Would this be a problem during Citizenship interview?

[Aquafina 0]

Hi everyone,

I would appreciate your help with this. I will be eligible to apply for citizenship soon, but suddenly a question came up...

Here is my situation...I gor married 2006, got my 2-year card in 2007, applied for removal of conditions jointly in 7/2009. A couple of months after we separated with my husband. I went through a lot of things in that period and didnt think about the removal of conditions. I got the permanent card without interview in December the same year 2009. I read somewhere after that, that you have to inform USCIS if your situation changes during the process. Is this true?Now we are getting divorced based on 1 year separation and it will be final soon (11/2010).

My question is, when I decide to apply for a citizenship according to the 5-year rule...would I have a problem at the citizenship interview because we got separated during the process of removing the conditions?

Please help me figure this out, maybe someone was in a similar situation.

Thank you in advance!

[CVB 18]

Hi everyone,

I would appreciate your help with this. I will be eligible to apply for citizenship soon, but suddenly a question came up...

Here is my situation...I gor married 2006, got my 2-year card in 2007, applied for removal of conditions jointly in 7/2009. A couple of months after we separated with my husband. I went through a lot of things in that period and didnt think about the removal of conditions. I got the permanent card without interview in December the same year 2009. I read somewhere after that, that you have to inform USCIS if your situation changes during the process. Is this true?Now we are getting divorced based on 1 year separation and it will be final soon (11/2010).

My question is, when I decide to apply for a citizenship according to the 5-year rule...would I have a problem at the citizenship interview because we got separated during the process of removing the conditions?

Please help me figure this out, maybe someone was in a similar situation.

Thank you in advance!

The general rule is that divorce terminates conditional permanent residence. Nevertheless, in this scenario, it is possible for you to obtain a waiver of the termination. A waiver of the termination is granted if you can show that the marriage was a union in good faith and you were not at fault for his failure to file the joint petition to remove the condition. Generally speaking, when you can show that the marriage was entered into in good faith, it is presumed that he was not at fault for failing to file a joint petition. Two ways to show that a marriage was entered into in good faith are proving that the couple had a child together and producing evidence that the couple owned property jointly.

This means that it is strongly advised to inform the USCIS. I suggest you hire an immigration lawyer. Ignoring this, will follow you the rest of you stay here in the USA, let be when you file for citizenship.

Edited November 1, 2010 by CVB

[Aquafina 0]

Thanks for your answer! I do have documents proving the marriage in good faith, but is this really serious? Am I in trouble because of this? Isn't the process of Removing the Conditions enough to prove the good faith? Would I have to prove it again when I apply for citizenship at the 5th year of residency?

Has anyone been in the same situation?

[warlord 73]

If you were applying based on 3 years marriage it might be a situation (worst case would be to be told to wait till 5 years). Since you have already removed conditions, and applying based on 5 years, your marriage shouldn't count towards anything and it wouldn't matter if you were divorced or not.

Marriage usually only plays a part when applying on marriage based applications. People can still get their citizenship if still on conditional Green Cards when they filed for divorce. Those though are more case by case dependent (aka the spouse was abusive etc).

Your situation should be perfectly fine and the marriage should not weigh in at all into your application. Now the IO might just ask about it, but that should be about it...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If you received your 10 year green card and divorced after that, then you would be applying for citizenship based upon 5 years of Permanent Residence status, not 3 years of permanent residency through marriage to a US citizen. If you were applying based on 3 years you would have to be still married and living together and would have to provide proof of the ongoing validity of the marriage. Since you are not applying based on marriage, you really should not have a problem. They may ask at the interview or they may not. Since the divorce didn't happen until after the I-751 was approved they may not ask anything about your marriage at all. If you feel at all concerned when the time comes, then just bring with you documents that prove your marriage was entered into in good faith. That is the main concern when all is said and done. I really doubt, however, that it will be any sort of issue.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Kathryn41

[ledo2131 1]

Hello,

I am in the same situation too. I was advised by my attorney that this will not be an issue. Since you did not apply you citizenship based on marriage.

Good luck!

[Aquafina 0]

Thank you so much everyone for your advice!

[Aquafina 0]

Hi Everyone,

Here is an update on my situation...

I had my citizenship interview and..."A decision cannot be made". The IO requested the complaint for divorce. I cannot believe after 5 years and after proving already twice the bona fide marriage, that they are questioning it again!

I have not sent it yet, trying to see if I should send something else with the complaint. The complaint says that we separated about 3 months after we filed for ROC jointly. In reallity, the separation was not final at that time, but that is the date my ex-spouse write there and I didnt pay enough attention at the time. We have filed taxes jointly the same year a few months later (I am not sure if this is a proof).

Anyways, would this be a problem that the divorce papers say that we separated while the petition was pending? We divorced almost 2 years after... Why are they creating problem from that? Do you think they have the right to deny my application???

I am really confused, please advice!

Hi everyone,

I would appreciate your help with this. I will be eligible to apply for citizenship soon, but suddenly a question came up...

Here is my situation...I gor married 2006, got my 2-year card in 2007, applied for removal of conditions jointly in 7/2009. A couple of months after we separated with my husband. I went through a lot of things in that period and didnt think about the removal of conditions. I got the permanent card without interview in December the same year 2009. I read somewhere after that, that you have to inform USCIS if your situation changes during the process. Is this true?Now we are getting divorced based on 1 year separation and it will be final soon (11/2010).

My question is, when I decide to apply for a citizenship according to the 5-year rule...would I have a problem at the citizenship interview because we got separated during the process of removing the conditions?

Please help me figure this out, maybe someone was in a similar situation.

Thank you in advance!

Edited April 17, 2011 by Aquafina

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Looks like the I.O. wants to make sure there was no foul play involved with your ROC.

You need to focus on this.

[NickD 203]

Can see a problem if you pretended to be happily married while going through the ROC stage while you were planning on a separation. You had other boxes to check in that application, like would be a hardship to return to your home country, abuse, or another reason.

If that happened to us, certainly would be a hardship if my wife and I did get a divorce, already cost us a small fortune for immigration and moving her and her daughter here, she quit her job that she would never get back, and had a good job here. I could never abuse her, she is way too sweet for that, but did read that ignoring your spouse is a form of abuse.

"My spouse is deceased.

I am a child who entered as a conditional permanent resident and I am unable to be included in a joint petition to remove the conditional basis of are alien's permanent residence (Form1-751) filed by my parent(s).

I am a conditional resident spouse who entered a marriage in good faith, and during the marriage

I was battered by or was the subject of extreme cruelty by my U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent.

I entered into the marriage in good faith but the marriage was terminated through divorce/annulment.

My conditional residence is based on my marriage to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, but I am unable to file a joint petition and I request a waiver because:

The termination of my status and removal from the United States would result in an extreme hardship."

Not the best copy and paste, but you get the idea that the USCIS gives many other options to stay here besides being in a valid marriage. So many in fact, got me to wonder why they even in the hell require you to file a I-751.

Recall we also had to send in two affidavits from people that knew us having a valid marriage, we sent in four, but could have sent in a hundred. So what about these people for you? Did they misrepresent themselves?

[Aquafina 0]

I was not planing on separation when we filed jointly. The problems arised a couple of months after and then he moved out. Besides, at that time our separation was not final. So we were not decided to divorce while the petition was pending.

NickD, We did submit a few affidavits at the time we filed ROC and other evidence. Obviously the evidence was enough to approve my ROC application.

Now, should I send only the complaint as they requested and wait what happens, or should I submit something else? As I said, I have tax returnes filed a few months after the joint petition... I just dont want to wait only to find out that they want to deny my I-400 application Shouls i be proactive or should I just send what they asked for and wait? But I am not sure if they will see it as a problem that the papers say a separation date while the petition was pending. Has anyone been in this situation? Is there any rule what happens if you separate before the petition is approved?

I appreciate your help.

[NickD 203]

I was not planing on separation when we filed jointly. The problems arised a couple of months after and then he moved out. Besides, at that time our separation was not final. So we were not decided to divorce while the petition was pending.

NickD, We did submit a few affidavits at the time we filed ROC and other evidence. Obviously the evidence was enough to approve my ROC application.

Now, should I send only the complaint as they requested and wait what happens, or should I submit something else? As I said, I have tax returnes filed a few months after the joint petition... I just dont want to wait only to find out that they want to deny my I-400 application Shouls i be proactive or should I just send what they asked for and wait? But I am not sure if they will see it as a problem that the papers say a separation date while the petition was pending. Has anyone been in this situation? Is there any rule what happens if you separate before the petition is approved?

I appreciate your help.

Did you remarry during this time? If so, was it with a person from your home country? That wouldn't look good either

Always felt the I-751 was a bad joke, especially after the grilling we went through during the AOS stage. Its like selective service, another bad joke, was an afterthought that occured two years after Reagan's immigration act of 1986. And if we did get a divorce, all I had to do to let my wife stay here, was to pat her on her butt so she could claim abuse. As a veteran of a foreign war didn't like a kid completely wet behind the ears accusing me of fraud. But the ####### you have to go through after you meet that very special person. That was a very humiliating experience and had to learn to keep my cool.

[Aquafina 0]

Did you remarry during this time? If so, was it with a person from your home country? That wouldn't look good either

No, I didnt get remarried. It was horrible enough to deal with family problems (lies, betrayals), separations and then divorce. For the past two years I have been trying to get over the emotional damage he caused and to support myself meanwhile. Now, I have to go through all this all over again...

It is so unfair!!! I just want to go past all this and forget about it.

Now the question is whether to just send the complaint or to send something else with it. According to my research they cannot deny my case solely based on separation while the petition was pending. The divorce happened more than a year after I-751 was approved.

Any suggestions???

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Not only can USCIS deny you application of naturalization; if they find any hint of evidence that you removed conditions jointly when you were living separated from your husband, they can take everything away from you they have ever given to you.

Will that happen" I have no clue. Is it possible? Yes.

But from what you stated and given the fact that you did not divorce hour now ex-husband for another 2 years, you are in a very favorable position in regard to the complaint. Again, you will need to focus on how to present your case and the time frame in question so that it won't come back and bite you. It's a thin line and you must make every step very carefully.

[NickD 203]

No, I didnt get remarried. It was horrible enough to deal with family problems (lies, betrayals), separations and then divorce. For the past two years I have been trying to get over the emotional damage he caused and to support myself meanwhile. Now, I have to go through all this all over again...

It is so unfair!!! I just want to go past all this and forget about it.

Now the question is whether to just send the complaint or to send something else with it. According to my research they cannot deny my case solely based on separation while the petition was pending. The divorce happened more than a year after I-751 was approved.

Any suggestions???

Not getting remarried is in your favor, in reviewing our I-751 and since my wife checked that "My conditional residence is based on my marriage to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident,and we are filing this petition together." I see I had to sign that application as well. The whole purpose of the I-751 is that your marriage was in good faith. Not exactly sure when yours went sour, did you receive your ten year card before you talked about a separation? If so, you shouldn't have a problem. If not, more than likely should have resubmitted your application and checked another of those boxes. But if you didn't, should have some explaining to do, most important, is that you did enter that marriage in good faith.

One good reason for not resubmitting that application is emotional distress, not sure who divorced who. On your divorce papers should be the petitioner and the respondent, you should be in good shape if you are the respondent. Can always hire an good immigration attorney to get the best advice on this subject. It's my understanding an attorney can be present if you are called in. Really don't know or need to know all the details of your case.

The signature at the end of the form states:

"I certify, under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States of America, that this petition and the evidence submitted with it is all true and correct. If conditional residence was based on a marriage, I further certify that the marriage was entered in accordance with the laws of the place where the marriage took place and was not for the purpose of procuring an immigration benefit. I also authorize the release of any information from my records that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services needs to determine eligibility for the benefit sought."

If fraud could be proved, I would also be in deep trouble as well as your ex. Seems like your ex didn't do anything either regarding this application if he signed it. Can be complicated, would get the advice of your attorney and also contact your ex. I went through a divorce without concern of the USCIS, was a terrible highly emotional experience. Said I would never ever marry again, but that changed eight years later when I met my present wife. Honestly, the only real stress we had in our marriage was created by the USCIS, we wanted to be together and at times felt like saying the hell with this country and moving someplace else.