Please help with advice! (I-751 Interview)

[Renegade 11]

Hi dear community! We are a gay a couple currently waiting for ROC Interview.

We are in difficult situation because my husband became a very religious person that believes that being gay is a sin, he said that he will help me with interview and then we will get a divorce. 
I completely understand and support him, but I am not sure he will make it through the interview, (we need to take an oath), and I don't want to make him lie. I told him that we can get the divorce and go on with divorce waiver (Our 10 year relationship is 100% genuine) or we can explain everything to USCIS?
What can we do in this situation? (We are still waiting for our interview date since August)
Thanks.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

12 minutes ago, Renegade said:

Hi dear community! We are a gay a couple currently waiting for ROC Interview.

We are in difficult situation because my husband became a very religious person that believes that being gay is a sin, he said that he will help me with interview and then we will get a divorce. 
I completely understand and support him, but I am not sure he will make it through the interview, (we need to take an oath), and I don't want to make him lie. I told him that we can get the divorce and go on with divorce waiver (Our 10 year relationship is 100% genuine) or we can explain everything to USCIS?
What can we do in this situation? (We are still waiting for our interview date since August)
Thanks.

Provided the marriage was entered into in good faith (as yours appears) your still eligible for ROC, if it ends in divorce or annulment, go that route maybe? 

 

Perhaps work out where your relationship is going first, divorce or not? Then look at ROC’s via whichever route applies.

[Dashinka 24,578]

I agree with you that you don’t want to try and portray a lie.  If the two of you are planning on divorcing due to the circumstances, then I would proceed that way and do the ROC via a divorce waiver.

 

Good Luck!

[Renegade 11]

4 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I agree with you that you don’t want to try and portray a lie.  If the two of you are planning on divorcing due to the circumstances, then I would proceed that way and do the ROC via a divorce waiver.

 

Good Luck!

How can we do that now when we are already scheduled for the interview without the waiver?

[Dashinka 24,578]

In your OP you mentioned you were still waiting for the interview since August.  Did you file the ROC in August 2019?

[Renegade 11]

1 minute ago, Bill & Katya said:

In your OP you mentioned you were still waiting for the interview since August.  Did you file the ROC in August 2019?

No, we filed in May, and as of August 2019 our case status is "Ready to schedule for the interview" 
And all this happened in September

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

How long is the process for divorce in your state? Do you have any mandatory separation periods or any other requirements that may extend the process? I know here in Wisconsin there is a 120 waiting period for a hearing, and the whole process from initial filing to officially divorced averages at about a year.

 

If you are already at the interview stage and have a long wait for divorce, switching to a waiver might be an issue. You need the final divorce papers for that, and if you don’t have them and get an RFE for that, you may not be able to reply in time.

 

I am in a similar situation. We filed for ROC in October of 2018 and things were okay relationship-wise then. Over the past few months things have started to break down. However, Nebraska has approved almost everyone else from around the time we filed, so starting the divorce process and switching to a waiver now when it could take up to a year to get the divorce finalized would be an issue. Our current plan is to hope to be approved without interview soon, and if we get called for an interview bring proof that our relationship was entered into in good faith and be honest about the status of it now. 

[Renegade 11]

1 minute ago, MorganandMichael said:

How long is the process for divorce in your state? Do you have any mandatory separation periods or any other requirements that may extend the process? I know here in Wisconsin there is a 120 waiting period for a hearing, and the whole process from initial filing to officially divorced averages at about a year.

 

If you are already at the interview stage and have a long wait for divorce, switching to a waiver might be an issue. You need the final divorce papers for that, and if you don’t have them and get an RFE for that, you may not be able to reply in time.

 

I am in a similar situation. We filed for ROC in October of 2018 and things were okay relationship-wise then. Over the past few months things have started to break down. However, Nebraska has approved almost everyone else from around the time we filed, so starting the divorce process and switching to a waiver now when it could take up to a year to get the divorce finalized would be an issue. Our current plan is to hope to be approved without interview soon, and if we get called for an interview bring proof that our relationship was entered into in good faith and be honest about the status of it now. 

I don't think we will be approved without the interview because our status says that there's gonna be an interview. We are in California, and unfortunately I know nothing about the divorce procedures He still tells me that he will help me with interview but I have some doubts, and I think it would be much worse if he says something inappropriate during the interview.

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Just now, Renegade said:

I don't think we will be approved without the interview because our status says that there's gonna be an interview. We are in California, and unfortunately I know nothing about the divorce procedures He still tells me that he will help me with interview but I have some doubts, and I think it would be much worse if he says something inappropriate during the interview.

No, I don’t think you will get approved without an interview if your status says to schedule an interview. That’s not what I was saying.

 

Divorce process is something you should look up if you are getting divorced. It’s going to be important to know about regardless of what you do about immigration.

[Renegade 11]

10 minutes ago, MorganandMichael said:

No, I don’t think you will get approved without an interview if your status says to schedule an interview. That’s not what I was saying.

 

Divorce process is something you should look up if you are getting divorced. It’s going to be important to know about regardless of what you do about immigration.

So you're suggesting tell the officer honestly about our situation during the interview, that we're gonna get divorce? What if they deny the petition?

Edited October 11, 2019 by Renegade

[Dashinka 24,578]

13 minutes ago, Renegade said:

I don't think we will be approved without the interview because our status says that there's gonna be an interview. We are in California, and unfortunately I know nothing about the divorce procedures He still tells me that he will help me with interview but I have some doubts, and I think it would be much worse if he says something inappropriate during the interview.

I think you need to work out your personal relationship issues first.  What you are going through is very difficult and adding the immigration functions to it just adds more stress.  I assume since you filed for the ROC in May, you received an 18 month extension letter, so you are fine for now relative to status, and even if things drag out longer, you can get an I551 stamp.  My point is that you will not lose your LPR status even if you convert your ROC to a waiver.  You seem to be very worried as to how your spouse will react in an ROC interview, and if you are worried, an IO may pick up on that worry.  My suggestion beyond researching divorce processes in CA is to also research ROC waivers using the VJ search engine.

 

i am sorry you have to deal with this.

 

Good Luck!

[Renegade 11]

5 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I think you need to work out your personal relationship issues first.  What you are going through is very difficult and adding the immigration functions to it just adds more stress.  I assume since you filed for the ROC in May, you received an 18 month extension letter, so you are fine for now relative to status, and even if things drag out longer, you can get an I551 stamp.  My point is that you will not lose your LPR status even if you convert your ROC to a waiver.  You seem to be very worried as to how your spouse will react in an ROC interview, and if you are worried, an IO may pick up on that worry.  My suggestion beyond researching divorce processes in CA is to also research ROC waivers using the VJ search engine.

 

i am sorry you have to deal with this.

 

Good Luck!

Thank you! 
So what are my steps to convert my ROC to a waiver?

[Dashinka 24,578]

3 minutes ago, Renegade said:

Thank you! 
So what are my steps to convert my ROC to a waiver?

Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with that process, but maybe this thread will be helpful.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[kline19 102]

Ok this is just my observation on status updates so take it for what its worth. 

 

Status update " Case ready for interview" doesn't mean that your interview is imminent. There are lots of cases lately (apparently) who are getting this update and then it remains in this status for months.

 

Even if there is an interview you CAN tell the interview officer that you are changing your case to a divorce waiver at the interview.

But it would be better to write a letter to uscis to inform them asap that you are changing your case to divorce waiver. You can tell them the rough time-line for the divorce proceedings to be completed. They will send you an RFE for divorce decree. You can then respond back to RFE with the status of your divorce process in case you didn't have the divorce already granted. 

 

Don't do what your husband is telling you. That amounts to destroying your perfectly legit case and (I believe) committing a crime. 

 

[Dashinka 24,578]

Just now, kline19 said:

Ok this is just my observation on status updates so take it for what its worth. 

 

Status update " Case ready for interview" doesn't mean that your interview is imminent. There are lots of cases lately (apparently) who are getting this update and then it remains in this status for months.

 

Even if there is an interview you CAN tell the interview officer that you are changing your case to a divorce waiver at the interview.

But it would be better to write a letter to uscis to inform them asap that you are changing your case to divorce waiver. You can tell them the rough time-line for the divorce proceedings to be completed. They will send you an RFE for divorce decree. You can then respond back to RFE with the status of your divorce process in case you didn't have the divorce already granted. 

 

Don't do what your husband is telling you. That amounts to destroying your perfectly legit case and (I believe) committing a crime. 

 

Thanks for the segue.

 

This was from the thread I linked earlier from @Villanelle.

 

Posted December 9, 2017 (edited)

They really should upload an example letter for this situation to the example form section on VJ since it comes up a lot.

 

You just need to write a basic letter in a semi-formal format.

 

USCIS

address

 

RE- LPRS name,

A#

NOA case number

DOB

resident since date

address

phone number

 

date of letter

 

Request to switch to a divorce waiver

 

To whom it may concern:

 

On X date, I, (name), A# filed a joint petition with my spouse (their name) with the X service center (where you mailed it). My case number is X. (from your NOA).  On X date (spouses name) and I legally separated/physically separated/filed for divorce/divorced. Please accept this letter as my request to switch to a divorce waiver. I am/am not attaching the divorce decree. (if you are list date of divorce and court name/if not state it will provided when the court issues it.) I am also attaching X Y and Z for your consideration.

 

Signed

dated

(you can get it notarized but it doesnt have to be)

 

 

Keep a copy for your records and mail it with a tracking number to the same service center you sent the original ROC packet to.

 

Personally I would submit a short basic letter like the above and attach a longer affidavit about the relationship and its breakdown. That statement can be multiple pages long and refer to evidence that you attach. Think 'courthouse' style evidence. You can label the attachments as attachment A, B, C etc and refer to them in your affidavit. Example we had joint bank accounts at X bank (see attachment A) blah blah. We took a trip together to Hawaii (see attachment B-D) etc., 

Edited December 9, 2017 by Damara