RFE in mail today - how depressing

[Abby62 23]

You may be confusing what the OP is talking about and your visa path - they're not the same thing. The OP is at the Lifting/Removing of Conditions stage (their PR/Green Card was issued almost 2 years ago).

Ahh ok, thank you so much for clarifying!

[thongd4me 69]

Excellent advice. I'm printing skype chats and call records as you read this. Thanks!

If you are removing conditions, I'm not sure your timeline reflects that.

Your last entry was GC approval in April 2007.

Thanks

[v333k 59]

IMO, it's a bit different when the foreign spouse is OUT OF THE COUNTRY and the USC Spouse is in the USA, for such an extended period of time. Just saying... IMO - more scrutiny than your particular situation.

Very well said. The problem USCIS is seeing is not that you are being in touch and keeping your marriage "alive", but they see it as an immigration stunt. They look at your documents and see that for the past 2 years that your wife has been a LPR, she lived outside the US which defeats the purpose of obtaining a GC. Hence, they cannot establish that you are living together (in the sense of a real marriage). If your wife decided to do so, you should've waited for her to finish her studies then apply for AOS.

[Catracho 0]

@Yurika & Jim - ah hah. Missed that entire paragraph.

That changes things; those are indeed some challenging mitigating circumstances (the apartment is probably the least of them).

I was confused when I first read the 'mitigating' circumstances. I was expecting to hear good news, but instead it was bad news. We need to understand what mitigating means before using it -

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare to soften, from mitis soft + -igare (akin to Latin agere to drive); akin to Old Irish moíth soft — more at agent

Date: 15th century

1 : to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify

2 a : to make less severe or painful : alleviate b : extenuate

I'm sorry, but those 'mitigating' circumstances are not mitigating at all, they do exactly the opposite. They make it WORSE!!! Sorry, but a pet peeve of mine is when "big words" are used incorrectly.

[TracyTN 237]

You can only send what you can send - but with the others, I think you have a large hill to climb.

The green card is so your wife can be a legal permanent resident; while they may be questioning the voracity of your married life in that RFE, I still think the fact that she's really not residing here is going to rear it's ugly head almost more than anything. Unfortunately, there are things you must to do maintain your permanent resident status - I'd have a read of this:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3f443a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=3f443a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

I hope you'll be ok by sending back what you send back - but honestly, I'd start preparing myself for the possibility that she could be denied.

[trailmix 77]

I was confused when I first read the 'mitigating' circumstances. I was expecting to hear good news, but instead it was bad news. We need to understand what mitigating means before using it -

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare to soften, from mitis soft + -igare (akin to Latin agere to drive); akin to Old Irish moíth soft — more at agent

Date: 15th century

1 : to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify

2 a : to make less severe or painful : alleviate b : extenuate

I'm sorry, but those 'mitigating' circumstances are not mitigating at all, they do exactly the opposite. They make it WORSE!!! Sorry, but a pet peeve of mine is when "big words" are used incorrectly.

And a pet peeve of mine is when people call people out in public when they could do it in private IF they really felt the need to do it at all - but oh well.

Your comment begs the question - how do you feel when "little words" are used incorrectly?

[journeyman 0]

Isn't it a requirement that the person with LPR applying for ROC must be residing in the USA at the time of filing the I-751?

(Sorry I know that this requriement is there for N-400 and AOS).

Edited May 17, 2010 by journeyman

[Darnell 8,478]

2) my wife has been living abroad for about 1 1/2 years since she decided to finish her degree back in Russia after our noble experiment in trying to take advantage of the American educational system failed, but is planning to come back in the summer/fall to be with me after she completes her studies.

Sorry- what?

How is she planning to come back?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Here's the no B.S. answer.

If I interpreted what you wrote accurately, pretty much since you have been married, your wife moved to Russia.

Now USCIS wants to have prove from you that you've been living together. Not possible, as you have not been living together, as your wife lives in Russia. It doesn't matter if you think it's the "fault" of the American education system or because she lives apart from for any other reason: you've not living together so you can't really provide that kind of evidence.

What you could do is explain your situation, but my guess is that the petition will be denied, plain and simple.

You will have to understand that the Green Card has been rewarded to her so that she can live, work, and study in the US. Since she prefers to study in Russia for any reason, she is not a US resident anymore. Although I actually believe that your marriage is real, it has plenty of flags of a marriage for Green Card purposes written all over it.

[Cigarovich 1]

First let me response very diplomatically to the instigators,

Until today, I have been overwhelmed by the positive support offered by respondents to my posts. I humbly ask that those of you who wish to throw a shadow over my situation or my use of the English language please move on. I thought I was clear in my request for ideas that would help and have little use for your soapboxing. If you would like to go after me, my wife, our situation or my choice of words, let's keep it between us and off this post. That is to say - flame my mailbox and not my post.

For those of you who are not completely aware of our situation, I met my future wife in 2003 in Moscow, Russia while she was an art history student at Moscow State Univ. In 2004, she moved to St. Petersburg, Russia for a very good job. There was a lot more opportunity for me in Moscow (I was living there and working as a restaurant consultant) so I courted her by visiting her every other weekend, and she would likewise visit me in Moscow. We got engaged and decided to move to the US in 2006, where we got married in December of that year. Due to the IMBRA miscommunications of 2006, her arrival in the US was delayed by 5 months. The plan was for her to finish her degree at Hunter College in NYC. For those of you who were born abroad and studied here, you know very well the differences in educational systems and can empathize with someone struggling with adjusting to the methodology here. And going from Moscow State to Hunter is roughly like going from an Ivy League School to a community college (no offense to those holding CC degrees). She also faced extreme difficulties finding well-paying work in her field without a green card or degree. Her original green card application was denied because I took a tax-write off in Russia which led me to submitting an affidavit of support showing negative income despite the fact that I was employed and well paid. I had to get a co-sponsor, which was much more difficult than you would believe and is a completely other story. By the time we got the green card in April '08 we realized that we were facing the difficult situation of her either slogging through a program in a school she hated or separating once again as we had in 2004 so she could get a quality degree, after which she would come back and join me and look for a job. Since we had made the sacrifice before, we decided it was the best choice to make it again. We chat/phone/e-mail each other nearly every day since she left in August '08, and I have been to Moscow 3 times since then and she spends basically all her non-school time in New York. I will be going out to San Francisco this month for training, but will in all likelihood be back in NYC in the fall when we can finally be together again. You will note that as much as we care about each other, school and work opportunities have come first with the hope that they will pay off in the future, since neither of us had much money when we met. So,

For those of you who have given us support, now and at other difficult times, we thank you and are considerably more confident that we will, in fact, be approved. That being said, keep the positive energy and ideas flowing!

PS I will try to update my timeline, but am not completely at ease with the new site.

[phaman1984 1]

First let me response very diplomatically to the instigators,

Until today, I have been overwhelmed by the positive support offered by respondents to my posts. I humbly ask that those of you who wish to throw a shadow over my situation or my use of the English language please move on. I thought I was clear in my request for ideas that would help and have little use for your soapboxing. If you would like to go after me, my wife, our situation or my choice of words, let's keep it between us and off this post. That is to say - flame my mailbox and not my post.

For those of you who are not completely aware of our situation, I met my future wife in 2003 in Moscow, Russia while she was an art history student at Moscow State Univ. In 2004, she moved to St. Petersburg, Russia for a very good job. There was a lot more opportunity for me in Moscow (I was living there and working as a restaurant consultant) so I courted her by visiting her every other weekend, and she would likewise visit me in Moscow. We got engaged and decided to move to the US in 2006, where we got married in December of that year. Due to the IMBRA miscommunications of 2006, her arrival in the US was delayed by 5 months. The plan was for her to finish her degree at Hunter College in NYC. For those of you who were born abroad and studied here, you know very well the differences in educational systems and can empathize with someone struggling with adjusting to the methodology here. And going from Moscow State to Hunter is roughly like going from an Ivy League School to a community college (no offense to those holding CC degrees). She also faced extreme difficulties finding well-paying work in her field without a green card or degree. Her original green card application was denied because I took a tax-write off in Russia which led me to submitting an affidavit of support showing negative income despite the fact that I was employed and well paid. I had to get a co-sponsor, which was much more difficult than you would believe and is a completely other story. By the time we got the green card in April '08 we realized that we were facing the difficult situation of her either slogging through a program in a school she hated or separating once again as we had in 2004 so she could get a quality degree, after which she would come back and join me and look for a job. Since we had made the sacrifice before, we decided it was the best choice to make it again. We chat/phone/e-mail each other nearly every day since she left in August '08, and I have been to Moscow 3 times since then and she spends basically all her non-school time in New York. I will be going out to San Francisco this month for training, but will in all likelihood be back in NYC in the fall when we can finally be together again. You will note that as much as we care about each other, school and work opportunities have come first with the hope that they will pay off in the future, since neither of us had much money when we met. So,

For those of you who have given us support, now and at other difficult times, we thank you and are considerably more confident that we will, in fact, be approved. That being said, keep the positive energy and ideas flowing!

PS I will try to update my timeline, but am not completely at ease with the new site.

I would advise you to hire an immigrant lawyer if you haven't already had one (or at least book a consultation session to see what options you have) because your case is a little more complicated than usual in that your wife has been out of the country for more than 6 months while on her conditional green card. I'm not sure if you can remove her conditional status in this case (is she not currently in the US, is she?). You might as well wait for her to finish school, and reapply for the original green card which could repeat your painful journey for the last couple years. But never abandon this removal procedure, and consult with a lawyer to see what appropriate steps you can take. I have seen more complicated cases that got approved. As I said before, you will eventually get it, but it just takes time. I hope you will get approved soon, I know how hard long distance is.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

For those of you who have given us support, now and at other difficult times, we thank you and are considerably more confident that we will, in fact, be approved. That being said, keep the positive energy and ideas flowing!

It's going to take a bit more than confidence and support to make your situation work. The proof you are trying to offer is not going to be sufficient at this stage of the game. As far as the USCIS is concerned, you have had two years to establish a relationship together, here in the US.

That is the evidence that your application is missing. That is the evidence you need to accumulate and resubmit to the USCIS.

Edited May 18, 2010 by ##########

[Anh map 2,098]

The initial evidence submitted was thin when trying to demonstrate a bona fide long distance marital relationship. Your new list of evidence is moving in the right direction.

I would suggest that you supply every bit of evidence of a comingling of lives, not just a smattering. Prepare to use a ream of paper making photocopies. Things such as:

Mail addressed to the both of you, etc.

Money transfers.

Joint account statements (bank, credit card)

Joint memberships

Emails discussing the minutae of life, typical husband and wife things.

Joint tax returns for all tax years that you have been married.

Any documents where each of you has listed the other as spouse.

Rather than the itineraries for the trips you each have taken to see each other submitting copies of the boarding passes/luggage tags and passport stamps would be better. The itinerary doesn't prove that a person actually travelled.

The bank letter from when an account was opened doesn't demonstrate anything about a marital relationship. Bank statements showing deposits, withdrawls, payments, ATM are much better.

[Darnell 8,478]

My apologies if I offended your sensibilities in any way -

I asked innocuous questions only to get you to THINK about HER situation. She's lived outside the USA for 18 months since receiving the green card. Usually, USCIS assumes the greencard is abandoned UNLESS you can prove otherwise.

My question about 'how is she returning' was a real one - Please review SB-1 and DS-117 -

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/guangzhou/47024/SB1/SB1%20Instruction%20Sheet-May08.doc

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79962.pdf

as I think she'll have some issue at the POE when she does decide to return.

Sure, I understand the situation, as you've written it here. That doesn't discount two facts:

1. you're gonna have to produce a pile of evidence of the bonafides of your marriage, to submit to USCIS NOW and

2. she is gonna have a hard time returning into the USA, much hassle at the POE, high probability of being turned back at the POE.

Good Luck, however it turns out.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

My apologies if I offended your sensibilities in any way -

I asked innocuous questions only to get you to THINK about HER situation. She's lived outside the USA for 18 months since receiving the green card. Usually, USCIS assumes the greencard is abandoned UNLESS you can prove otherwise.

My question about 'how is she returning' was a real one - Please review SB-1 and DS-117 -

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/guangzhou/47024/SB1/SB1%20Instruction%20Sheet-May08.doc

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79962.pdf

as I think she'll have some issue at the POE when she does decide to return.

Sure, I understand the situation, as you've written it here. That doesn't discount two facts:

1. you're gonna have to produce a pile of evidence of the bonafides of your marriage, to submit to USCIS NOW and

2. she is gonna have a hard time returning into the USA, much hassle at the POE, high probability of being turned back at the POE.

Good Luck, however it turns out.

You forgot to add this is supposed to be a joint application, and with the likelihood of an interview, both of you will have to attend the interview, or any other proceedings. I am not seeing any "joint" here.