasons. However, if you're expecting to "not" get scammed by someone you met and married (via the internet!) within a year or so, you're setting yourself up for failure. I knew my wife for over five years before we did the papers, and I'm still not expecting to "not" get scammed. Anything is possible. People get married for many reasons, and people's lives change.

There's a variety of reasons it will or won't work, but, to say "you shouldn't tell me I was wrong by being scammed" just isn't accurate. To get scammed, you have to let yourself be scammed. I'm not pointing fingers here, but if you look hard, there are signs. It's whether or not you choose to ignore them that eventually leads to being scammed.

That said, I don't like seeing someone get scammed because it messes up the process for the "true love" scenarios. I will side with the OP on the "deport that b!t@#" issue because false accusations of DV by someone intent on getting a green card should certainly result in that person losing the green card. DV is nothing to play around with. Whether or not her original intentions were to scam for a GC, when she dropped the DV charges, she crossed the line. The game is over at that point. The "love" turns to "war"!!!

Yep, it was first hand.


I prefer not to share personal experience with strangers. Opinion - maybe, info on legal and immigration stuff, papers and documents questions - yes, that's why I am here. But personal things like what my story is and how I came here and who framed me and how, are absolutely irrelevant and not helpful here.
You bothered to put a couple of posts of mine together - why? Are you up to something? What are you trying to prove?

THANK YOU SAT!!! Nice to hear a logical voice!

Take a look at the Home Page City...

"Once again, we welcome you and encourage you to become a member of our growing community! Share your experiences and relax here knowing you are not alone! Make sure that you also take the time to add your information to our Immigration Timeline section! -The Visajourney Family"

There is a rather crude saying about opinions City, "Opinions are like a$$hole$, everybody has one". Perhaps it would be wiser to keep your opinions to yourself if you have nothing helpful to contribute.

Cheers!

FYI, Legal advice is forbidden on this forum as is condoning or instructing, either directly or indirectly, others on how to commit fraudulent or illegal immigration activities in any way, shape, manner or method. [see TOS].

This is also an opinion, isn't it? Well, besides, a tea-pot calling a cattle black - you didn't have a second thought about opinionating on a couple of other topics.
You are claiming I don't belong here if I don't want to put my privacy in front of a little hostile audience?
I am not, was not and will never put myself in a position of giving or taking any kind of advice that can be considered legal from other than a licensed professional.
False accusations are punishable.

You aren't sending anyone back. All the claims you have made against your former spouse can be taken out in civil court. Defamation, Qui Tam (whistle blower statute for those who report federal false claims), breach of contract, breach of fidiciary duty, or better yet, how about a tort action, something old school like alienation of affection. Guess what, you don't have a leg to stand on any of these accusations especially when the Judge hears that all of this occurred while you were married.
So all you have is the USCIS to send the ultimate revenege, deportation. I am glad the government is doing the enforcement here, rather than private parties. Boy would be in trouble if it was otherwise.

I completely agree. The poor ladies have to tough it out at least three years before they can dump the:Otherwise they can get themselves in the situation skinsfan has fiduciarydescrrevengeibed.

Guys, be honest to yourself. Would your wife / fiancée still be with you if you were Russian, making a Russian wage, and living in Russia? For example if you met at a café. Ask them if you are not sure. That whole American thing lets the ladies overlook a lot of things. Like age, manners, lack of language, habits, culture, etc.