Lawyer did not file a waiver after a divorce

[poloska 0]

Hello, 

I want to share my experience here. I've been reading this forum for 4 days and didn't find an exact same case scenario as mine so decided to share my story.  I am Ukrainian, was married to a US citizen. In May 2017 we applied for my ROC. In 2 months after submission, I found out that my husband was involved in a serious felony in December 2016. Noone in his family knew about it either. The felony was serious... To make a long story short, he moved out in September 2017.

I hired two lawyers: immigration and divorce lawyer. Immigration lawyer recommended me to file for a divorce asap stating that EVERYONE now is required to attend the interview, and if my husband and I are having such serious issues and do not plan to live together, it's best for us to file for a divorce as soon as possible. We signed a separation agreement. In December 2017 my husband was convicted an spent couple of months in jail. In May 2018 my husband and I were officially divorced. The immigration lawyer did not send any waiver, she kept repeating that I will be called in for an interview. She supported her statement stating that she called local officer to verify whether we need to submit a new paperwork and was told not to. At the end of June 2017 I received RFE letter. My lawyer prepared paperwork: divorce decree; 3 years of bank statements, printout from the leasing office with all payments made that includes rent and utility bills, car insurance, life insurance with him listed as a beneficiary, criminal case from court, 3 affidavits from friends, and my statement). Phone bills were always separate, we don't have health insurance, and Verizon was only on his name. We had a bunch of other bills and correspondence to the same address but she said she didn't them and only needed paperwork that had both names on them.  Anyways, when I asked if she was planning to submit a waiver, she stated that it was not needed (according to some memo from USCIS she had printed in front of her). She also repeated that now EVERYONE is required to attend an interview. By reading this forum, I can clearly see that not EVERYONE is attending an interview. Is my lawyer just clueless? At the same time, when my driver's license was expiring and I couldn't get an infopass appointment, I asked if I can go to DMV without passport stamp, she said no. I went there regardless, just with the RFE letter, and they extended my license for 8 years (!!!!). She was very surprised.... Let me know what your opinion is about this story. I am losing my sleep. Thank you.

[jess100 53]

I don't know if your lawyer knows her stuff or not, but we had a bad experience with a lawyer in NYC and it's not  unusual for them to be wrong, especially if working outside of their specialty. So don't assume that because she is an immigration attorney she is correct.   Others here will know more.  A second opinion might be in order.

[br9k 23]

Are your lawyer's initials E K by any chance? 

[NikLR 13,220]

Your lawyer is a moron.  Change your petition to a divorce waiver asap!

[jess100 53]

11 hours ago, br9k said:

Are your lawyer's initials E K by any chance? 

I don't know if you are asking me or the OP.  Ours did not have those initials.

[br9k 23]

3 hours ago, jess100 said:

I don't know if you are asking me or the OP.  Ours did not have those initials.

OP