White House Staffers Meet With Citizens Who Say They Were Victims of Marriage Fraud

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

White House Staffers Meet With Citizens Who Say They Were Victims of Marriage Fraud

https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/White-House-Staffers-Meet-With-Citizens-Who-Say-They-Were-Victims-of-Marriage-Fraud-487699471.html

Edited July 10, 2018 by WeGuyGal

[Scandi 3,979]

Well, the US citizen can't just blame the system for his ex being able to file for VAWA, the US citizen should really get to know their partner WELL before bringing him/her to the US in the first place.

 

I see so many of those types of cases here on VJ, people come here and complain "He only wanted me for a greencard, now when he has it he left me! What can I do to throw his ### out of the country?". The first thing you should've done was to get to know him before marrying him and bringing him here.. You clearly failed at that and now have to live with it.

[Ontarkie 13,979]

~~Moved to General Immigration, from Effects Of Major Family Changes - As we try to keep threads needing help in that forum. Thread title also edited to reflect story name.~~

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

Probably good to further investigate these types of claims as, like any "system" it gets abused I'm sure; but like above, I mean if you marry someone or are dating and bring them to the US and within 2-3 months they bail out immediately, you probably didn't know them at all or were too blind by your own emotions to see the reality of what was happening. Have to be really really sure before you get into the process because, like so many stories even here on VJ, some people get steam rolled by their spouse in the end and never saw it coming. Mean, we here have had some issues and all like anyone else's marriage/relationship; but we made the commitment to work things out not just walk away.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

34 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Well, the US citizen can't just blame the system for his ex being able to file for VAWA, the US citizen should really get to know their partner WELL before bringing him/her to the US in the first place.

 

I see so many of those types of cases here on VJ, people come here and complain "He only wanted me for a greencard, now when he has it he left me! What can I do to throw his ### out of the country?". The first thing you should've done was to get to know him before marrying him and bringing him here.. You clearly failed at that and now have to live with it.

I just posted the article, don't shoot the messenger  

 

Totally agree with your first paragraph. 

[nullaccount234 882]

Is using VAWA particularly widespread, or why is that the target? I mean, you can remove conditions from a green card by yourself even though you're going through a divorce too, no? If you can prove good faith.

 

Duping someone either way is awful, but filing VAWA to get citizenship in three years instead of five seems downright cruel.

[Boiler 43,804]

We see a lot of VAWA issues here some of which will make your hair curl. Lot of abuse without doubt, kust too many example for them all to be fake.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

Anything exploitable gets exploited sooner or later. 

 

That's just life. It is up to the USC petitioner to know their spouse well before initiating the visa process. Common sense!  

[Unidentified 2,930]

35 minutes ago, LizM said:

Is using VAWA particularly widespread, or why is that the target? I mean, you can remove conditions from a green card by yourself even though you're going through a divorce too, no? If you can prove good faith.

 

Duping someone either way is awful, but filing VAWA to get citizenship in three years instead of five seems downright cruel.

There's a humongous VAWA thread on VJ that I think they had to split into a new thread. I think it's a pretty widespread issue. We even have to tell people, especially men, don't hang out with your ex after you split because of the fear of a false VAWA claim. 

 

I absolutely think that there are some men and women who come here and they really do find themselves in a domestic abuse situation and they need help. But I also think that there are several people out there who are misusing the VAWA system.  

[debbiedoo 2,339]

Take responsibility for your own actions. If someone is duped, well... more often than not there was some sort of warning sign that they chose to ignore, or were so blinded by 'love' they didnt see.

 

This is part of where my issue with having to meet only once comes in. You simply cant know a person (imo) in ONE in person visit. But... thems the rules so. ok.

 

Knowing your partner and fiance takes more than proficiency in whatever social media app is your favorite.

 

 

 

 

[Unidentified 2,930]

2 minutes ago, debbiedoo said:

Take responsibility for your own actions. If someone is duped, well... more often than not there was some sort of warning sign that they chose to ignore, or were so blinded by 'love' they didnt see.

 

This is part of where my issue with having to meet only once comes in. You simply cant know a person (imo) in ONE in person visit. But... thems the rules so. ok.

 

Knowing your partner and fiance takes more than proficiency in whatever social media app is your favorite.

 

 

 

 

I agree 100% with this. You can't possibly know. It doesn't matter how long you have spent "talking" to someone over an app or skype or whatever. You will not know that person after one visit. Heck it takes years of being together, actually together face to face, to really get to know someone. 

[debbiedoo 2,339]

51 minutes ago, Unidentified said:

I agree 100% with this. You can't possibly know. It doesn't matter how long you have spent "talking" to someone over an app or skype or whatever. You will not know that person after one visit. Heck it takes years of being together, actually together face to face, to really get to know someone. 

yeah. Paul and I have been together 2 and a half years, have over 30 in person visits, some as long as up to almost a month, and LIVE on the phone when we are not at work (and .... sometimes when we are). Theres STILL things that come up that we didnt know or realize about the other. One thing, about my dad, came up last night, for example.

 

time and massive amounts of communication on good days and bad and every day inbetween.

 

Edited July 10, 2018 by debbiedoo

[Unlockable 7,309]

It is a sensitive issue to tackle because there are a lot of women and men who are truly saved by VAWA. But just about everything in life that was designed to help gets exploited eventually by someone.

 

2 hours ago, Scandi said:

Well, the US citizen can't just blame the system for his ex being able to file for VAWA, the US citizen should really get to know their partner WELL before bringing him/her to the US in the first place.

 

I see so many of those types of cases here on VJ, people come here and complain "He only wanted me for a greencard, now when he has it he left me! What can I do to throw his ### out of the country?". The first thing you should've done was to get to know him before marrying him and bringing him here.. You clearly failed at that and now have to live with it.

How about the ones that argue the affidavit of support when things don't work out. They were willing to sever a finger and sign the Affidavit in their blood to get their true love here. Then when the relationship doesn't work out the argue how unfair it is to be "on the hook" for their ex for so long.

 

2 hours ago, LizM said:

Is using VAWA particularly widespread, or why is that the target? I mean, you can remove conditions from a green card by yourself even though you're going through a divorce too, no? If you can prove good faith.

 

Duping someone either way is awful, but filing VAWA to get citizenship in three years instead of five seems downright cruel.

I guess the thinking is that it is more difficult to investigate a person of immigration fraud if abuse is claimed. It even mention so in the article. If a US citizen suspects fraud, they can contact USCIS and report their spouse and kind-of put a damper in the immigrant's plans. But VAWA cases gives the immigrants protection against that so to speak.

 

1 hour ago, Unidentified said:

I agree 100% with this. You can't possibly know. It doesn't matter how long you have spent "talking" to someone over an app or skype or whatever. You will not know that person after one visit. Heck it takes years of being together, actually together face to face, to really get to know someone. 

I think we also don't realize just how far people will go to get to America for a better life. There are immigrants who are willing to have child(ren) with someone they don't actually love to ensure a path here. There is a person they interviewed in the article that has a child from the wife he claims frauded him.

In fact, there was a thread a couple of years ago where a guy found out his wife only wanted to marry him for a green card. She had a child with him and left both him and their child. The last report was that he had custody of the child and was raising it himself. Sometimes it's tough to see ulterior motives if a person is willing to go to those lengths.

Edited July 10, 2018 by NuestraUnion

[nullaccount234 882]

3 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

I guess the thinking is that it is more difficult to investigate a person of immigration fraud if abuse is claimed. It even mention so in the article. If a US citizen suspects fraud, they can contact USCIS and report their spouse and kind of put a damper in the immigrant's plans. But VAWA cases gives the immigrants protection against that.

 

Gotcha. I read the article but I didn't connect the dots. But you're right of course, if the second benefit of VAWA (apart from faster citizenship) as opposed to divorce waiver is that you're less likely to have your ex successfully claim immigration fraud on you then I can definitely see why that route would be more appealing to potential dupers.

 

I will do some reading on VAWA as I'm quite uneducated in that area but does anyone know if you need to go through with filing criminal charges as well? I mean, does it have any other direct effect on the US citizen other than a divorce and bout of bitterness over the fact that their ex could stay legally in the country afterwards.

[nullaccount234 882]

1 hour ago, Unidentified said:

There's a humongous VAWA thread on VJ that I think they had to split into a new thread. I think it's a pretty widespread issue. We even have to tell people, especially men, don't hang out with your ex after you split because of the fear of a false VAWA claim. 

 

I absolutely think that there are some men and women who come here and they really do find themselves in a domestic abuse situation and they need help. But I also think that there are several people out there who are misusing the VAWA system.  

Hm. And the article said 85,000 cases in the past decade. Wonder how that compares to fiancé/spouse visas issued over all, or amount of divorce waivers for that matter.