jamiejohnson

No experience but from what you stated here,I can see a light at the end of the tunnel...

Thank you for your reassurance Onye!

Is anybody able to give me some advice as to if this is a normal experience?

Thanks in advance.

Does anyone have any advice or thoughts that they can lend? In hindsight I thought it was positive that she said what she said at the end but it doesn't help worrying..

I was married in 2010 moved with spouse (USC) back home to Ireland for 1 year until November 2011 and then we came to the US to live.

We were divorced in early 2014.

I had my I-751 Interview today and wanted to get your thoughts...

Having filed to remove the conditions a couple of weeks after my divorce was final, I was given an interview date. My wife and I entered the marriage in good faith. The marriage itself broke down by early 2013.

I went to the interview alone today and was sworn in. I was asked some tough questions such as "what went wrong in the marriage" I said that it broke down over time. My wife was a difficult person and was on medication. She asked if I live with someone now and I said that I have a new girlfriend. She asked about the living situation with my ex-wife in the US and I said that we lived with her parents the whole time and never had a place of our own.

The evidence that I supplied was:

Joint bank account info - though this did not cover the entire time we were married. Just the first couple if years as we has seperate accounts for the most part in the US.

Photos. I supplied what I had. She asked if i had more and why not and I said that we had a ton but most of these were in my wifes possession.

Affidavits.

Joint Phone - though this was in her name as i did not have credit when i first arrived in the US. I had bill eveidence that i had paid for the phone.

100 Pages of letters to each other which read like a book of our thoughts, why we had loved each other and what went wrong.

Divorce decree.

The IO said seemed nice and would smile occassionally and then every so often would put on a stern interrogation face so it was extremely hard to read her feelings. She remarked that we did not have much together that suggested co-existence. I said that whilst this is true, we had a lot of evidence that suggested that we did not marry for immigration purposes. I told her that many of the photos that we had as a couple were left at her apartment and I noted that whilst you are married, you never think to keep everything after a divorce, just on the chance that one day your relationship would be brought into question and you would need that information. I also commented that my mother and father were married for 55 years and throughout this period had seperate accounts. Filed taxes seperately etc etc. She somewhat agreed but said that she had a job to do.

She looked and perused the file and said that there was some conflicting evidence and I said what is it, i'll be glad to clear it up for her. she didn't go into detail. i said that i apologize in advance if some of the dates are off by a couple of weeks or a month but that it is hard to get the past 4 years down to a tee.

She asked if they had my fingerprints. I said that I believed they had.

She said that honestly, I did not have a lot of evidence and that most people come in there armed with information. I agreed and said "but the information that i do have should confirm that our marriage was legitimate and that we were very much in love". At this point i started to get a bit upset and i think she noticed that i was struggling a bit.

It is a really tough situation for anybody that has to go through this. I never planned on getting a divorce and I never planned on everything being brought into question and interrogated so ruthlessly but i guess that is there job and i accept that.

Again, i commented to her that when we were first married our goal was to live in Ireland and it wasn't until my ex-wife became sick that we decided it would be best for her to be around her family. She also struggled for work there and we thought that her being in the US would also be a benefit. The IO listened and nodded. I said that we didn't get together for a visa. The IO said, "yeah i know, you didn't come to the US straight away, you went to Ireland" and i said exactly.

At this point the IO said that she would need more time to go through all of the documentation and that I should hear from them in 60-120 days.

I said thank you and she thanked me for coming in. Prior to leaving I said to her that it had been a tough experience for me and that our marriage was entered into in good faith. I think that deep down she could tell that I was being honest about that. At which point the IO said "well you're here now. Do you plan on staying?" I said that i hoped so but that would be up to her.

She then saw me out.

I have read many peoples experiences on here but I just wanted to see what other people thought? Just massively concerned. I guess that there is nothing that I can do about it now, just have to sit and wait.

You won't occur an automatic ban, but they will give you a hard time over it at interview, and it may cause them to look for other reasons to deny your visa, because they COs don't like it when immigration rules are being flaunted. Why do you want to risk anything when you are so close to your goal? What is so important that you have to overstay 40 days? Remember you also have to do a medical in London etc...

I have had my medical in London. I am literally just awaiting my CR1 interview date, which will also be in London. I am prepared to answer any questions relating to a slight overstay but I am not sure why I would be denied a CR1 visa for a small overstay. My reasoning is because my wife suffers from depression and I do not want her to be alone for the final month or so.

I appreciate all of your opinions and my gut feeling is that so long as i do not overstay by more than 180 days all will be ok. I have spoken to a lawyer in the U.S who pretty much confirmed this to me. I was just curious to know if anyone had been denied a CR1 visa after having a small overstay on a visa waiver. It appears not??!!

Anyone help?

??

Maybe I should pose the question another way.

Has anybody been in a similar situation and had a slight overstay UNDER 180 days and then had problems when having their CR1 Spouse visa Interview?

Anyone help?

Maybe I should pose the question another way.

Has anybody been in a similar situation and had a slight overstay UNDER 180 days and then had problems when having their CR1 Spouse visa Interview?

As they said above any over stay will effect your application

Thats not quite what they said above though.

"But if the overstay is less than 180 days it will probably be forgiven"

I just had this confirmed by an immigration lawyer who said it shouldn't effect it at all. I was mainly looking for some feedback from somebody who had been through a similar situation.

Maybe i should pose the question another way.

Has anybody overstayed in the U.S on a visa waiver under 180 days and had problems at the interview stage for a U.S Spouse visa??

Thanks.

Overstays of up to 180 days are typically forgiven for spouses of US citizens. Overstays of 180 - 365 days will typically incur a 3 year bar from entry, and overstays more than one year will result in a 10 year bar.

That being said, if your visa interview is coming up soon i personally really wouldn't risk even a day of overstay.

The answer to your question is yes, it will matter. But if the overstay is less than 180 days it will probably be forgiven.

Thanks for your replys.

My interview will be in London in a month. I would be overstaying by approximately 40 days.

Would this effect my CR1 Interview?

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody could help with a question that I have?

I am currently on the verge of an overstay in the U.S. My current visa waiver is coming to an end and I am eagerly awaiting my interview for the CR1 Spouse Visa.

Can anybody tell me if a visa waiver overstay has any effect on the CR1 Visa? i.e if i do overstay would that give the consular any reason to refuse me my U.S spouse visa?

Thanks so much in advance.