Will USCIS Officer Ever Visit Your Place Unannounced?

[TonyMichael 3]

15 minutes ago, Going through said:

If the USC entered the marriage with the SOLE intent of providing immigration benefits to the foreigner, then yes they have committed a criminal act (and so has the foreigner!).  

Usually, however, this is normally proven with concrete evidence such as a financial trail where the foreigner has paid the USC for their services along with other documents proving fraudulent intent ...not usual (and very difficult to prove, I would imagine) for the USC to enter into a fraud marriage purely for benevolent reasons and WITHOUT the foreigner's knowledge/consent since there'd be nothing tangible in it for them, then.

 

Taking into account the cost of visa fees, application fees, obtaining documents where needed, lawyer fees if needed, etc. I highly doubt any USC is just sponsoring random foreign friends "just to help them out" without any sort of pay back from the foreigner  

Thanks for the speedy response!　That makes sense.

 

I just had a scary, horrible thought that my spouse might have married me "just to help me out" because we argue a lot and it hasn't been even that long since I obtained the conditional green card through the marriage with him.

Basically, the marriage has to have taken place in good faith from both sides, but after the marriage did take place in good faith, is it okay to later start feeling that the marriage was a mistake? 

 

Also, in some cases, it is possible for the international side to sponsor themselves for the purpose of I864, if the US spouse side doesn't meet the income requirement.

What would happen though, if the international side sponsored themselves, but they end up divorcing? Since there is no joint sponsor involved, the US spouse has no responsibility to take care of the international sides if, say, they divorce and the international side lost their job and becomes homeless or something?

Edited December 29, 2018 by TonyMichael

[mushroomspore 3,043]

1 minute ago, TonyMichael said:

 

Basically, the marriage has to have taken place in good faith from both sides, but after the marriage did take place in good faith, is it okay to later start feeling that the marriage was a mistake? 

It happens to a LOT of couples across the entire spectrum of relationship experiences, whether or not the immigration process is involved.

[Going through 5,668]

1 minute ago, TonyMichael said:

Basically, the marriage has to have taken place in good faith from both sides, but after the marriage did take place in good faith, is it okay to later start feeling that the marriage was a mistake? 

I think we are starting to veer into topics that might be better suited for a divorce forum rather than an immigration one....  

 

There is no "right" or "wrong" way for you to feel about your marriage right now and where it stands---there's no need to drive yourself crazy, either, with feelings of whether it's "okay" to get divorced or have to follow a specific divorce timeline or whatever.  What's happened has happened.  All you can do is think forward, and perhaps reach out to local counselling agencies, etc. or even explore your feelings further on a relationship/divorce support forum.

 

 

[mushroomspore 3,043]

6 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

 

Also, in some cases, it is possible for the international side to sponsor themselves for the purpose of I864, if the US spouse side doesn't meet the income requirement.

What would happen though, if the international side sponsored themselves, but they end up divorcing? Since there is no joint sponsor involved, the US spouse has no responsibility to take care of the international sides if, say, they divorce and the international side lost their job and becomes homeless or something?

If the USC spouse doesn't meet the income requirements, a joint sponsor is needed. The USC is still the petitioner, no matter what. There is no such thing as an immigrant self-petitioning. Even in divorce, the USC (and joint sponsor) need to fulfill the 864's obligations until the immigrant fulfills certain requirements (sorry I can't remember the language off the top of my head but it's in the 864 instructions...something about fulfilling 40 quarters of work or naturalizing, whichever comes first).

[TonyMichael 3]

4 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

If the USC spouse doesn't meet the income requirements, a joint sponsor is needed. The USC is still the petitioner, no matter what. There is no such thing as an immigrant self-petitioning. Even in divorce, the USC (and joint sponsor) need to fulfill the 864's obligations until the immigrant fulfills certain requirements (sorry I can't remember the language off the top of my head but it's in the 864 instructions...something about fulfilling 40 quarters of work or naturalizing, whichever comes first).

The I864 says that if the US spouse doesn't meet the income requirement, and if the married couple lives together and the international spouse works with enough income, the international spouse can sponsor themselves for the purpose of I864, if the income comes from the same source after the green card is obtained. In this case, joint sponsors aren't needed. The US spouse still has to fill out the I864 though... So maybe even in such cases, the US spouse is held responsible even after a divorce, probably?

 

Let me apologize about that the topic is far off from the original topic ;_;

[Going through 5,668]

9 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

The US spouse still has to fill out the I864 though... So maybe even in such cases, the US spouse is held responsible even after a divorce, probably?

Divorce doesn't end the obligations of the i-864, no.

The i-864 is a contract between the US government and the USC spouse, however, and not between your husband and you/US goverment and you--- so wouldn't affect your immigration process/divorce proceedings in any way.  Them actually enforcing the i-864 and suing your husband/ex-husband should you later become a public charge---while not entirely impossible, is probably not on their priority list.

Edited December 29, 2018 by Going through

[mushroomspore 3,043]

1 minute ago, TonyMichael said:

The I864 says that if the US spouse doesn't meet the income requirement, and if the married couple lives together and the international spouse works with enough income, the international spouse can sponsor themselves for the purpose of I864, if the income comes from the same source after the green card is obtained. In this case, joint sponsors aren't needed. The US spouse still has to fill out the I864 though... So maybe even in such cases, the US spouse is held responsible even after a divorce, probably?

 

Let me apologize about that the topic is far off from the original topic ;_;

Yes the petitioner can use the immigrant's income on the 864. On a technical level, this is not the same as "an immigrant sponsoring him/herself" (there is no such thing). Even if the immigrant's income is used, the USC is the petitioner and the 864 is 100% done by them. When the USC submits the 864, it is them saying to the US government, "I am a USC who wishes to bring a non-USC loved one. Here is our financial situation. I will be financially responsible if my loved one becomes a public charge, even after divorce and/or until the immigrant fulfills the other requirements."

[TonyMichael 3]

Thank you all for answering so many questions.

 

I will most likely open a new forum when I start wondering about more things... It would be greatly appreciated if you all could help me out again then.

 

[mushroomspore 3,043]

Just now, TonyMichael said:

Thank you all for answering so many questions.

 

I will most likely open a new forum when I start wondering about more things... It would be greatly appreciated if you all could help me out again then.

 

To be honest, I would forget about all this immigration stuff and just try to go work on your marriage. There is not much left to wonder about, considering you have permanent resident status.

[Going through 5,668]

32 minutes ago, TonyMichael said:

Since there is no joint sponsor involved, the US spouse has no responsibility to take care of the international sides if, say, they divorce and the international side lost their job and becomes homeless or something?

Even with the spouse being a sponsor, having a joint sponsor, etc.....none of that matters when it comes to support settlements ordered (or NOT ordered) by a divorce court.

In other words, the i-864 has nothing to do with divorce matters---it only has to do with immigration matters.

[TonyMichael 3]

6 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

To be honest, I would forget about all this immigration stuff and just try to go work on your marriage. There is not much left to wonder about, considering you have permanent resident status.

 

I will do my best. My possible future posts would be about ROC/divorce, if my spouse and I cannot work things out. I know it is too early to consider a divorce, and there is no telling what will happen in the future.

However, it makes me feel better to know all possible options, and know ahead in case the worst case does happen, and I won't waste my time at that time.