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I am posting on behalf of my friend and am hoping to get some advice on what to do.


 

I finally convinced my friend to leave her controlling environment (forced to work 70+ hours a week, only one day off a month, had complete control over her personal life) and I fear I might have done the wrong thing. She has a conditional green card that she got from marrying a guy in 1/2017. She married him because she loved him but definitely rushed into it because her family was pressuring her to marry him because she was out of status. There are definitely a lot of red flags with their marriage (He is almost twice her age, she was out of status, only knew him for a couple of months before marrying) which could be chalked up to her being young and naive. She lived with him for a few months but ultimately ended up moving back into her cousin’s house because she found out he was still seeing his previous wife. What I am worried about is that when the divorce is finalized and she goes to remove conditions she has zero evidence that the marriage was entered into good faith, they lived together but he never put her on the lease or the utilities. Her phone was with her cousin, she can’t drive so she didn’t get put on any insurance anywhere. What evidence she did have (photos of them together for the few months they lived together) was taken away when she moved out. The final straw for her moving out was her cousin taking her phone and draining her bank account (he was a co-owner on it and set it up for her) because she threatened to leave. She even lost her facebook account as he was the one who made it for her back when she originally moved over to here from Vietnam. No one in her family except her sister and a different cousin talk to her after she moved out, not even her parents.

 

I have two questions:

 

  1. Is she pretty much SOL because she has zero evidence about her marriage being entered into good faith? Or can she describe her situation and have decent chance?

  2. If she does get banned because of fraud, can her sister petition for her once she becomes a citizen in a year, or is she banned from all future immigration into America?


 

 Thanks for any help you guys can provide. Definitely going to go see a lawyer in the next week, but would like to see if you guys have anything to say. 

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
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The fact that she moved out of house within a couple of months after receiving her GC is not going to be looked favourably upon, as it may give the impression she married him just for the GC.

 

I don't understand how her cousin had access to her bank account and drained it, though?  Unless it was a typo and you meant the HUSBAND drained the account----she can still get back statements from the bank showing they were co-mingling finances through their marriage since her name was on the account, if the account was shared with the husband.

 

Did they file joint taxes?  

 

 

Applied for Naturalization based on 5-year Residency - 96 Days To Complete Citizenship!

July 14, 2017 (Day 00) -  Submitted N400 Application, filed online

July 21, 2017 (Day 07) -  NOA Receipt received in the mail

July 22, 2017 (Day 08) - Biometrics appointment scheduled online, letter mailed out

July 25, 2017 (Day 11) - Biometrics PDF posted online

July 28, 2017 (Day 14) - Biometrics letter received in the mail, appointment for 08/08/17

Aug 08, 2017 (Day 24) - Biometrics (fingerprinting) completed

Aug 14, 2017 (Day 30) - Online EGOV status shows "Interview Scheduled, will mail appointment letter"

Aug 16, 2017 (Day 32) - Online MYUSCIS status shows "Interview Scheduled, read the letter we mailed you..."

Aug 17, 2017 (Day 33) - Interview Appointment Letter PDF posted online---GOT AN INTERVIEW DATE!!!

Aug 21, 2017 (Day 37) - Interview Appointment Letter received in the mail, appointment for 09/27/17

Sep. 27, 2017 (Day 74) - Naturalization Interview--- read my experience here

Sep. 27, 2017 (Day 74) - Online MYUSCIS status shows "Oath Ceremony Notice mailed"

Sep. 28, 2017 (Day 75) - Oath Ceremony Letter PDF posted online--Ceremony for 10/19/17

Oct. 02, 2017 (Day 79) -  Oath Ceremony Letter received in the mail

Oct. 19, 2017 (Day 96) -  Oath Ceremony-- read my experience here

 

 

 

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45 minutes ago, Going through said:

The fact that she moved out of house within a couple of months after receiving her GC is not going to be looked favourably upon, as it may give the impression she married him just for the GC.

 

I don't understand how her cousin had access to her bank account and drained it, though?  Unless it was a typo and you meant the HUSBAND drained the account----she can still get back statements from the bank showing they were co-mingling finances through their marriage since her name was on the account, if the account was shared with the husband.

 

Did they file joint taxes?  

 

 

Thanks for the reply! 

 

I was afraid that was going to be the case with her moving out so quickly after marrying. When she moved here her cousin helped her make a bank account and had her add him as a joint owner, she didn't realize that was the case until she got a "sorry you are leaving" email from the bank that her account was closed. 

 

I believe they filed jointly, again her cousin did everything for her so I am not sure. That was something I was going to have her check this week.

 

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
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Cousin seems overly involved in your friend's marriage from the offset 😕 Not insinuating anything, just an observation from her moving in with the cousin, the bank account being joint with the cousin, her facebook page created by the cousin, the cell phone being owned by the cousin, and the cousin now apparently handling her taxes 😕 

 

She's got a very uphill battle with how her evidence appears now---right now the evidence she has is more against her, than in her favor.  Good that she will be consulting a lawyer.

Applied for Naturalization based on 5-year Residency - 96 Days To Complete Citizenship!

July 14, 2017 (Day 00) -  Submitted N400 Application, filed online

July 21, 2017 (Day 07) -  NOA Receipt received in the mail

July 22, 2017 (Day 08) - Biometrics appointment scheduled online, letter mailed out

July 25, 2017 (Day 11) - Biometrics PDF posted online

July 28, 2017 (Day 14) - Biometrics letter received in the mail, appointment for 08/08/17

Aug 08, 2017 (Day 24) - Biometrics (fingerprinting) completed

Aug 14, 2017 (Day 30) - Online EGOV status shows "Interview Scheduled, will mail appointment letter"

Aug 16, 2017 (Day 32) - Online MYUSCIS status shows "Interview Scheduled, read the letter we mailed you..."

Aug 17, 2017 (Day 33) - Interview Appointment Letter PDF posted online---GOT AN INTERVIEW DATE!!!

Aug 21, 2017 (Day 37) - Interview Appointment Letter received in the mail, appointment for 09/27/17

Sep. 27, 2017 (Day 74) - Naturalization Interview--- read my experience here

Sep. 27, 2017 (Day 74) - Online MYUSCIS status shows "Oath Ceremony Notice mailed"

Sep. 28, 2017 (Day 75) - Oath Ceremony Letter PDF posted online--Ceremony for 10/19/17

Oct. 02, 2017 (Day 79) -  Oath Ceremony Letter received in the mail

Oct. 19, 2017 (Day 96) -  Oath Ceremony-- read my experience here

 

 

 

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Wales
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Her Sister can petition her and she probably will be OK.

 

Did the Cousin arrange the Marriage?

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

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1 hour ago, becca92 said:

 

  1. Is she pretty much SOL because she has zero evidence about her marriage being entered into good faith? Or can she describe her situation and have decent chance?


 

 

But you’ve answered your own question. In your own words she “rushed into marriage” with a man twice her age because she was out of status. I don’t see how she can provide evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith. If you can see that as an untrained outsider, what do you think USCIS see? And they are trained to look for these signals. Can she honestly, have on heart, say that she married him because he’s the man of her dreams and she couldn’t bear to be apart from him for one minute and that her immigration situation played no part in it? I strongly doubt it. 

Edited by JFH

Timeline in brief:

Married: September 27, 2014

I-130 filed: February 5, 2016

NOA1: February 8, 2016 Nebraska

NOA2: July 21, 2016

Interview: December 6, 2016 London

POE: December 19, 2016 Las Vegas

N-400 filed: September 30, 2019

Interview: March 22, 2021 Seattle

Oath: March 22, 2021 COVID-style same-day oath

 

Now a US citizen!

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2 hours ago, Boiler said:

Her Sister can petition her and she probably will be OK.

 

Did the Cousin arrange the Marriage?

I would say it was an arranged marriage, he was the one to introduce them and her family heavily encouraged her to marry him. She did make an effort to love him and make the marriage work but it takes two to tango and I am not sure if her husband ever loved her or if he was just in it for some other reason. 

 

1 hour ago, JFH said:

But you’ve answered your own question. In your own words she “rushed into marriage” with a man twice her age because she was out of status. I don’t see how she can provide evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith. If you can see that as an untrained outsider, what do you think USCIS see? And they are trained to look for these signals. Can she honestly, have on heart, say that she married him because he’s the man of her dreams and she couldn’t bear to be apart from him for one minute and that her immigration situation played no part in it? I strongly doubt it. 

yeah, I was afraid of that. The more I think about it the more I realize she going to be in quite the uphill climb.

 

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

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Filed: Timeline

I know some members are going to eyeroll when I say this- and I am only putting it out there because she used the wording 'controlling environment' and stated he had complete control over her life- but that can be considered abusive depending on various other factors.  I bring this up because there is an 'abuse waiver' option on the 751. Many people who are abused do not have the traditional ROC evidence due to the abuse and USCIS  will take that into account. Again this may not be an option for her- she needs to discuss with an attny. 

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To clarify the above, she still needs to show a bona fide marriage. It's just that they will consider the difficulty in obtaining certain evidences due to the abuse.

Timelines:

ROC:

Spoiler

7/27/20: Sent forms to Dallas lockbox, 7/30/20: Received by USCIS, 8/10 NOA1 electronic notification received, 8/1/ NOA1 hard copy received

AOS:

Spoiler

AOS (I-485 + I-131 + I-765):

9/25/17: sent forms to Chicago, 9/27/17: received by USCIS, 10/4/17: NOA1 electronic notification received, 10/10/17: NOA1 hard copy received. Social Security card being issued in married name (3rd attempt!)

10/14/17: Biometrics appointment notice received, 10/25/17: Biometrics

1/2/18: EAD + AP approved (no website update), 1/5/18: EAD + AP mailed, 1/8/18: EAD + AP approval notice hardcopies received, 1/10/18: EAD + AP received

9/5/18: Interview scheduled notice, 10/17/18: Interview

10/24/18: Green card produced notice, 10/25/18: Formal approval, 10/31/18: Green card received

K-1:

Spoiler

I-129F

12/1/16: sent, 12/14/16: NOA1 hard copy received, 3/10/17: RFE (IMB verification), 3/22/17: RFE response received

3/24/17: Approved! , 3/30/17: NOA2 hard copy received

 

NVC

4/6/2017: Received, 4/12/2017: Sent to Riyadh embassy, 4/16/2017: Case received at Riyadh embassy, 4/21/2017: Request case transfer to Manila, approved 4/24/2017

 

K-1

5/1/2017: Case received by Manila (1 week embassy transfer??? Lucky~)

7/13/2017: Interview: APPROVED!!!

7/19/2017: Visa in hand

8/15/2017: POE

 

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Chile
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Where is your friend now? It sounds like she has left the cousin as well? As another poster said there mayyyyy be a case of abuse here and you can check out the VAWA thread for more info on that, but it's very unclear to me if most of the abuse was being perpetrated by the husband or by the cousin.

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14 minutes ago, hm139 said:

Where is your friend now? It sounds like she has left the cousin as well? As another poster said there mayyyyy be a case of abuse here and you can check out the VAWA thread for more info on that, but it's very unclear to me if most of the abuse was being perpetrated by the husband or by the cousin.

VAWA doesn't apply to somebody with a green card.

An abuse waiver option is available for ROC purposes.

Timelines:

ROC:

Spoiler

7/27/20: Sent forms to Dallas lockbox, 7/30/20: Received by USCIS, 8/10 NOA1 electronic notification received, 8/1/ NOA1 hard copy received

AOS:

Spoiler

AOS (I-485 + I-131 + I-765):

9/25/17: sent forms to Chicago, 9/27/17: received by USCIS, 10/4/17: NOA1 electronic notification received, 10/10/17: NOA1 hard copy received. Social Security card being issued in married name (3rd attempt!)

10/14/17: Biometrics appointment notice received, 10/25/17: Biometrics

1/2/18: EAD + AP approved (no website update), 1/5/18: EAD + AP mailed, 1/8/18: EAD + AP approval notice hardcopies received, 1/10/18: EAD + AP received

9/5/18: Interview scheduled notice, 10/17/18: Interview

10/24/18: Green card produced notice, 10/25/18: Formal approval, 10/31/18: Green card received

K-1:

Spoiler

I-129F

12/1/16: sent, 12/14/16: NOA1 hard copy received, 3/10/17: RFE (IMB verification), 3/22/17: RFE response received

3/24/17: Approved! , 3/30/17: NOA2 hard copy received

 

NVC

4/6/2017: Received, 4/12/2017: Sent to Riyadh embassy, 4/16/2017: Case received at Riyadh embassy, 4/21/2017: Request case transfer to Manila, approved 4/24/2017

 

K-1

5/1/2017: Case received by Manila (1 week embassy transfer??? Lucky~)

7/13/2017: Interview: APPROVED!!!

7/19/2017: Visa in hand

8/15/2017: POE

 

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
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"her family was pressuring her to marry him because she was out of status"

She married to adjust status; it is not a bona fide marriage.

Edited by Derik-Lina

Honest-Love-Respect

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
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16 hours ago, Boiler said:

Her Sister can petition her and she probably will be OK.

 

Did the Cousin arrange the Marriage?

OP wrote: "marry him because she was out of status"

Do you see an issue here or not? is it a bona fide marriage?

Edited by Derik-Lina

Honest-Love-Respect

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9 hours ago, hm139 said:

Where is your friend now? It sounds like she has left the cousin as well? As another poster said there mayyyyy be a case of abuse here and you can check out the VAWA thread for more info on that, but it's very unclear to me if most of the abuse was being perpetrated by the husband or by the cousin.

 

She is living with a friend of mine that has a spare room until we figure out what to do next. Her cousin kicked her out last Wednesday night so this is all recent and sudden. The abuse was definitely from her cousin, not her husband. 

 

35 minutes ago, Derik-Lina said:

"her family was pressuring her to marry him because she was out of status"

She married to adjust status; it is not a bona fide marriage.

Yeah, that was what I was afraid of. She says she did love him and would of married him eventually, but she definitely would not of married him so quick if not for her being out of status. Sounds like she will be SOL when she goes to file for ROC. Thanks for the help

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