I-485 denied after I-601 submitted, pending (merged)

[Hypnos 6,576]

There is no such thing as adjusting abroad.

An I-601 can only be filed after the beneficiary has been found inadmissible. Since he would now be seeking an immigrant visa, he would need to be denied at the embassy before the I-601 could be filed.

As already stated, leaving without AP automatically voided his pending I-485.

Since your case is messy I would suggest consulting with an experienced immigration attorney.

How I suspect you need to proceed would be needing to file an I-824 to request the approved I-130 be forwarded to the NVC. You then go through that process until he had his interview abroad and was denied. At that point the I-601 could be filed, and if successful he could finally receive his immigrant visa following a second interview.

Realistically you're looking at ~1-2 years from now for this to play out.

This is a cautionary tale in why you should always obtain AP when adjusting status even if you have no concrete plans to travel. In this specific situation it's possible he may have had issues trying to re-enter even with AP, depending on what the exact nature of his original "fraudulent entry" was.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Hypnos

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

There are a couple of odd things How does the husband have a fraudulent entry but still was inspected ? Was he using somoeone elses ID ? If so was it the ID of a USC? And how on earth could one send off an I601 the day after being told you need one. It would takes days to gather everything and prepare a package even if you worked on it full time. It is much more than filling out a form and writing a couple of words for a reason.

[D&Dtrust 0]

He used another Ghanaian's passport and visa. Yes, he was inspected. No, he did NOT use paperwork at any time claiming to be USC. He has never claimed benefits. His friend gave my husband his visa and passport. The two men resemble each other in their photos.

I have worked on this I-601 extreme hardship waiver for months, because I expected him to be denied as inadmissible. There are over 120 salient attached exhibits!

I took my first version of the I-601 with us to our interview in July, 2015, but did not submit it at that time as the officer was so encouraging.

I had taken the updated version with me to my Wichita Local Field Office appointment. (almost 1½ years had passed since our interview, so it needed some updating) I HAD MY I-601 WITH ME AT THAT APPOINTMENT AND SHOWED IT TO STAFF PERSON WHO TOLD ME TO GO SEND IT immediately to Phoenix. So after my appointment, I drove 2 miles to a FedEx office and overnighted it to Phoenix.

[D&Dtrust 0]

Update, today I've received notice of receipt of the I-601, as of 10-25-16, with the assigned MSC number.

If my husband's sister hadn't had the medical emergency, we'd have been fine. BUT now it's all messed up because he left the country to try to go see her before she died.

Basically, if there's no way to reopen the AOS due to abandonment, then I'm only asking what the process is to get the results of the I-601 and I-130 files transferred over to NVC and consular processing.

Thank you to those of you who have responded and who have pm'ed me. It sounds like I need to start a spousal visa, an AR-11, and perhaps later, an I-824?

No way am I going to send enough money for my husband to be able to get an airline ticket to re-enter until this is finalized! ;-)

Thank you everyone!

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Update, today I've received notice of receipt of the I-601, as of 10-25-16, with the assigned MSC number.

If my husband's sister hadn't had the medical emergency, we'd have been fine. BUT now it's all messed up because he left the country to try to go see her before she died.

Basically, if there's no way to reopen the AOS due to abandonment, then I'm only asking what the process is to get the results of the I-601 and I-130 files transferred over to NVC and consular processing.

Thank you to those of you who have responded and who have pm'ed me. It sounds like I need to start a spousal visa, an AR-11, and perhaps later, an I-824?

No way am I going to send enough money for my husband to be able to get an airline ticket to re-enter until this is finalized! ;-)

Thank you everyone!

No, what you need to do is file an I-824, which will move the existing approved I-130 to the National Visa Center and the spousal visa case will proceed as normal.

After that, your husband presumably be denied at the interview and they will let him/you know whether he can file an I-601 waiver.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,376]

Exactly. The already filed I-601 is useless. It will have to be resubmitted once he's refused the immigrant visa.

[Jawaree 717]

Speak to an atty you need one badly, no more DIY, Please understand the IO in field offices

often gives incorrect info as they have not studied immigration laws they just implement

the jobs discription they get posted at. An I 601 is sent after an interview & denial with an

approval to file such waiver. you can google & call atty Lizz Cannon for free phone consult

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

Sorry about your situation.

This is not a DIY case. With a fraudulent entry, this should have been handled by an experienced attorney from the start. You've got to get a lawyer. You do not need to waste time and money filing the wrong forms.

Best of luck.

[D&Dtrust 0]

Thanks. You're right, but assumed wrong.

We submitted the forms based upon the advice of two immigration attorneys in two states. We would have been fine if he'd stayed here. FWIW, the closest decent immigration attorney is 4 hours from us, but still, we did make the trip to go consult him in person. He told us to file the exact same forms the other attorney on the east coast, where my husband used to live, told us to file.

An online attorney consult tonight - not a freebie - told me to file an I-824, which will get the I-601 and the I-130 transferred to visa/consulate. She said that this I-601 will be good and I don't have to resubmit it. So far, she said nothing has been wasted, and everything has been needed - except the abandoned I-485.

So now, there's agreement among 3 attorneys.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,376]

You can't file an I-601 without first being found inadmissible by a CO. It'll definitely have to be resubmitted.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

So technically your husbands friend is the one that entered the country not your husband, The original AOS was doomed over that detail ( I have a Nigerian friend of my spouse that has been fighting this very issue for decades and thousand of dollars later the ruling is the same . He wasn't inspected as the inspector was under the assumption that the were clearing the party who's ID was presented ) Beware of immigration lawyers who will give you hope in the cause of fattening their wallet.

The collective experience here is that you must be denied to be eligible to file the waiver. You have been told otherwise , and there are always exceptions to every rule ( I know a Nigerian that voted for president and still got his citizenship approved , which is also a "it won't happen" situation ) If you are correct you are looking at a year or so before he can return. IF the case follows the timeline we are used to here it will be closer to 2 years. The entry as someone else is a material misrepresentation on top of his overstay so your case is more complex already. ( At least the friend wasn't a USC ) The entry posing as someone else is probably your more serious issue. You may be dealing with a non waiverable ban over that stunt,

[Boiler 43,857]

I do not think it is that complicated, he was seeking to adjust in country and no longer is, will have to go through the Consulate.

Consulate will interview him eventually and Ghana is not an easy Consulate but I assume in this case the usual issues will not apply.

He will be found inadmissible on by the sound of it it 2 counts, misrep and the overstay.

Files an I 601 to the lockbox, plenty of time to update it.

Wait for approval.

Obviously not a quick process..

[Pinkrlion 2,616]

I know you consulted a lawyer, but you should have retained a lawyer due to his immigration fraud. I would suggest this still as it is still a tough case in a country with higer rate of denials.

[Mstameka 5]

HI

I would send a personal message to Ebunoluwa, she is a member on this group who know everything about Ghanaians embassy, majority of people that comment on here have no knowledge of the Ghanaian embassy and they are people that are filing with this embassy

[Boiler 43,857]

The usual issues with this Consulate is the lack of relationship face time etc, this does not seem it will be an issue.

Waivers are not handled at Consulate level.