[CanAmCharlotte]

Did you catch '60 Minutes' last night? There was a segment on foreign spouses who were widowed while in the process of removing the conditions of their residency. To add insult to injury, they were told at their interview that they had to leave the US as technically they were no longer married. There is a class action lawsuit against the USCIS for those in this particular situation. A couple of things didn't quite make sense though. First of all, few people who are removing conditions actually get an interview. The segment made it sound like everyone gets one. Secondly, people who get divorced after filing their I-751 are very often allowed to stay if they can prove the marriage was entered into in good faith. So is the USCIS saying you can (more than likely) stay if you get divorced but adios if you become widowed?

Thoughts?

J

[lissa04]

That is just crazy, now I can see if you are in the process of your AOS and don't have your conditional GC...then that is one thing. If you already have your 2 year GC....then as long as you can prove a legitimate marriage I don't see why they would deport you. It's bad enough that you lose a spouse, now you have the fear of being deported. Nobody ever plans on losing a spouse....doesn't seem fair!

[ScratchIt]

That is just crazy, now I can see if you are in the process of your AOS and don't have your conditional GC...then that is one thing. If you already have your 2 year GC....then as long as you can prove a legitimate marriage I don't see why they would deport you. It's bad enough that you lose a spouse, now you have the fear of being deported. Nobody ever plans on losing a spouse....doesn't seem fair!

I took this to be the case of the ladies in the segment. They all seemed to be denied when their AOS interview was only attended by the widow or the widow informed the USCIS that she was now a widow.

It appears that they have a decent case and that USCIS is blowing smoke and wasting taxpayer $$$. I can't wait to see the outcome. We should get 60 Minutes to do stories on many of the other issues we have with USCIS!

[Chica Yeyé]

WOW. So you can remove conditions if you divorce, but not if your spouse dies??>> WTF, really. This adds insult to injury.

[Jenn!]

I didn't see the story, but what they said contradicts what I believed to be true based on posts read here.

Just as with divorce, if widowed you can remove conditions if you already have conditional LPR.

[john_and_marlene]

I didn't see the story, but what they said contradicts what I believed to be true based on posts read here.

Just as with divorce, if widowed you can remove conditions if you already have conditional LPR.

They didn't have conditional LPR status yet when their husbands died. Their AOS was filed but not yet complete.
I hope every couple who is putting off AOS for any reason saw that 60 minutes segment. Think of how much worse their case would be if they hadn't even filed AOS yet when the spouse died--especially the AOS for K1s who are opting to put off the AOS while their spouse accrues out of status time. For cases where the spouse dies and out of status time exceeds 180 days the USCIS could argue that they are ineligible to adjust status because of the out of status time--the overstay only is forgiven for those currently married to a USC.

To those putting off their AOS I suggest they stop putting the foreign spouse at risk and get it done.

[cherr1980]

I tried to google for the segment of 60minutes...since for I-751 does not make ANY sense just be denied due to being a widow...I think we should just need to scoop around more. It is important to understand that the media and sometimes EVEN the own immigrant does not have the complete knowledge of the process. It is important that we read and continue reading our own processes regardless that our spouses wanted to help. At the end is our process.

I found this one:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Wido...68E765C34812%7D

Still they dont say if they were AOS or I-751 they only say about "being married less than two years"...well duh, if they had a complete AOS and more than that they are not conditional...if they got approved on AOS then they can apply...does not make sense at all...the law on I-751 DOES permit that...the AOS does not though.

This better make understandable the argument:
http://rokdrop.com/2008/11/23/the-widow-pe...-on-60-minutes/

Now, if you see the way that 60minutes should show is FIRST explain how the legal process of becoming a LPR WORKS!...this is just becoming vexing sometimes, that even I simpatize with them, makes people misunderstand more and more the process that they should know better in the first hand.



Now after google I found an interested case of a person who even was with strong and high command-in-line people in the Navy which at the end are top in protect our land and in line with the Department of Homeland Security and for something that will be common in those circumstances...his gc was denied.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/23/u...de_n_92947.html



Conclusion:
Yes, as widow or divorce you can REMOVE the conditions on residence. For AOS cases, if you divorce there are no legal bound anymore of what you will become a LPR, same applies, unfortunately, if you are a widow. That is the part they are trying to change...the only part that I Think the law protects if is the spouse was kill in action (veteran, war, etc.).

[spookyturtle]

I can't believe how stupid Michael Chertoff looked last night. He is an utter moron and yet he is the DH chief. DHS has appealed these decisions 4 times. Unbelieveable.

[baxxy]

Did you catch '60 Minutes' last night? There was a segment on foreign spouses who were widowed while in the process of removing the conditions of their residency. To add insult to injury, they were told at their interview that they had to leave the US as technically they were no longer married. There is a class action lawsuit against the USCIS for those in this particular situation. A couple of things didn't quite make sense though. First of all, few people who are removing conditions actually get an interview. The segment made it sound like everyone gets one. Secondly, people who get divorced after filing their I-751 are very often allowed to stay if they can prove the marriage was entered into in good faith. So is the USCIS saying you can (more than likely) stay if you get divorced but adios if you become widowed?

Thoughts?

J

Why would the person in question want to stay here if their spouse dies? Especially if they came here JUST to be with their other half. Seems like they would want to return to their homeland to be with their family. Chances are they'd end up on welfare here anyway and depending on our government to support them, God knows we have enough of our own here doing that. It makes sense to me that they should be asked to leave.

[ScratchIt]

I saved it on DVR and will have to take another look at it. There was a mention of the fact that the statute that USCIS uses to dismiss the applications says in few paragraphs down that a surviving spouse is still a spouse and this seems to be a game of semantics.

[spookyturtle]

Why would the person in question want to stay here if their spouse dies? Especially if they came here JUST to be with their other half. Seems like they would want to return to their homeland to be with their family. Chances are they'd end up on welfare here anyway and depending on our government to support them, God knows we have enough of our own here doing that. It makes sense to me that they should be asked to leave.

You being very judgmental, aren't you? Did you watch the show and see what the circumstances were? Maybe your fiance/spouse will end up on welfare too if things don't work out.

[ScratchIt]

Did you catch '60 Minutes' last night? There was a segment on foreign spouses who were widowed while in the process of removing the conditions of their residency. To add insult to injury, they were told at their interview that they had to leave the US as technically they were no longer married. There is a class action lawsuit against the USCIS for those in this particular situation. A couple of things didn't quite make sense though. First of all, few people who are removing conditions actually get an interview. The segment made it sound like everyone gets one. Secondly, people who get divorced after filing their I-751 are very often allowed to stay if they can prove the marriage was entered into in good faith. So is the USCIS saying you can (more than likely) stay if you get divorced but adios if you become widowed?

Thoughts?

J

Why would the person in question want to stay here if their spouse dies? Especially if they came here JUST to be with their other half. Seems like they would want to return to their homeland to be with their family. Chances are they'd end up on welfare here anyway and depending on our government to support them, God knows we have enough of our own here doing that. It makes sense to me that they should be asked to leave.

OK - per your timeline, your fiancee has yet to arrive here in the states. Lets speed the clock up a little. She gets here you get married and have a child. Your parents love her and they love their grandchild. You and she set up a nice little household and life is looking rosey. She likes it here and has a job and makes lots of friends. One evening on your way home, there is a bad wreck and you are killed. Does the little Mrs. just pack up and go home? Or in the cases on 60 Minutes, two died of heart conditions and one was killed while in Iraq.

Your post about "Chances are they'd end up on welfare here anyway and depending on our government to support them, God knows we have enough of our own here doing that" is shallow and ignorant.

You are apparently a newcomer to this immigration process and therefore maybe a bit naive about what it is really all about. You certainly under-estimate the abilities of many of these women who have managed to survive their entire life without you there to support them. Read and learn young'n.

[SpiritAlight]

For those who don;t have a TV, like myself, here is the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=462...ce=search_video

Will be watching it today.

Unfortunately I already knew of this tragic outcome if one's US spouse dies, a resident could be sent back to their country.
Crazy and true.
What else would surprise us from USCIS?
Please, no need to answer.

[ScratchIt]

I cant help but have this fear about things not working out when my fiancee arrives here, eventually. I mean shes coming here alone, she has no family or friends here, I am it for her. Now the thing is, what if things just dont work out for us here? Ive been to visit her a few times already and the most we spent together straight was 2 weeks. We had great times but that was just a vacation. You never really know anybody unless you live with them, it doesnt matter how much phone/IM communication you have. So what if things dont go like we thought? Does anyone here ever think about this? Does anyone know of this happening to anyone?

By the way, it would help if you go out and find out all you can about a church for her, are there community groups she might be interested in, are there fellow countrywomen around she can talk to etc.?

[baxxy]

Why would the person in question want to stay here if their spouse dies? Especially if they came here JUST to be with their other half. Seems like they would want to return to their homeland to be with their family. Chances are they'd end up on welfare here anyway and depending on our government to support them, God knows we have enough of our own here doing that. It makes sense to me that they should be asked to leave.

You being very judgmental, aren't you? Did you watch the show and see what the circumstances were? Maybe your fiance/spouse will end up on welfare too if things don't work out.

No I didn't see the show. And who knows what the future holds, maybe she will, I doubt it somehow, shes educated and has a great job already. She knows how to find a job, is fluent in English so I highly doubt that would be a problem for her. Plus shes told me that if things don't work out, she will return to the phils to be with her family, considering that she doesn't know one other person here.