Which evidence to include for I-130 long distance

[jma132 2]

11 hours ago, pushbrk said:

 

In what way was the relationship mentioned?  Was it in the interview conversation, or on the visa application?  If on the application, what exactly did she state as her marital status on the application?

It was mentioned during the application. In the marital status it exactly said "Common Law Marriage" which in their table definition in the DS160 page it mentions "Union Libre" for Spanish

[Crazy Cat 46,602]

1 hour ago, jma132 said:

Yeah. They filled it for her 😕

OK.  Sometimes these agencies will say a person is married on a non-immigrant visa application  in order to show stronger ties to home country.....but that triggers the need for a divorce decree when applying for an immigrant visa later since past visa application history is reviewed.  Of course, you can't provide a divorce decree for a marriage which never happened.  I have seen multiple times this has happened, but I have never seen a case end in a positive outcome.  As @pushbrk stated, there is also the possibility of a misrep charge in some cases.  Hopefully you can explain the common law situation if questions arise from USCIS or the consulate. 

 

The agencies who fill out the applications never have to deal with the consequences of their actions. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[jma132 2]

5 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

OK.  Sometimes these agencies will say a person is married on a non-immigrant visa application  in order to show stronger ties to home country.....but that triggers the need for a divorce decree when applying for an immigrant visa later.  Of course, you can't provide a divorce decree for a marriage which never happened.  I have seen multiple times this has happened, but I have never seen a case end in a positive outcome.  As @pushbrk stated, there is also the possibility of a misrep charge in some cases.  Hopefully you can explain the common law situation if questions arise from USCIS or the consulate. 

In her country we can obtain historical records of marital status that shows which years she has been single.

 

https://ayuda.jce.gob.do/kb/a186/como-solicito-una-certificacion-de-no-casado-en-la-jce.aspx

 

Our best bet is to use those documentations + a sworn letter explaining it. The document bust me apostille before sending it.

[Boiler 48,989]

3 minutes ago, jma132 said:

In her country we can obtain historical records of marital status that shows which years she has been single.

 

https://ayuda.jce.gob.do/kb/a186/como-solicito-una-certificacion-de-no-casado-en-la-jce.aspx

 

Our best bet is to use those documentations + a sworn letter explaining it. The document bust me apostille before sending it.

 Like anywhere they only have records of what happened in that country. my Country has no record of what happened outside of it.

[jma132 2]

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

 Like anywhere they only have records of what happened in that country. my Country has no record of what happened outside of it.

This is a fair point. Would it be helpful if we try to obtain documents from the other countries she has been at? Or start with the local record and affidavit?

[Boiler 48,989]

How would you be able to show she has only visited certain countries.

 

Take the US for example, records are not held nationally.

[Crazy Cat 46,602]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Take the US for example, records are not held nationally.

Can you imagine someone having to get affidavits from all 50 states in order to say "I was never married in the US"? 🙂. Like I said earlier, it's easy to show proof of marriage.....but....

Edited 7 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[jma132 2]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

How would you be able to show she has only visited certain countries.

 

Take the US for example, records are not held nationally.

In our country, they stamp the passport for every return (and some destinations stamp it again at entry). Before applying for the DS160, she only visited a single country.

 

In the US we can get an I-94 which goes 10 years back showing entries and departures from the US.

[Boiler 48,989]

It seems unusual now to get passport stamps since most things have gone digital. As a child I think I always did, them sometime and now not sure.

 

I must admit I have not come across anywhere stamping Citizens in, but nearly 200 Countries bound to be some.

 

I have no idea how anyone could be certain which countries you visited between leaving and coming back.

 

 

[pushbrk 14,540]

4 hours ago, jma132 said:

It was mentioned during the application. In the marital status it exactly said "Common Law Marriage" which in their table definition in the DS160 page it mentions "Union Libre" for Spanish

 

Please be specific.  "Mentioned during the application" is not specific enough. Either a marital status was declared on the actual application of it was discussed DURING the interview.  Was "Union Libre" entered into the application form, or was it an available status to be selected (doubtful).  The only "during" is the interview.  If she represented herself as "married" to show ties to her home country, when she was not married, that can be a material misrepresentation resulting in a lifetime ban from entering the USA.  Get completely clear on this before moving forward.  It's a very serious matter.  Convenient interpretation of an explanation is not good enough.  Get the actual facts.

[pushbrk 14,540]

3 hours ago, jma132 said:

This is a fair point. Would it be helpful if we try to obtain documents from the other countries she has been at? Or start with the local record and affidavit?

I'm just going to say again, get the actual facts of her visa application, not a convenient interpretation of her explanation.

[S2N 702]

4 hours ago, Boiler said:

It seems unusual now to get passport stamps since most things have gone digital. As a child I think I always did, them sometime and now not sure.

 

I must admit I have not come across anywhere stamping Citizens in, but nearly 200 Countries bound to be some.

 

I have no idea how anyone could be certain which countries you visited between leaving and coming back.

 

 

A lot of LatAm still has exit passport controls with stamps, even for citizens. Those that don’t should (in theory) have the exit recorded in an internal database somewhere. 
 

Problem is that a lot of them also allow travel between friendly states on national ID cards, and there’s a decent chance of getting waved through.

[S2N 702]

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

I'm just going to say again, get the actual facts of her visa application, not a convenient interpretation of her explanation.

On this point if she: has trouble remembering and can’t access it anymore, she can FOIA the State Department for it so you have objective facts, and not recollections.