I751 denied

[Leuzo 0]

Yes

Yes

[Darnell 8,478]

ok. thanks.

did either of you file a petition for divorce? yes? no ?

[Leuzo 0]

Not yet

[Darnell 8,478]

please tell us more about what down at the interview on interview day.

we need to read of

1. questions asked to you and

2. questions asked to your wife

Thanks !

[Leuzo 0]

She asked me where did I know my wife , where did we live since we married what school she's going what is her major what type of job she was doing how old is my wife what is her parents names what public transport I take what bus passes there what streets are across my house

[Leuzo 0]

She ask her what job I used to do what company I work my birth date if she ever has change to talk to my parents did she has kids

When did we marry

[Leuzo 0]

Can I refile it before divorce?

[Leuzo 0]

I did receive a rfe before but I didn't send enough proves

I did receive a rfe before but I didn't send enough proves

[tuckin14 58]

Here's what I can tell you only from my own experience.

My wife and I separated right around the time her I-751 was filed. I filed pretty much no evidence with the I-751. She did not get an RFE but after about a year got an interview notice. I did not attend her interview. (She discouraged me from coming, and I told her and her high-priced lawyer that I wasn't coming, and apparently her lawyer didn't know it would result in automatic denial.) Following the interview I got a letter saying that (a) Her petition was being denied as having been abandoned due to my non-appearance and (b) they could not convert her filing to a waiver because we were not divorced, nor had we filed for divorce, nor were we legally separated. I infer from this that (a) if any of these had been true she could have changed to a waiver right then and there and either (b) her lawyer failed to ask her the right questions about our marital status or © he was brain-dead.

She told me prior to the interview that her lawyer told her she wouldn't have to leave the country. 8 months later she is still here and still working, that's about all I know. IMO her case is about as weak as it could be. Two days of cohabitation (I'm not kidding, we moved in together on Wednesday and on Thursday she told me to leave) and one joint bank account that held money for about a week. We never had a Stokes interview (the kind where they take you in separate rooms and ask you questions) and I don't think they had any question that we had a legitimate relationship, but a relationship is not the same as a marriage. (She also perjured herself in the interview, but that's another topic.)

As I said earlier, the immigration officer told me that even if denied, you can pretty much keep refiling as long as you pay the fees. I wonder in her case if she may not say here for years and at the end, an immigration judge will say "Well, you shouldn't have been allowed here in 2013, but it's now 2022 and youve been here so long, heck, you can stay."

It was pretty clear to me that you can file with a waiver if you have merely filed for divorce. The divorce doesn't have to be final.

However, at least in theory, you still have to satisfy the burden of proof that it was a bona fide marriage. All the evidence in the record will stay in the record. Even with a waiver filing, it will still be on record that you didn't have a jointly used bank account, and that your wife didn't know where you worked and never spoke to your parents. The standards for a waiver filing (other than hardship) are no different than a regular filing.

You may get a second bite at the apple evidence-wise. But do you have any evidence you didn't submit this time, and anything that will show that prior to the separation you intended the marriage to be bona fide?

[katiana_ramirez 1]

thanks tuckin 14 for sharing your story, just i wanna correct that the divorce has to be final.

[Leuzo 0]

Thanks for your help but do you know how long it takes to finalize a divorce?

[katiana_ramirez 1]

In my country it takes 6 months , but here in US i'm sorry i have no idea

[ChicagoSarah 127]

thanks tuckin 14 for sharing your story, just i wanna correct that the divorce has to be final.

Depends on your state/availability of court dates. If it divorce will not be contested by your or your ex, it could go pretty quickly (I was divorced within about a month in Cook County IL a few years back).

But it all depends on the two of you agreeing to terms, creating (or having created) the divorce documents, getting them signed and sumbitted to the appropriate place. How quickly can you do all of those things?

[Darnell 8,478]

Thanks for your help but do you know how long it takes to finalize a divorce?

that varies by state, as it's state law. what have you studied about it, so far ?

[tuckin14 58]

thanks tuckin 14 for sharing your story, just i wanna correct that the divorce has to be final.

I know that is the common perception, but I believe it to be wrong.

I will quote from my wife's denial latter:

If an Immigration Services Officer encourages an I-751 petition jointly filed by co-petitioners who are still married but are legally separated and/or are in pending divorce proceedings, the form may be treated as a waiver petition and may be approvable based on the merits of the case.

This is verbatim and not taken out of context, and came over the signature of the Field Office Director.

Unless the Baltimore office is doing things differently than the rest of USCIS, or the people who wrote this were wrong or halucinating, that's the policy.