K1 - GOT MARRIED - 1-485 denied

[fatty01 0]

I don't really know what to do with my case. Me and my son who's now 20 came to US on K1 and K2 visas. I got married in June 2010, applied for AOS and now Immigrration is telling us that my divorce in Guam is not valid since my ex and I were not there in Guam when we got the divorce.

Can anyone tell me what I can do? We were given 30 days to submit documents to overcome the denial, which is really impossible. So we are expecting the AOS will be denied. What we can do is for me to file a divorce here in CA where we are right now, and then get married again right? But my concern is, are we going to be sent home? How and what do we do so as not to be sent home while waiting for ther divorce and then of course be able to get married again?

please help.....

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

where is your ex ? One part of getting divorced is serving your ex. Divorce in California takes 6 months, you will be out of status on your k1 and deportable at any time , your sons status is more problematic due to the k2 and his age.

[Scott and Mhay 57]

Wow that is weird...I wonder why they didnt find this before you got your visa. Do you have your decree? Where were you married prior to getting divorced? Guam?

[SuperDuper! 230]

where is your ex ? One part of getting divorced is serving your ex. Divorce in California takes 6 months, you will be out of status on your k1 and deportable at any time , your sons status is more problematic due to the k2 and his age.

Yes, son is about to time out. We say, time to get a lawyer. Best wishes and outcomes!

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Dont have an answer for you... sorry to hear of this error Wishing the . best outcome for your case.

[jkelly07 120]

if you and your ex was not in guam at the time of your then where did you divorce , how was your file visa approved without a divorce decree the the k1...if your married now you can not marry again. i'm sorry but it don't look good for you. mabe another vj member has any help or advise for you,

[Lexlee08 18]

Hi fatty,

What a coincidence, my brother also had his AOS interview here in Sacramento and is facing almost the same problem except that my sis-in-law had a domestic partner. My brother and my sis-in-law got married a month after my sis-in-law filed for dissolution of her registration as domestic partner(they were not married it was just a registration). So when they went for their interview they were both shocked that this issue was even brought up, they did not include my sis-in-laws ex on the application (part where it says previous marriage) as they were both thinking that she was not married to her ex. So anyways, long story short they faxed the paper-work of the dissolution to the IO and at this time they are just waiting for a result. My brother has overstayed his B2 visa for 10 years. He has an appointment with an immigration lawyer this coming Tues (2/22) to see what his options are. The IO took my brother's EAD and original I-94. My sis in law has a court hearing on March 14 to finalize the dissolution, so worse scenario is their I-485 will be denied, they will get married again soon and re-file.

[fatty01 0]

My previous marriage was in Philippines and my ex is in Philippines. I did everything online, I mean the divorce thing. Sent the documents to Philippines for my ex to sign, notarized by a lawyer in the US embassy, then sent it back to Guam. I just want to make it clear that the divorce wasn't accepted bec neither my ex nor I were not present in Guam during divorce.

I did have the same question to the immigration officer during the interview. How come when my husband(???), not really sure if we're legally married now, applied for the K1 visa, the divorce decree that we've submitted was accepted. Got the visa, then travelled to US still,it was okay, got married, got a certified marriage certificate, got my EAD, got my driver's license, SSN, even got the ID from the military (husband is a retired AF).

If we have to start from filing a divorce for me here in the US, and get married again, it doesn't matter, but we just want to know what options we've got. And yes, my son's case would be the problem. Everything has to be filed again before Nov this year which is when he turns 21.

I know CA divorce takes about 6 months, I guess we just have to find some place where I can quickly get a divorce and then we get married again before they ask us to leave US.

Thanks for the replies anyway.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Without knowing more about the ex and the divorce it is hard to give answer. If your divorce is not valid , your marriage isn't valid . You are supposed to marry within 90 days or leave the US. ( along with your son ) You kind of have 2 options personally, the first to leave, fix your papers and reapply and return. ( probably the safest all around ) the second is to overstay, fix your papers ( if you can without leaving the US ) remarry and file a Cr1 , risky because you are out of status and deportable and nothing guarantees they will approve the I 130 . You son is a different issue. His K2 and ability to adjust is based on your k1 and it looks like that is not going to work. He is too old to be petitioned as a step son of a USC if you choose the second path. As an LPR ( when you get life straightened out ) you could petition him but he can't be on overstay for an LPR petition to work.I think he has to leave.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I don't really know what to do with my case. Me and my son who's now 20 came to US on K1 and K2 visas. I got married in June 2010, applied for AOS and now Immigrration is telling us that my divorce in Guam is not valid since my ex and I were not there in Guam when we got the divorce.

Can anyone tell me what I can do? We were given 30 days to submit documents to overcome the denial, which is really impossible. So we are expecting the AOS will be denied. What we can do is for me to file a divorce here in CA where we are right now, and then get married again right? But my concern is, are we going to be sent home? How and what do we do so as not to be sent home while waiting for ther divorce and then of course be able to get married again?

please help.....

Was your Guam divorce granted before 2006? If so then it's legal.

There has never been a true residency requirement for a divorce in Guam. Prior to 2006, neither party had be present in Guam for any period of time in order to obtain an uncontested divorce. Since 2006 there has been a requirement that one party be present in Guam for 90 days for a regular divorce, or at least 7 days for an uncontested divorce.

If your divorce was granted before 2006 then you should hire an attorney to research Guam divorce law, and write up a summary of the law explaining why your divorce is lawful. The attorney can send the response to USCIS.

You have to make a LEGAL argument with USCIS that your divorce is valid. Unless you think you're skilled enough to make this argument yourself then you should have a lawyer do it for you.

[Zharren Young 32]

My previous marriage was in Philippines and my ex is in Philippines. I did everything online, I mean the divorce thing. Sent the documents to Philippines for my ex to sign, notarized by a lawyer in the US embassy, then sent it back to Guam. I just want to make it clear that the divorce wasn't accepted bec neither my ex nor I were not present in Guam during divorce.

I did have the same question to the immigration officer during the interview. How come when my husband(???), not really sure if we're legally married now, applied for the K1 visa, the divorce decree that we've submitted was accepted. Got the visa, then travelled to US still,it was okay, got married, got a certified marriage certificate, got my EAD, got my driver's license, SSN, even got the ID from the military (husband is a retired AF).

If we have to start from filing a divorce for me here in the US, and get married again, it doesn't matter, but we just want to know what options we've got. And yes, my son's case would be the problem. Everything has to be filed again before Nov this year which is when he turns 21.

I know CA divorce takes about 6 months, I guess we just have to find some place where I can quickly get a divorce and then we get married again before they ask us to leave US.

Thanks for the replies anyway.

maybe becoz they are thinking how did you file a divorce in Guam when your marriage took place in philippines, and netiher of you or your ex lives there. correct me if im wrong but unless one of you is a USC only then the USC can file a divorce but if neither of you two is a USC how did you manage to file a divorce and in Guam??? weird thing is, how did this got thru from the consular office?

[VinhBao MyTam 3]

Just want to make sure I understand this. You were married in the Philippines and your ex lives in the Philippines. But you didn't file divorce in the Philippines, you filed in Guam? Where were you when you filed for divorce?

[VinhBao MyTam 3]

When was your divorce in Guam filed and when was it finalized?

[fatty01 0]

Previous marriage in Phil, 1990. Ex in Phil.I cannot file for a divorce in Philippines because we don't have divorce in Philippines. I was in Abu Dhabi UAE(middle east), working when I applied for the divorce ONLINE. Divorce was granted in May 2005.

JimVaPhuong, we do have a lawyer who did the AOS, EAD filing for us, and you're right, we do need to argue with USCIS regarding the divorce.

ERY, I think it doesn't matter even if you're a US citizen or not, you can get a divorce up to now in Guam as long as you meet the residency requirement, as well as in Haiti, or Dominican Republic.

[VinhBao MyTam 3]

Previous marriage in Phil, 1990. Ex in Phil.I cannot file for a divorce in Philippines because we don't have divorce in Philippines. I was in Abu Dhabi UAE(middle east), working when I applied for the divorce ONLINE. Divorce was granted in May 2005.

JimVaPhuong, we do have a lawyer who did the AOS, EAD filing for us, and you're right, we do need to argue with USCIS regarding the divorce.

ERY, I think it doesn't matter even if you're a US citizen or not, you can get a divorce up to now in Guam as long as you meet the residency requirement, as well as in Haiti, or Dominican Republic.

Yes, I was typing my question while JimvaPhuong was typing what he said. And that is exactly what I was getting at. Before 2006, there was no 7 day requirement. I'm guessing the IO looked up the current law online and assumed your divorce was invalid... and therefore, I agree with Jim that the best thing to do at this point is get your lawyer to convince them that the divorce is legit.