Adjustment of status for overstay

[LoveMyTico 999]

OK, I have a question.

In Nov 2007 I married a Costa RIcan citizen in Costa Rica. I filed all the necessary paperwork and we even got as far as a second interview in Costa Rica. He required 2 waivers because he was deported from the US Aug. 2007. Anyway... I found out he was cheating on me and that he only married me for a green card so I cancelled the K-3 and I never submitted the waivers August 2009. I was also instructed by the US Embassy to report him to ICE incase he decided to come through Mexico. Anyway, I went to Costa Rica April 2010 and filed for divorce. I have yet to get the divorce...it is still pending.

My question :, is it possible for me to remarry a man who is in the US on B2 visa once my divorce is final? I have known this guy for a long time and we have been serious for almost a year. He is also a Costa RIcan Citizen...I was told by someone that I could get in trouble because it looks like fraud. It wasn't my fault that my husband ( soon to be ex) was BS. I am glad I found out before he got a greencard. I do know of some people who have married a second time and filed for another spousal visa. What are your thoughts..... Thanks EVERYONE IN ADVANCE.

[ceadsearc 516]

As far as I know, no reason you can't file a new petition for someone else, but expect to be scrutinized extra hard because of your previous petition.

[YuAndDan 153]

A B-2 is a visitor's visa not a family based visa like K-1, moving this to the other AOS forum.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Your second application will be looked at extra hard because you filed for a person that had been previously deported and now for someone that is out of status. The first impression may be that your are in the business of helping people with trouble with immigration get around those problems. You should prepare for a bit of a hassle

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

OK, I have a question.

In Nov 2007 I married a Costa RIcan citizen in Costa Rica. I filed all the necessary paperwork and we even got as far as a second interview in Costa Rica. He required 2 waivers because he was deported from the US Aug. 2007. Anyway... I found out he was cheating on me and that he only married me for a green card so I cancelled the K-3 and I never submitted the waivers August 2009. I was also instructed by the US Embassy to report him to ICE incase he decided to come through Mexico. Anyway, I went to Costa Rica April 2010 and filed for divorce. I have yet to get the divorce...it is still pending.

My question :, is it possible for me to remarry a man who is in the US on B2 visa once my divorce is final? I have known this guy for a long time and we have been serious for almost a year. He is also a Costa RIcan Citizen...I was told by someone that I could get in trouble because it looks like fraud. It wasn't my fault that my husband ( soon to be ex) was BS. I am glad I found out before he got a greencard. I do know of some people who have married a second time and filed for another spousal visa. What are your thoughts..... Thanks EVERYONE IN ADVANCE.

They're going to look at the history of both the US citizen sponsor and the intending immigrant.

Your history with US immigration is muddy - you petitioned for a previously deported alien who turned out to be a green card scammer. The fact that you withdrew your petition may be good or bad, depending on how the US government's records look. If it looks to them like you withdrew the petition because you discovered you were being scammed for a green card then that's good. If, on the other hand, it looks to them like you withdrew the petition because you discovered he was cheating on you, then it might appear like you knew about the green card scam and were willing to go ahead anyway, and only bailed when you found out he cheated on you. Perception is everything when the person making the decision has discretion.

Your new fiance's history with US immigration is also muddy. He's overstayed his B2 visa. You say you've known him for a long time, and that you've been serious for almost a year, so I'm going to presume he's been in the US the entire time. This means he's facing a ban if he leaves the US. Also, the "serious" part of your relationship seems to have begun only a few months after you decided to pull the plug on your husband's immigrant visa petition, and the entirety of your relationship until now has been while you're still legally married to someone else.

Yeah, I think there's a pretty good chance they're going to look very closely at your relationship AND your motives. They're going to view this as the second time you've used your status as a US citizen to help someone get around a violation of US immigration law.

[LoveMyTico 999]

They're going to look at the history of both the US citizen sponsor and the intending immigrant.

Your history with US immigration is muddy - you petitioned for a previously deported alien who turned out to be a green card scammer. The fact that you withdrew your petition may be good or bad, depending on how the US government's records look. If it looks to them like you withdrew the petition because you discovered you were being scammed for a green card then that's good. If, on the other hand, it looks to them like you withdrew the petition because you discovered he was cheating on you, then it might appear like you knew about the green card scam and were willing to go ahead anyway, and only bailed when you found out he cheated on you. Perception is everything when the person making the decision has discretion.

Your new fiance's history with US immigration is also muddy. He's overstayed his B2 visa. You say you've known him for a long time, and that you've been serious for almost a year, so I'm going to presume he's been in the US the entire time. This means he's facing a ban if he leaves the US. Also, the "serious" part of your relationship seems to have begun only a few months after you decided to pull the plug on your husband's immigrant visa petition, and the entirety of your relationship until now has been while you're still legally married to someone else.

Yeah, I think there's a pretty good chance they're going to look very closely at your relationship AND your motives. They're going to view this as the second time you've used your status as a US citizen to help someone get around a violation of US immigration law.

I do expect to be looked at through a microscope. and thats fine. I have nothing to hide.

when I called the US Embassy to tell them what I had found out, the woman told me she was so sorry to hear about it. She said she was really pulling for me .. She told me what to write in my withdrawal letter .

I have known the current guy a while. I separated from my current husband April 2009 and cancelled the petition August 2009. I didn't start dating the current guy till early May 2010..I didn't date anyone before I filed for divorce. So I was separated for a little over a year. I didn't file for divorce till April 2010 because it was difficult for me to fly back to Costa Rica with all that was going on here in the US. I have 3 children here.

Also the language barrier. It was difficult for me to find a decent lawyer in CR. I have to rely on friends to translate the communication between the us.

I don't have any motives...only that I am looking for happiness. I was really scammed by the husband and I really feel stupid. I have tons of proof that it was a legit marriage ( at least on my part) and actually the embassy already has it. or I guess they shipped it all back to the NVC. I guess I won't really know the outcome until things happen.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I do expect to be looked at through a microscope. and thats fine. I have nothing to hide.

when I called the US Embassy to tell them what I had found out, the woman told me she was so sorry to hear about it. She said she was really pulling for me .. She told me what to write in my withdrawal letter .

I have known the current guy a while. I separated from my current husband April 2009 and cancelled the petition August 2009. I didn't start dating the current guy till early May 2010..I didn't date anyone before I filed for divorce. So I was separated for a little over a year. I didn't file for divorce till April 2010 because it was difficult for me to fly back to Costa Rica with all that was going on here in the US. I have 3 children here.

Also the language barrier. It was difficult for me to find a decent lawyer in CR. I have to rely on friends to translate the communication between the us.

I don't have any motives...only that I am looking for happiness. I was really scammed by the husband and I really feel stupid. I have tons of proof that it was a legit marriage ( at least on my part) and actually the embassy already has it. or I guess they shipped it all back to the NVC. I guess I won't really know the outcome until things happen.

I'm not clear on what the consulate keeps and what they send back. I'm not sure if that information is even published anywhere. I know that they do keep a file on every applicant, but I also know that when a visa is denied or a petition is withdrawn they send the petition package back to USCIS. A consulate doesn't have the statutory authority to revoke the approval of a petition, so they send the package back to USCIS asking that USCIS revoke the approval. When a petition is withdrawn then USCIS usually cancels the approval "without prejudice", meaning without issuing any judgment.

The returned petition will contain any notes made by the consular officer who authorized the petition to be returned to USCIS. Since you don't know what the consular officer may have written in those notes then, as you say, you won't really know until "things happen".

Are you qualified to sponsor your new husband on your own, or will you be needing a joint sponsor? I won't go into details, but this could have a bearing on what sort of investigation they do.

[LoveMyTico 999]

I'm not clear on what the consulate keeps and what they send back. I'm not sure if that information is even published anywhere. I know that they do keep a file on every applicant, but I also know that when a visa is denied or a petition is withdrawn they send the petition package back to USCIS. A consulate doesn't have the statutory authority to revoke the approval of a petition, so they send the package back to USCIS asking that USCIS revoke the approval. When a petition is withdrawn then USCIS usually cancels the approval "without prejudice", meaning without issuing any judgment.

The returned petition will contain any notes made by the consular officer who authorized the petition to be returned to USCIS. Since you don't know what the consular officer may have written in those notes then, as you say, you won't really know until "things happen".

Are you qualified to sponsor your new husband on your own, or will you be needing a joint sponsor? I won't go into details, but this could have a bearing on what sort of investigation they do.

Yes, I qualify on my own.

I know they will be investigating more thoroughly. Everything is the same with me except my divorce in pending in CR.

My adultry accusations were confirmed a few days before Christmas when my husbands girlfriend gave birth to his son. The divorce should be fast, once they find him to sign the papers. He is keeping his current address a secret because he didn't want me to find out about the new baby.

[Harpa Timsah 13,259]

A member who filed my month had filed a concurrent application for her husband and then found out that he was a scammer. Once he got the GC, he didn't talk to her anymore and disappeared. She divorced him obviously and then got remarried to another person who was on an overstayed tourist visa. She filed another concurrent application. When they had their interview, the IO was straightforward, and it seemed to me, nice and honest. He said something like, "Look, you married two middle eastern men in the course of two years and are petitioning for GCs for both them. It looks suspicious, I got to tell you." She responded honestly and had emails the first husband asking her to lie about things so he can get conditions removed on his GC, which further incriminated him and exonerated her. The IO did not approve them at the interview, but he approved them about a month later.

Your case will be scrutinized more, but you can still be successful. You also might not. There is no way we can know or guess. Like you say, you won't know the outcome until its over. Sorry this happened to you and good luck in the future.

[LoveMyTico 999]

A member who filed my month had filed a concurrent application for her husband and then found out that he was a scammer. Once he got the GC, he didn't talk to her anymore and disappeared. She divorced him obviously and then got remarried to another person who was on an overstayed tourist visa. She filed another concurrent application. When they had their interview, the IO was straightforward, and it seemed to me, nice and honest. He said something like, "Look, you married two middle eastern men in the course of two years and are petitioning for GCs for both them. It looks suspicious, I got to tell you." She responded honestly and had emails the first husband asking her to lie about things so he can get conditions removed on his GC, which further incriminated him and exonerated her. The IO did not approve them at the interview, but he approved them about a month later.

Your case will be scrutinized more, but you can still be successful. You also might not. There is no way we can know or guess. Like you say, you won't know the outcome until its over. Sorry this happened to you and good luck in the future.

I appreciate your comment and it is encouraging. I guess I was looking for some success stories. You made me feel a little better. I think a middle eastern marriage would be looked at more closely anyway... but then again, it all depends on the adjudicator and the consulate. ThAnKs !!

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

Why did you spend time & money filing for divorce in Costa Rica? You could have simply filed locally.

[LoveMyTico 999]

Why did you spend time & money filing for divorce in Costa Rica? You could have simply filed locally.

It took me a while to file because I was trying to figure out if I could file here. I went back and forth with the consulate in NY. They told me that Costa Rica will not recognize a divorce from the US. I wanted all ties with him cut. I ended up with a pretty cool attorney in CR. Super cheap and is a friend of a family I am good friends with here and in Costa Rica. Also, I was able to file for alimony. Costa Rican laws are different than here. The judge awarded me alimony a month or two ago and there is now a warrant out for my husband for failure to pay. Karma sucks for him. The lawyer also filed with the courts so he is not able to leave the country without my permission.

When I flew to Costa Rica last April, I had so many miles saved from all the trips back and forth, my flight was free. And I have friends there that I stayed with.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

It took me a while to file because I was trying to figure out if I could file here. I went back and forth with the consulate in NY. They told me that Costa Rica will not recognize a divorce from the US. I wanted all ties with him cut. I ended up with a pretty cool attorney in CR. Super cheap and is a friend of a family I am good friends with here and in Costa Rica. Also, I was able to file for alimony. Costa Rican laws are different than here. The judge awarded me alimony a month or two ago and there is now a warrant out for my husband for failure to pay. Karma sucks for him. The lawyer also filed with the courts so he is not able to leave the country without my permission.

When I flew to Costa Rica last April, I had so many miles saved from all the trips back and forth, my flight was free. And I have friends there that I stayed with.

Touche! In spite of the extra effort, sounds like filing the divorce in CR was the right move!