Troubled marriage. How long and how much for reentry permit?

[StephAnn2012 50]

'Vanessa&Tony' Yes I know what the form says. Like i said, they can TRY, but usually it's thrown out because the immigrant is not a party to the contract. You wrote it yourself: "What If I Do Not Fulfill My Obligations?<br />If you do not provide sufficient support to the person who becomes a permanent resident based on the Form I-864 that you signed, that person may sue you for this support." MAY sue. Doesn't say anything about approval. There is a thread about this somewhere where someone looked into it. I see more people denied this as a means of support than I do approved, but if the OP wants to spend the money to try, that's on them.

I agree with V&T on this - "May Sue" is legalize for don't take this lightly.

I think the bigger problem is that you are being told by your husband that he will no longer support you. This is obviously a troubled marriage and I am sorry to hear that.

If you would like to save the marriage, consider getting your husband to go with you to marriage counseling. Isn't a marriage worth fighting to save? Also as others have said, it is impossible not to get a job in the US if you are willing to accept something that may be beneath you for a season, even if it is just to show you are willing to do whatever it takes to help with the bills -

Go get a simple job and tell him that if he gives you permission, you will use part of your pay to pay for counseling and the rest goes to help pay the bills. Showing him that you are in for the long haul and that a job is a job is a job -

We are all doing things other than what we dreamed in order to reach certain goals.

Please stop talking about going home and giving up your green card - Put the hope back into your dreams here - One of you needs to start fighting for this marriage, not fighting the marriage.

Good Luck and God Bless you!

[Darnell 8,478]

to the OP - If you've not fully exhausted face-to-face networking for seeking a job, I strongly suggest you do that nowish before making another domicile-changing decision.

[mattene 13]

There are plenty of shop/janitorial jobs in America. Try lowering your standards, like I had too, but continue applying for those positions you really want.

[himher 634]

Thanks for your reply. Will it still be considered 'abandonment' even if I surrender the GC to the consulate in my home country? I am not technically abandoning, right?

If you surrender it to the consulate you have abandoned it and have to start over. You can be out for 6 months and up to a year then your "presence" starts over in terms of future citizenship. You can be out for up to a year without a travel document and beyond that you are considered to have automatically abandoned your status. With a travel document you can be out for up to two years but they tend to question it if you are out over a year and can't show that you have maintained ties to the US like bank accounts or property or a physical residence.

Sorry for your situation. Best to you.

[Fight for Love 98]

as long that u didn't over stay for more than 1 yr u'll be okay. but, just in case u did. u need to file something so that the USCIS will not consider it "green card abondonment"

you probably want to read this...

http://www.usimmigrationteam.com/abandoning-your-green-card-status/

[Lex Specialis 38]

Thanks for your reply. Will it still be considered 'abandonment' even if I surrender the GC to the consulate in my home country? I am not technically abandoning, right?

How is you going to your home country and giving your green card back to an American consulate not "technically abandoning" your status as a permanent resident? Wouldn't that be the textbook definition of abandoning your residency in the US? If you are still married to a US citizen, you can apply for US citizenship within 3 years of the date on your GC. Once you get your US passport/citizenship, you can't have it taken away from you regardless of how long you are abroad. If you have already gotten your 10 year green card, you are at least 2 years into your residency and you can apply for citizenship 90 days before you are eligible. Seems to me you are months away from being able to naturalize.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Lex Specialis

[newacct 688]

The immigrant should apply for benefits, if needed, and if eligible (based only on themselves) should get them. At that point the government would then sue the USC to recover those benefits.

Are you saying that the immigrant can't be denied benefits just because of the I-864 if they otherwise qualify? Because the I-864 says that the sponsor's income and assets is used in determining the immigrant's eligibility.

Edited April 22, 2013 by newacct

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Are you saying that the immigrant can't be denied benefits just because of the I-864 if they otherwise qualify? Because the I-864 says that the sponsor's income and assets is used in determining the immigrant's eligibility.

Yes I am saying that. I believe the part of the form you're referring to is this (if I'm wrong can you tell me which part?):

What is the Legal Effect of My Signing a Form I-864?

If you sign a Form I-864 on behalf of any person (called the "intending immigrant") who is applying for an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to a permanent resident, and that intending immigrant submits the Form I-864 to the U.S. Government with his or her application for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status, under section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act these actions create a contract between you and the U. S. Government. The intending immigrant's becoming a permanent resident is the "consideration" for the contract.

Under this contract, you agree that, in deciding whether the intending immigrant can establish that he or she is not inadmissible to the United States as an alien likely to become a public charge, the U.S. Government can consider your income and assets to be available for the support of the intending immigrant.

This is only referring to the alien/intending immigrants eligibility for an immigrant visa or permanent resident status, not about obtaining benefits. The immigrant MAY be asked if there is an I-864 in place for them when applying for benefits, but this does not mean they will have benefits denied, but it might mean that the agency providing the benefits will then seek reimbursement from the sponsor.

[newacct 688]

Yes I am saying that. I believe the part of the form you're referring to is this (if I'm wrong can you tell me which part?):

This is only referring to the alien/intending immigrants eligibility for an immigrant visa or permanent resident status, not about obtaining benefits. The immigrant MAY be asked if there is an I-864 in place for them when applying for benefits, but this does not mean they will have benefits denied, but it might mean that the agency providing the benefits will then seek reimbursement from the sponsor.

Sorry, what about this part:

What Other Consequences Are There?

If an intending immigrant becomes a permanent resident in the United States based on a Form I-864 that you have signed, then until your obligations under the Form I-864 terminate, your income and assets may be considered ("deemed") to be available to that person, in determining whether he or she is eligible for certain Federal means-tested public benefits and also for State or local means-tested public benefits, if the State or local government's rules provide for consideration ("deeming”) of your income and assets as available to the person.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Sorry, what about this part:

My interpretation of that particular section is that they're saying the sponsors income can be used in determining if the sponsor must pay back the government or not (if they themselves are below thresholds then they may not need to pay it back). The reason that is my interpretation is because the immigrant has no right to the sponsors financial information, so the immigrant would not be able to report the sponsors income when applying for the benefits.

[Caryh 5,206]

My interpretation of that particular section is that they're saying the sponsors income can be used in determining if the sponsor must pay back the government or not (if they themselves are below thresholds then they may not need to pay it back). The reason that is my interpretation is because the immigrant has no right to the sponsors financial information, so the immigrant would not be able to report the sponsors income when applying for the benefits.

Also note the "may" and "if", which are huge qualifiers saying they have no idea if any state or county looks at this, but they might decide to try to one day.

[Brian1967## 119]

I agree with the statements when the two year marriage fails the immigrant must return home. No questions asked. Unless abuse has taken place...sorry PROVEABLE abuse. It is on the immigrant to sue in federal court. My ex abuse tried to blackmail me with this form ...I do not do blackmail. Cost to sue in federal court here in Texas starts at $10,000 just to see the courtroom. I have done tons of research on try his form and everyone should read the finding of wintersvwinters

[newacct 688]

I agree with the statements when the two year marriage fails the immigrant must return home. No questions asked. Unless abuse has taken place...sorry PROVEABLE abuse. It is on the immigrant to sue in federal court. My ex abuse tried to blackmail me with this form ...I do not do blackmail. Cost to sue in federal court here in Texas starts at $10,000 just to see the courtroom. I have done tons of research on try his form and everyone should read the finding of wintersvwinters

This is absolutely not true. As long as the marriage was bona fide at the time they got the green card, and they divorced (abuse is not necessary), the immigrant can stay.

[Brian1967## 119]

I understand that is the rule now. But it should be known that if marriage does not work, the immigrant should go home. And I bet false abuse claims and fraud would drop by half and save the taxpayers tons of money. But these are my thoughts and I fully respect how you feel.

[Caryh 5,206]

I understand that is the rule now. But it should be known that if marriage does not work, the immigrant should go home. And I bet false abuse claims and fraud would drop by half and save the taxpayers tons of money. But these are my thoughts and I fully respect how you feel.

I understand your position of thinking a marriage based immigrant should go home if the marriage doesn't work out during the conditional period, but to say abuse claims would decrease because of it is wrong logic. If abuse claims are the only way they can stay during the conditional green card period, those abuse claims would rise dramatically. Right now abuse doesn't matter to remove conditions, they just need to prove honest intent when they married, something they also must do in an abuse case. Signs of abuse can be manufactured by someone wanting to prove abuse. You would make the fraudulent cases have only the abuse option or wait until after ROC, so the number of abuse cases would almost certainly increase.