Divorce before or after filing i-751

[mimipimpaporn 4]

Updates

 

I'm filing for divorce as soon as today or tomorrow to get the ball rolling.

I had a consultation with an immigration lawyer who suggested the same thing, to divorce asap and file i-751.

 

My concern right now is the timing for RFE. My jurisdiction requires 120 days of waiting period, which will be Feb 1, 2024, if I file today.

I will be filing i-751 on Dec 24, 2023. When do they usually ask for RFE? Would they be asking for finalized divorce paper? And would they give me some time to send back?

I'm just worried that I won't have the finalized paperwork ready when RFE requested and then risk being removed from the states.

[Mike E 11,725]

17 minutes ago, mimipimpaporn said:

When do they usually ask for RFE? Would they be asking for finalized divorce paper? And would they give me some time to send back?

The RFE could come as soon as you file I-751. It will give you 87 days to produce a final divorce decree.

 

Given the backlog of I-751s and low priority USCIS gives I-751s, I believe it is probable the RFE will come  no sooner than  2 months after you file I-751.

 

Your GC expires March 2024. It is not to your benefit to file I-751 in December. File in February, 2024, 30 days before your GC expires. This:

 

* buys you more time to get your final divorce decree. You might even have it in hand by then.

 

* gives you plenty of time to get get your  48 month extension letter before your GC expires

 

* gives you more opportunity to make any critical international travels. Once you file a divorce waiver I-751, I suggest not leaving the U.S. until I-751 is approved. See my comments in  https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/807666-is-this-normal-applied-for-i751-since-jan-2020/page/2/ to understand why

 

 

 

[mimipimpaporn 4]

14 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The RFE could come as soon as you file I-751. It will give you 87 days to produce a final divorce decree.

 

Given the backlog of I-751s and low priority USCIS gives I-751s, I believe it is probable the RFE will come  no sooner than  2 months after you file I-751.

 

Your GC expires March 2024. It is not to your benefit to file I-751 in December. File in February, 2024, 30 days before your GC expires. This:

 

* buys you more time to get your final divorce decree. You might even have it in hand by then.

 

* gives you plenty of time to get get your  48 month extension letter before your GC expires

 

* gives you more opportunity to make any critical international travels. Once you file a divorce waiver I-751, I suggest not leaving the U.S. until I-751 is approved. See my comments in  https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/807666-is-this-normal-applied-for-i751-since-jan-2020/page/2/ to understand why

 

 

 

Thank you so much! 😭

[Mike E 11,725]

Also, if your final divorce decree arrives after you file I-751 and before the RFE, submit a photocopy of it instead of waiting for the RFE.

[OldUser 5,002]

1 hour ago, mimipimpaporn said:

My jurisdiction requires 120 days of waiting period, which will be Feb 1, 2024, if I file today.

That's not bad at all. Some jurisdictions require to wait 6 months.

[OldUser 5,002]

1 hour ago, mimipimpaporn said:

Hi OldUser, I'm not sure what this mean. Can you please elaborate more? Thank you.

If immigration lawyer is involved they can help you with this. Essentially, your spouse (or ex spouse at that time) will sign an affidavit / personal statement. This affidavit can be prepared by a lawyer after having a chat with spouse / ex spouse to confirm the facts.

It will contain history of how you guys met, married, how marriage went and potentially reasons why you split. In the statement the US citizen spouse / ex spouse will confirm that the marriage was bonafide and real, just didn't work out. E.g. they don't have objections for you staying in the US and getting 10 year GC.

 

This statement can help approving the case quicker and provide some protection in case if ex spouse later will write a mean letter to USCIS, accusing you of marrying them for green card or something like that.

 

Just make sure you're in good relationship with your spouse. It may be hard during divorce, but it helps if they're supporting you staying.

 

Either way, it's not wise to stay married for papers, as this can be seen as fraud.

[Me and her 277]

File I-751 with divorce waiver.

[TeddyFazBear 67]

7 hours ago, Mike E said:

* gives you more opportunity to make any critical international travels. Once you file a divorce waiver I-751, I suggest not leaving the U.S. until I-751 is approved. See my comments in  https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/807666-is-this-normal-applied-for-i751-since-jan-2020/page/2/ to understand why

 

 

 

There should be no issues at all with travel. I know the case you are referring to, the person in questions friend was on Hackings show getting advice on this and it was a very very very isolated and unprecedented incident. You can’t be kept out of the country til a judge revokes your status. All CBP see is a green card and an extension date. 

[Mike E 11,725]

1 hour ago, TeddyFazBear said:

this and it was a very very very isolated

As opposed to merely  “very very isolated”? What does that even mean? Vague language to produce an emotional reaction does not move me.  

 

Cases where houses burn down are isolated. And yet I suspect, if you own a house, you have fire insurance on it.  
 

1 hour ago, TeddyFazBear said:

unprecedented incident

No. 
 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/788194-i551-stamp-travel-in-removal-proceedings/

 

When that case was reported, I was disturbed, but figured it was just one off abuse by CBP. Now we we know it was not a one off. 
 

Quite simply unless a conditional LPR is in a blissful marriage, do not travel unless prepared for the worst case outcome. And if you do travel, enter at JFK or SFO.

 

I now think these incidents happen more often than we previously thought. 

 

1 hour ago, TeddyFazBear said:

You can’t be kept out of the country til a judge revokes your status.

Have I ever said otherwise?

 

The record will show that years ago, I was the one in this  website who challenged the then VisaJourney conventional wisdom (especially when applied to LPRs absent from the U.S. more than 180 days) that CBP has discretion to admit LPRs or not. 
 

But having a legal right to enter the U.S. has zero to do with CBP’s prerogative to detain anyone who arrives a port of entry, and where it sees proper cause, hand them over to ICE. 
 

ICE detention facilities are inside the territory of the U.S. 

 

Even U.S. citizens entering the US can be handed over to ICE.  https://www.newsweek.com/ice-detain-citizen-birth-certificate-aoc-francisco-galicia-1450791

 

1 hour ago, TeddyFazBear said:

All CBP see is a green card and an extension date. 

You really think CBP, an armed federal law enforcement agency is limited is that limited? 

 

Incorrect.

 

They can see your entire immigration record and history, and your criminal record. 
 

One time at YVR, my entrance to the U.S. as an LPR was conditioned on me correctly naming the university I attended as an F-1, more than 20 years prior, from an era where nothing INS had ob file was kept in computers.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2023 by Mike E

[HarryWL 262]

10 hours ago, mimipimpaporn said:

Updates

 

I'm filing for divorce as soon as today or tomorrow to get the ball rolling.

I had a consultation with an immigration lawyer who suggested the same thing, to divorce asap and file i-751.

 

My concern right now is the timing for RFE. My jurisdiction requires 120 days of waiting period, which will be Feb 1, 2024, if I file today.

I will be filing i-751 on Dec 24, 2023. When do they usually ask for RFE? Would they be asking for finalized divorce paper? And would they give me some time to send back?

I'm just worried that I won't have the finalized paperwork ready when RFE requested and then risk being removed from the states.

 

Based off my own I-751, I filed for divorce in July 2020. When I submitted my I-751 (with waiver) in September 2020, the divorce had not been finalized yet so I didn't have a decree to submit. I filed with a waiver but under the marital status section I filed married and put N/A for date marriage ended, because at this point I was still legally married. I got my decree like 2 weeks after and I waited till they asked for the additional documents. I want to say around 10 months later they issued an RFE, and requested a copy of the decree and the divorce petition, which I got from the courthouse. Couple weeks later, my status changed to ready for interview (which is where it has remained for the past 2 years). 

 

USCIS is super slow, don't expect anything to move fast. I wouldn't worry too much about it, get the divorce started and file your I-751 when the time comes. 

[Simone_Lee 17]

I experienced this -

 

I filed for naturalization based on 4 years GC + marriage. I applied before I filed for divorce - December '20;

Divorce was official in August '21; went to my interview as normal in November '21. Passed all the questions except when they asked if I was married.

 

They denied my application since I had submitted it under the 4-year-marriage eligibility. The immigration officer/interviewer said I wasn't in trouble or anything, but since I'm divorced now I have to refile under the 5-year-residential eligibility. I waited a while, reapplied, and am going for my next interview in a couple of weeks. I don't foresee a problem with this one... but the last one was pretty devastating. 

There really wasn't any way around it. He told me it's better that I didn't lie/try to skirt around it because if they found out I'd likely be banned from applying again for a few years, if ever. 

 

If you have your GC and can wait until you reach your 5 year GC mark, I'd do that. Definitely don't postpone your divorce unless it's reaaaallllllly amicable. And if it comes up in the interview, just cite "irreconcilable differences". 

 

*Edit: I was not aware that there was a divorce waiver. 

**Edit: Also, I'm not sure if you're still on conditional GC so my advice may be useless, but may could help someone at some time. 

 

Good luck with everything. It's painful enough ending a relationship. The time and anxiety and expenses that come with the immigration stuff just makes it more difficult, but it's worth it. 

Edited October 5, 2023 by Simone_Lee

[OldUser 5,002]

16 minutes ago, Simone_Lee said:

I experienced this -

 

I filed for naturalization based on 4 years GC + marriage. I applied before I filed for divorce - December '20;

Divorce was official in August '21; went to my interview as normal in November '21. Passed all the questions except when they asked if I was married.

 

 

Should have withdrawn N-400 the moment divorce was filed or at least before the interview. You got a nice IO. Some would have get upset / angry you proceeded with N-400 interview when ineligible for citizenship.

[Simone_Lee 17]

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Should have withdrawn N-400 the moment divorce was filed or at least before the interview. You got a nice IO. Some would have get upset / angry you proceeded with N-400 interview when ineligible for citizenship.

I did call to ask - they said to show up anyway 🤷‍♀️

[OldUser 5,002]

31 minutes ago, Simone_Lee said:

I did call to ask - they said to show up anyway 🤷‍♀️

I think to formally withdraw, one needs to write a letter or actually start the interview with request before answering anything

[Sparkle Sparkle 913]

No need to complicate an already complicated issue. Just file for a divorce and remove your conditions with a waiver