I-751: Abuse Waiver, No Interview? More interviewed?

[fromthewater 11]

Greetings!

 

Does anyone have the experience of being approved for abuse waiver without an interview?

Does abuse waiver have a higher chance of being requested for an interview?

 

I am asking because I originally submitted with only Divorce waiver, and I got an RFE. I talked to immigration professionals, and I have been advised to add in abuse waiver - because they believe I am qualified for that, and that I should write a personal statement.

I don’t have police report or restraining order, so I don’t feel strongly about a abuse waiver.

 

Now, I am debating if adding in abuse waiver is necessary. It seems like I could be approved with divorce waiver after responding to the RFE.

So - 

Does abuse waiver EVER get approved WITHOUT an interview?

Does abuse waiver have more chances/ more cases of being interviewed?

 

What would you do if it was you?

 

Much appreciated!

[Quarknase 1,072]

4 hours ago, fromthewater said:

Greetings!

 

Does anyone have the experience of being approved for abuse waiver without an interview?

Does abuse waiver have a higher chance of being requested for an interview?

 

I am asking because I originally submitted with only Divorce waiver, and I got an RFE. I talked to immigration professionals, and I have been advised to add in abuse waiver - because they believe I am qualified for that, and that I should write a personal statement.

I don’t have police report or restraining order, so I don’t feel strongly about a abuse waiver.

 

Now, I am debating if adding in abuse waiver is necessary. It seems like I could be approved with divorce waiver after responding to the RFE.

So - 

Does abuse waiver EVER get approved WITHOUT an interview?

Does abuse waiver have more chances/ more cases of being interviewed?

 

What would you do if it was you?

 

Much appreciated!

What did the RFE ask for? I believe the answer depends a little bit on that.

Generally if you can proof that you entered the marriage in good faith, there shouldn't be a problem getting approval with divorce waiver.

Abuse waiver just adds an additional burden of proof to you - with the divorce waiver, you need to proof that you entered the marriage in good faith. With the abuse waiver, you need to proof that you entered the marriage in good faith AND that you are the victim of extreme cruelty/abuse.

[Demise 1,100]

It's hard to say and actually I have not had much exposure to VAWA I-751s. If they do interview you they'll likely only focus on the things they can like the bona fides of the marriage. The abuse part itself is only handled by either the VAWA team at VSC or the secondary VAWA team at LIN and not by whichever office generally handles I-751s or your field office.

 

Also keep in mind that they can approve the I-751 in part and deny in part. So they can decide that you have proved that you entered marriage in good faith and divorced, but didn't convince them as to the VAWA waiver, and didn't convince them that your removal would cause you extreme hardship. In a case like this, that is still an approval for almost all intents and purposes, the only thing you miss out if they deny the VAWA part of the application is that you have to wait 5 years to naturalize as opposed to the 3 years that a VAWA waiver would let you do.

[17Miller 30]

Hi @fromthewater , I'm on the same boat with you! And I also wonder if there would be any chance that the interview would be waived for filers who applied ROC with abuse waiver. Could you please let me know how it goes? I would love to share info and updates with you, we should totally keep in touch! Thx

[fromthewater 11]

On 4/23/2021 at 7:41 PM, MoreMoolahMoreMoi said:

Hi @fromthewater , I'm on the same boat with you! And I also wonder if there would be any chance that the interview would be waived for filers who applied ROC with abuse waiver. Could you please let me know how it goes? I would love to share info and updates with you, we should totally keep in touch! Thx

There is no guarantee whether an I-751 applicant will have an interview or not. But here is safe bet, if one had an interview during I-485 for their first green card, then it is likely that they will be approved for I-751 without an interview, of course, subjected that your marriage was bona fide and you're providing substantial proofs.

 

Another way to guess is based on your receipt number letters. For example, in places where California Service Center is where issues your receipt, MSC would likely to get an interview, whereas WAC is likely to be without an interview. People who got WAC receipts usually were interviewed when applying for their CPR.

 

It is common that they issue an RFE. So as long as you are legit and are able to provide sufficient amount of evidence, there is really nothing to worry about. 

 

Again, this is just a general trend, not absolute, and there are definitely cases where it is not aligned with what I stated above. So, please only take this as a general guess and do not take it as 100% or try to argue about it.

[Villanelle 4,121]

@fromthewater I must have missed this thread back when you posted it. Here is a link showing a RFE sample for abuse waiver. The actual RFE they send is typically 5 or 6 pages so the link is a sample condensed version of the RFE one would get if they havent established abuse. Your statement may infact be enough to approve you depending on its contents. Also every attny is different but typically they dont encourage you to select the abuse box unless they truly believe you will qualify. Usually when they think people may not qualify for ROC for whatever issue they encourage you to check the hardship waiver as a legal strategy.

 

It sounds like perhaps you did not have a lot of evidence of bonafides(hence the first RFE) and there was in fact abuse - in which case the attny advised you correctly. The abuse waiver does need to prove bonafide +abuse but when you establish abuse they take into account the fact that you may not have much bonafide type proof due to the abuse.

 

https://www.olender.pro/sites/default/files/Conditional Residence - Sample I-751 Request for Evidence.pdf