Marriage then recent divorce

[SugarPlumFairy 3]

Hi all, 

 

I have a few questions:

 

I received my permanent resident card in 2017 and my US husband and I just recently divorced. I know I can apply for citizenship based on physical presence; however, if I was a stay at home mom during 2020 and 2021, how can I demonstrate that I have not "willfully failed or refused to support dependents"? I gave birth in 2020 to our second child and we did have a joint checking account, but my husband was the primary breadwinner. I did "support" in other ways such as attending parenting classes so does this count?

 

Thanks for any help. 

[OldUser 10,023]

If you had full custody of kids, I don't think you're expected to prove child support. Were you ordered by court to pay child support after divorcing? 

[SugarPlumFairy 3]

Our divorce was only finalized last week and we have had 50-50 custody (basically from November 2023 to today). Prior to this time, I was a stay at home Mom and worked parttime during this time. My spouse had signed an affidavit of support for me for my permanent residency, so would his payments to pay for child-related expenses prior to November 2023 be sufficient?

[SugarPlumFairy 3]

Just now, SugarPlumFairy said:

Our divorce was only finalized last week and we have had 50-50 custody (basically from November 2023 to today). Prior to this time, I was a stay at home Mom and worked parttime during this time. My spouse had signed an affidavit of support for me for my permanent residency, so would his payments to pay for child-related expenses prior to November 2023 be sufficient?

The calculations for child support were that he would be owing me a small monetary amount, but we agreed to do a $0 transfer instead (so no one pays each other) on our divorce decree. We do have an agreement to demonstrate support in other ways post-divorce (such as paying for childcare).

[Marieke H 2,558]

Are you referring to question 17g in Part 9? You do not need to provide evidence; you just indicate if you ever failed to pay child support or alimony. In your case, the answer is no, because you were never ordered to do so.

[SugarPlumFairy 3]

19 hours ago, Marieke H said:

Are you referring to question 17g in Part 9? You do not need to provide evidence; you just indicate if you ever failed to pay child support or alimony. In your case, the answer is no, because you were never ordered to do so.

No, I'm looking at Part 6. Information About Your Children. In the table below, it asks "Are you providing support for your son or daughter?" After divorce, I'm certainly supporting them for sure, but I'm unclear about what it means by statutory period. Does that mean the entire five years beforehand (prior to divorce, obviously my husband and me were together and had full custody of the kids but he was the main breadwinner) or does this just mean post-divorce. Either way, it looks like I need to provide evidence (per page 15 in the N-400 instructions) when it says, "An applicant who willfully failed or refused to support his or her dependents during the statutory period, even if there is no court-ordered child support, cannot establish good moral character (GMC) unless the applicant establishes extenuating circumstances." Again, not sure if this means during the marriage or post-divorce/living apart from spouse.