Removing Conditions with very little evidence?

[TraxyPaws 0]

Hi everyone, my story is not a happily ever after one, and I could use some advice.

I'm divorced, and I know I could have filed right after, but I decided to wait until the 3 months to expiration of my Green Card, because I'm not sure if I need a lawyer or not. Frankly, I'm just scared of what might happen.

I married after being out of status, to a person I apparently hardly knew. We filed the papers on our own, and a little slim on evidence. I never met his family (his parents are divorced) on the pretext that he doesn't talk to them. On our first interview, the lady asked him how come his army service ended after two years only, and he started lying about having knee surgery. She became suspicious, so we got a letter to attend a second interview, that we passed without problems. (you know, the one when they ask you embarrassing questions like when was the last time you had sex, and what about the time before that?!). As it turns out, his army service was terminated because of a suicide attempt that he never mentioned or wanted to discuss with me after.

Things started going really bad between us as a result of this new discovery, and he turned into a total #######.

I had to file my back taxes as part of the immigration process and found out I owe around $6000 in back taxes and penalties from when I was out of status. We closed our joint checking account when I started getting IRS letter of tax liens, and so on.

In this context he quit his job, and went to Vegas to play professional poker, where friends told me he lost around $10000 in about 3 months. We argued a lot, and he sent me a lot of insulting, hurtful text messages, all while sending a common friend texts about trying to kill himself.

I stopped talking to him and moved out, and 6 months after I got my Green Card we could talk civilized enough for him to ask me for the divorce, and for me to accept.

I have little evidence about the bona fide of our marriage. The joint account was closed because I didn't want the IRS coming after his possessions. I never met his family because he didn't want me to find out about his suicide attempt. Whatever little bills we had he hid or threw away, and we have only a few pictures after receiving my green card, because of the way things turned out between us.

I do have

- the marriage certificate registered and translated in my home country (we went to my embassy together - he had to sign for them to release it),

- a copy of his army discharge paper (I'm assuming the suicide can be verified if immigration would want to)

- I can obtain affidavits from friends and coworkers about us being a couple (including one from my boss, his former boss)

Do I need to use my savings for a lawyer, or should I go in and hope for the best? I am still struggling financially, but I'm slowly getting there. My IRS debt is almost paid off, I'm building good credit history, and I'm seeing someone that I can only describe as my soulmate. I have a life here, and going back home with my tail between my legs is not an option

Thank you for your input, any advice is much appreciated

[Anh map 2,098]

It's probably worth a little money to sit down and review your circumstances with a qualified immigration attorney. You've got a few sticky bits there that ought to be examined thoroughly before charging headlong into the filing.

[Sandra G. 5,051]

I don't believe hiring a lawyer will change your situation because you don't have documents to prove a bonafide marriage. Any lawyer to submit your form I-751 will ask you proof of commingling finances and commune residence,of course if you don't have these documents they will submit anyway and the chance to have your case denied is huge.If you had utilities bill in name of both go online and get copy of the bills(internet,tv,cellphone,electrical etc..) how about to send apartment lease? or affidavit from the landlord stating you lived there from xxxx to xxxx?.It's not enough just affidavits from friends,you need to gather more proof.

[TraxyPaws 0]

I have the lease contract, and a few of the electrical bills. The landlord we had at the time got fired, I believe for stealing..

The gas bills he threw away, and my name was manually added, they would actually only allow one name on the bill.

Internet bill was mixed with electrical, and I never had a contract for my phone - I just use prepay.

We didn't co-mingle any assets because of the IRS letters threatening garnishing my wages and property, we wanted to figure that out first. (in the end, turns out H&R Block messed up my taxes, and I actually owed a lot less).

Anyone know a lawyer in Reno that knows how to do more than just file papers? Because I can do that for free, thanks to visajourney.

My ex-husband agreed at some point to write an affidavit for me also, but honestly I don't want to look him up, or ask for anything.

Thanks for the replies guys.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Since you are divorced you do not have to show co-mingling, but that the marriage was entered into good faith and not for the GC. You can use his Army record, the first interview, and the text messages to show how he was acting and why you divorced him. I am assuming that the taxes were filed as married filing seperately so you do not have a joint tax return to use. If you have the joint account statement before you closed it, use that. You can use your tax return to show you were trying to avoid having him pay the tax liability even though in some states it does not matter as the spouse is on the hook for the others debts. Then show the divorce papers and file the ROCS by yourself with the waiver and see what happens. If you left the GC expire you will be deportable. Just show that you married him, started to build a life together, got hit with the tax bill, found out something about him during the AOS process that caused your relationship to go beyond the ability to repair it so you got a divorce and are now filing for ROC without him. Just make certain to paint a very good picture of this journey--lots of evidence would be good.

I wish you well,

Dave

[Anh map 2,098]

You need some good evidence and advice. Right now your story sounds weak.

If you do consult with an attorney find one with experience in similar circumstances. A local yokel who just files papers will be a waste of money. Laurel Scott gets good reviews from VJ members. And she holds a free online chat each week. http://www.scottimmigration.net/

[TraxyPaws 0]

Thank you for the attorney link, I will check it out. Might even take a trip down to Texas.

If anyone knows a good attorney in Reno, I would also appreciate the reference.

Yes, I do have joint tax returns. Everything in the return was withheld for my back taxes.

My biggest question is if I should mention how I found out about his past.

At the interview she asked about his family, if I met them, and was suspicious about the fact that I did not. Explainable by the fact that he doesn't keep in touch, his parents are divorced and living in different states, and each have their own families.

Then she asked about the early army discharge, and he started lying about having a knee injury, followed by knee surgery, caused by jumping off a tank! I don't think I hid my surprise very well, and the interviewer must not have bought it either, because she kept asking details about the position of his body when he fell, his recovery treatment etc. Finally she just said okay, wait for a response in the mail. Follow-up: fraud interview.

How do I make use of the fact that he lied to an immigration officer during out first interview..? ( " Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.." Ugh...

[TraxyPaws 0]

My story may sound weak, but I am ready to explain it to an immigration officer, if they are willing to look past the lack of evidence.

I have not met his family because I would have found out things he was hiding from me. We don't have a lot of pictures, because we haven't been to many places - he never wanted to go anywhere. I was unemployed for for 5 months while adjusting status, so we could't afford to spend money on trips. By the time I started working, we passed the Green Card interview, and things started going downhill. (lies, jealousy, insecurity, depression, anger and refusal to communicate).

The IRS thing was the cherry on top of our arguments, and them the reason he quit was because he snapped at work, and he was going to get fired anyway. His behavior during that time was not of a rational person, and it became obvious for a lot of people.

It wasn't just our marriage that suffered, my ex-husband also pushed away his long life best friend, who got tired of trying to reason with his depression and almost daily suicide texts, when my ex started insulting his wife. (misery loves company)

Will an immigration officer look at all these things, or are they trained to look at solid evidence and nothing more?