I130 denied. Need clarification on denial reason.

[Jeffiejay01 7]

Hello guys, please I need some insight.

I'm the beneficiary of an i130 petition and two years ago we received a NOID. Reason given in the NOID was "the marriage was a marriage of convenience entered into to circumvent the laws of the US". With the aid of counsel we responded with a strong rebuttal. A year later we were officially denied but this time around, reason given was "based on the review of testimony and documentation, USCIS finds that you have not meant your burden of proof in demonstrating the bonafide nature of your marriage by a preponderance of evidence. Therefore USCIS denies your form i130".


1) Does the INA 204c bar apply here given the denial reason was clear and did not mention "sham marriage, fraud marriage etc"? 

2) Does the denial letter have to expressly state a fraud finding as the reason for denial if there is one? (I assume the have a statutory obligation to do so) 

3)If we provide preponderance of evidence (which we lacked in the denial reason) would that be enough or are we subject to the clear and convincing standard of proof if we apply again? (we are still happily married)


Thank you. 
Less
 

[Ryan H 3,791]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[geowrian 22,335]

A lack of evidence to demonstrate a bona fide marriage is different than a finding of a willful, material misrepresentation, or fraud.

It's impossible to know exactly what happened in your case with the information presented here, but personally - assuming I was comfortable with the evidence now - I would file again.

[pushbrk 12,122]

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

A lack of evidence to demonstrate a bona fide marriage is different than a finding of a willful, material misrepresentation, or fraud.

It's impossible to know exactly what happened in your case with the information presented here, but personally - assuming I was comfortable with the evidence now - I would file again.

Presumably, there have been more visits, resulting in more time together in person and other additional evidence of bona fide relationship.  Whether it will be enough to overcome the REAL REASONS the original petition was denied will depend on those reasons and how valid they appeared or still appear.  I advise the petitioner to make a judgment call based on their own understanding of the totality of the circumstances and motivations.  That it is the beneficiary and not the petitioner who is asking these questions at this time is somewhat worrisome.

[Jeffiejay01 7]

On 3/9/2020 at 11:31 AM, geowrian said:

A lack of evidence to demonstrate a bona fide marriage is different than a finding of a willful, material misrepresentation, or fraud.

It's impossible to know exactly what happened in your case with the information presented here, but personally - assuming I was comfortable with the evidence now - I would file again.

Thank you Geo, we re-filed immediately and have our interview coming up in a few months. We have addressed all the reasons indicated in the denial by providing ample evidence this time around. Hopefully it would be enough this time. Thanks again. 

[Ryan H 3,791]

~~Bickering posts removed.~~

[Babu Frik 1,162]

What evidence did you provide prior and what's different now?

[Jeffiejay01 7]

2 hours ago, Babu Frik said:

What evidence did you provide prior and what's different now?

Great question Farik. I'd give you a bit of background. At the time of our first interview, we were living at my wife's mom's since we didn't both have jobs. My wife also had a blemished record which raised further flags. We were seperated and sent home and our case was placed under review. Things got better after my EAD arrived. My wife also got a job and we were able to move into our own place two months after the interview. Over the next two years, we survived one home visit to our place and two visits to my wife's parents place. One of the visits to my inlaws created a problem because they met my father inlaw home alone and he said he didn't know me. They sent us an NOID with reason stating the marriage was to circumvent immigration laws. We sent a strong response with medical records showing my father in law had dementia and didn't recognize his wife, or daughter anymore let alone me. It included police reports of the cops showing up to their house after he made several bogus calls to 911 because he was hallucinating about seeing people in the house. We also included pictures of all the previous holidays spent together showing us together as a family which indicated he knew me. We added evidence of joint taxes, joint leases, utilities, auto, health and renters and life insurance, affidavits, letters from the apartment management, pictures etc. Our evidence went from Exhibits A to T literally. By my own admission though, we didn't submit joint bank statements because it was impossible to add by wife to my bank account due to her flagged banking history. We added a letter from the bank and credit bureau stating her failed credit check and reasons. We had credit card statements but didn't submit them since they were maxed out and we weren't using them. I basically paid the bills and she gave me cash. A year later they denied us anyway due to not meeting our burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence. Thankfully thought, they accepted the medical records and dismissed my father in law's testimony. They reiterated other minor reasons which we already addressed in our response to their NOID. 

 

Long and short, we re-filed immediately and our interview comes up in a few weeks. We have addressed all the minor issues raised and have more evidence. My wife's banking flags have been been dropped and we now have one single account where our pays checks go and all our bills come out of. The statements only go as far as eleven months ago so we hope that's okay. We also have joint brokerage accounts that we fund monthly and she's also listed as the beneficiary on my 401k, IRA and health insurance plans at work. We now have joint debt together as well. We also have a living will and power of attorney. We would be submitting credit card statements too. IDs showing same address, different letters, cards and mails addressed to both of us, joint purchases, joint memberships, dog adoption paperwork, gifts receipts, gifts exchanged with my wife's family during Christmas, more pictures(my parents also visited from my home country and stayed with us for two weeks and met my wife's parents) affidavits, more recent taxes all of these in addition to the previously submitted taxes, joint leases, utilities, auto, health and renters and life insurance, pictures etc. We would also be submitting three years worth of daily text conversations as husband and wife and phone records dating back to a year ago. That's all I can think of for now. Our document stack is about ten inches tall. Besides the evidence, we've also addressed all minor reasons listed in the denial and just hope it would be enough this time. We would also be going with an attorney this time. Do you think our evidence of bonafides is okay? 

[pushbrk 12,122]

Note that one reason you are getting strange advice is that you are adjusting status, but posted your question in a spouse visa forum.  Expect your topic to be moved to the correct forum soon.  What kind of visa are you adjusting from?

[Ryan H 3,791]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum.

[Jeffiejay01 7]

41 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Note that one reason you are getting strange advice is that you are adjusting status, but posted your question in a spouse visa forum.  Expect your topic to be moved to the correct forum soon.  What kind of visa are you adjusting from?

OH. Didn't realize that. Thank you. I'm a newbie here so I don't have a grip of it yet. I'm adjusting from F1 Visa.