Lex Specialis

Cheating having occurred before the AOS interview doesn't meant that the marriage wasn't real especially since it was the US citizen spouse, not the foreign national who committed such acts. They have children together, they are having trouble in their relationship, life goes on. And it's every spouse's right to end their divorce when they see fit.

To the OP, I hope these posts have given you an idea of the position that you find yourself in and the options that are available to you.

Absolutely kiss his a** and beg for forgiveness to work on your marriage until that interview, which should not be very long from now, and if you get approved (if you have two children with him, it should not be an issue as to the good faith of the marriage) you will get your conditional green card. Now, once you have your two year GC, you are in the driver's seat because you can self petition to receive the ten year GC without him if you can show that the marriage was entered into good faith. Having two kids with him helps, the fact that you lived together, and the fact that you can allege in the divorce papers (which you will file after your interview) that he had multiple affairs, or if your state doesn't support such filings in family court, you can submit an affidavit to the USCIS from you and mutual friends who know or will become aware by then of the affairs. Then you can get your 10 year green card and the only difference is instead of getting citizenship three years after you get your first green card, you will have to wait 5 years before you get it, probably a small price to pay to get out of that marriage.

But the options for you before that interview are very small if not non-existent. The options for you after the interview and after you get your green card are fairly reasonable. My advice is that you do for the sake of your kids everything you can, despite how difficult that may be over the next few weeks, to swallow your pride and stay in that marriage until the interview is aced, and after it arrives, to start preparing for your post-divorce life, including getting employment etc. I would then file for divorce, seeking alimony, child support etc. In the divorce papers if the family court forms allow, name the affairs and start the proceedings. Then, once you have income from a job and his child support coming in, get yourself a lawyer to help prepare your "removal of conditions" petition which will be due not earlier than 1 year and nine months after you get your green card but definitely no later than two years after the green card expires. Because you will only have one shot at it, and while I think on the facts that you have presented you have an excellent shot of getting approved, it is not a 100% shot and you want a professional to prepare it to avoid simple mistakes, you should get a lawyer and you will have over 18 months to get the money together.

Don't think I am unsympathetic to your situation. I stayed with my ex-wife for six months longer than I should have because she was physically abusive and threatened to call the police if I defended myself to tell them I hit her first. I am 8 inches taller and 80 pounds heavier and a man and I knew this was not an empty threat. I stayed and endured the abuse because I was dead broke back then and she made all the money and I couldn't afford to get out. Six months later, I got enough cash to get myself out of the country, sneaking out while she was at work. I snuck out to the airport from my own home with barely a suitcase packed and once I was on the plane my divorce lawyer called her to tell her the divorce papers had been filed. This way, if she called the cops I had an alibi that I was nowhere near her and would be able to convince the cops that the allegations were a retaliation for the divorce. It worked legally but it emotionally screwed me up for years. I told you this story because I don't want you to think that I am unsympathetic to marriage horrors and if there is no physical abuse in your relationship, pretending to love and want to stay married to a man who makes your skin crawl because he has slept with numerous other women is difficult, but if your interview is in a few weeks, it is doable. And it is to your advantage to be on the "let's make this work" train until then because your options open up after your GC is in your purse.

According to their chart, the CSC's priority dates for K-1 are middle of July. The DACA applicants priority dates are in mid August and their work permits are processed within 90 days. In other words, an illegal alien will both get a work permit and get an order preventing him from being deported faster than a US citizen will to get his or her spouse here. To say that I am disappointed in my government is an understatement.

My case was last touch last 03/28/2013 but still in Initial Review. I think it's because of the expedite request support documents that I sent them that's why they touch my case.

Igor's List has 8 Sep 12 NOA1 approved already, but vast majority of them are still pending, including mine.

Thank you thank you thank you You have said all this perfectly ....... I for one loved you rant so rant on...... we are all in this together and am also very unhappy about all the illegals getting attended to before us ..... my question is they have been here for years and years and now all of a sudden its very important for them to be legal my question is why why why why????? Sorry i just couldnt wait any longer had to put my 2 cents in

It's called lobbying power. K-1 people are by definition a temporary group. Once we are out of it, we are not likely to be concerned with the question of processing times again. Meanwhile there are so many undocumented workers and this is their Number 1 concern for years and will continue to be for years, that they have activist groups, who lobby Obama, whose people cut the deals that they cut. There are no activist groups for US citizens marrying foreigners unless you consider mail order bride match maker services, and they are not exactly full of political clout. The only time they get on television is when Dateline runs a special on what an exploitive practice it is to outrage their suburban female viewers that their husbands/sons/brothers are really looking for submissive foreigners to take their place. That was my rant.

With Immigration reform taking center stage now, the best thing you can do is let your Congressperson know that DACA applicants are given priority over US citizens in processing. Couple of benefits - Most Congresspersons don't know this and they will start to raise questions, and this is going to concern the executive branch's higher ups who need a bipartisan deal in Congress for their reform bill or else it won't pass. So they will be responsive. Secondly, there has been anecdotal evidence from certain people who have gotten approved from the CSC for a K-1 that USCIS approved their application shortly after they heard from their Congressman. My representative wrote me that they made an inquiry and we should hear in about two weeks (that was a week ago)so if it helps expedite I will be sure to post on here and let you know.

It's still better to send in additional docs instead of waiting for an RFE. If they sit in a box somewhere and deny it later because of those docs without having seen them, you can file a motion to reconsider on the grounds of Service error and you will provide proof of sending those in. Although I have to agree, denial is not likely as a result of the photos and G-325s missing. It was likely more substantive than that.

Congrats. Just curious, how long did it take you before you submitted your inquiry to your Congressperson to hear from their office? I want to know when it's a good time to start bothering my congresswoman's staff.

Great work and confirms what we have known. I suspect that DACA apps are being given priority because frankly there is a bigger lobby for their processing. US K-1ers are by nature temporary and our interest in them drops off (for most of us) as soon as it is processed. Not enough time to organize an interest group, which is why we get screwed. Same how 18-21 year olds can't form an advocacy group to lower the drinking age limit to combat MADD. They have maybe one election during that period to make their voices heard and as soon as they are old enough to realize how to organize, they are no longer pissed off about not being let into clubs because of age because they have turned 21.

A Belgian national probably cannot adjust status in the US if he is here as a visitor under the Visa Waiver Program. After you get married, you could file for his I-130 while he is stateside, he can stay here as long as he is legally allowed (90 days max I believe) but he would need to go to Brussels or whatever local US consulate there is to get his passport stamped with an immigrant visa. If he were here on a student visa or another type of non-immigrant visa, that is a different thing. Although the statute (INA section 245 section ©(4)) seems to say it's ok for an alien to adjust status if he or she is here on the VWP can adjust status based on a US citizen spouse, it has been a contraversial issue and USCIS takes a different position. Here is a link to an article that might be helpful for you.

http://www.montaglaw.com/2012/03/11/visa-waiver-adjustment-no-love-in-the-city-of-brotherly-love/

If he beats you, there is a 99% chance he will beat your child. So that's your deal. There aren't remedies for him unless he has another qualifying relative. If he has an employee to sponsor him he can only be out of status for 180 days, not more under Section 245k. I don't think you are gonna get a lot of child support from an abusive spouse. Having been divorced from one myself, believe me I speak from experience - the longer you and your child are attached to him, the longer you will both suffer.

The fact that you have family and/or friends in the US, have lived here since you were little, had violated the terms of your visitor visa stay previously, and come from one of the four biggest immigration suppliers to the US (Mexico, China, Phillippines and India) - those are all factors which work AGAINST the US willing to give you a tourist visa.

If you are interested in immigrating to the US, I would suggest you contact an attorney in San Diego to help you apply for a green card through a qualifying relative, assuming you have one. Even if you do, you will need a lawyer since you had that ban once (although I had never heard of a 5 year ban, only 3 and 10 - must have been a long time ago when the rules were different for unlawful presence) and your application would be complicated. If you are just looking to visit, you can certainly apply, play up your ties to Mexico (job, real property, family in Mexico) and play DOWN the ties you have to the US because you are only seeking to come to the US for purposes of visitation. But the odds are against you.

If you are divorced, you eligible to get your Green Card after 5 years of residence so at best they can deny you now. If at the time you applied for the benefit you were living and married to your spouse then you were eligible for the three year requirement. I would infopass it first at your local USCIS office. You can schedule the infopass on the website. They will blow you off at the front counter, so ask to speak to a supervisor and explain to him/her that your citizenship application is pending outside the normal processing times and you need to make an inquiry. They have been known to help then.

your next step is contacting the USCIS Ombudsman through their website because they can help when you are outside the processing times. Lastly, you can write your Congressperson regarding the situation. I don't see that you need to provide any information regarding your application when you ask. You are simply asking for status.

Worse comes to worse, you can reapply 90 days before the expiration of the 5 year period. It could have been lost through the cracks (not the first time, believe you me) or it could be a more complicated Natz application if you have some answers that you checked off as yes regarding criminal history (or perhaps their background check on you came up with some stuff if you have a similarly named person, or a fellow Moroccan with a similar name is on a no-fly list or a person of interest for our intelligence services - this has been a big issue for men under 35 who are nationals of Middle Eastern countries or Muslim nations in South and Southeast Asia), or you checked off any of the political activities questions and other matters relating to moral turpitude, willingness to serve this country, etc.

Hi folks, today I submitted a request to my Congressperson in order to get assistance with the USCIS over my pending petition for my fiancee's K-1 visa. If you plan on doing the same, but don't have the time to write a letter, I am going to post mine as a sample. Feel free to edit, add or take away whatever you wish. Hope this is helpful.

Dear Representative ********:

I am a registered voter and a resident in your district and I am writing to ask for your help in contacting a federal agency, specifically the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). I have filed a petition for a K-1 visa on behalf of my fiancée, a foreign national, so that we may get married here in the United States. The petition, a copy of the receipt of which is attached to this letter, has been pending since ********* 2012.

The USCIS states that its goal is to process visa petitions within five (5) months of receipt. The application has been pending for more than that time. Once cases are outside processing times, the ordinary recourse for a person such as myself is to contact the USCIS Ombudsman. The “processing times” are posted on the agency’s website, which indicates that the processing times charts are updated “on or about the 15th of each month”. I am enclosing a copy the relevant processing time chart which indicates that it has not been updated since February 5, 2013. You will note that the last posting contained data for petitions and applications only up to December 31, 2012.

Because the USCIS has not updated its charts with data for the entire calendar year, the “processing times” have not moved. As a result, citizens such as myself cannot obtain assistance from the USCIS Ombudsman because by violating its own deadlines and procedures, the USCIS artificially makes it appear as though my petition is not outside normal time frames for processing these applications.

I have attempted to call the USCIS customer number and the officers have refused to provide any additional information besides what is on the website. They have been extremely rude, unhelpful and unprofessional. I understand that with President Obama’s Executive Orders authorizing the DACA program and the Provisional Waiver program, the USCIS has been flooded with applications by undocumented workers who have applied for this benefit. However, those applications have brought in extra revenue to the agency which should have been allocated to hire more officers to process the workload. As an agency that is almost entirely self funded through fees, the USCIS is not affected by the nation’s current fiscal issues, be it the sequester or other budget cuts.

While I respect and support the President’s initiatives for undocumented workers, it is outrageous that the USCIS is processing those applications, for people who are already in the United States, ahead of the applications submitted by United States citizens who are trying to legally bring their future spouses to the United States, and must necessarily remain separated from their loved ones for several months at a time during their pendency.

The K-1 fiancée visa was always intended to be an expeditious petition, and it appears that the USCIS has put them in the low priority category. In order to mitigate the strain that the long separation is placing on our relationship with my fiancée, I have had to take extensive time off work in order to travel abroad (my fiancée is not eligible to visit me in the US while the fiancée visa is pending) and as a result have incurred considerable expenses in traveling and time off work, not to mention that it has also taken a considerable emotional toll.

I would kindly ask that your office contact the USCIS and inquire what the status is on my petition and insist that it be expedited. Citizens who are attempting to bring their spouses to the United States within the confines of the law deserve better treatment from our government. Thank you very much for your time and your anticipated assistance.

I am kicking myself because I told my fiancee waiting to get married till we get to the States will let us be together sooner. Now that K-1 times are the same or longer as consularly processing an I-130, we could have just gotten married and she would at least be here with a green card around the same time, so we don't have to spend more money in fees for the CIS, or extra hassle with it and with getting all her documents like her passports changed in her home country from the US once she changes her last name here in the US. It's pathetic. And they purposefully don't update the Processing times since Dec 31 so the Ombudsman doesn't get overwhelmed.

Very grateful to all the helpful individuals out there!

I am Canadian, my wife is a USC. We met in 2006 while overseas and were married in the US in September 2008. After we were married my wife came to Canada for a few months, we traveled abroad together and then returned to Canada to volunteer with a non-profit. Then in August 2009 we entered the US where I began school on an F1 Visa.

My F1 visa will expire in July. Can we file an I-130 petition and AOS to greencard from my current F1 status? Do I just follow the Guide for the petition of a spouse living in the US? Anyone see any hiccups or potential problems here?

Thanks so very much,

canuck-in-chitown

No hiccups. I-130 concurrently filed with a I-485/I-765. However, since you are married more than 2 years, you should get a 10 year green card, not a two year and do not need to go through removal of conditions.

New ones. Most police certificates are considered expired after 6 months I believe.

Yeah I figured but wanted to make sure. it was kind of a pain in the #### to get em last time. Thanks for the reply to all.

Waiting times in not a problem for him,unless he can do AOS,without returning in his home country,thanks guys

He definitely should not leave the US coz he is out of status (i presume for more than 6 months) so leaving would trigger the 10 year bar.

He is 23 year old,not married,and he got visitor visa and overstayed

Assuming no criminal record, no false claims of citizenship etc. overstay is not a problem, but wait time is. LPR dad can file the I-130 but the adjustment of status will not happen until his priority date becomes current, which as of now in Cali is in Oct 2010. you can check the other centers for their own processing times. And because he is over 21, he is not considered an immediate relative and goes into a visa capped family based immigration category, so it won't help for purposes of wait time if his dad becomes a USC. The priority date on that one in California is even further back. (Jan 2010).

are you a lawyer? If you have only done one in "your career" how would you know how closely they are scrutinized?

yes I am a lawyer but my practice was 5% immigration and is starting to rise now with DACA and PWs. I expect it will rise further if the immigration reform bill is passed. And my "experience" also includes talking to other immigration lawyers and attending seminars on the topic of immigration law. I don't post my contact info on here because I am not on this board trying to solicit business. Just another guy in a similar boat with my fiancee and I appreciate the support while we all wait. So since this is your second terse reply to me today in two different threads, I would appreciate if you ease off before the mods become involved.

Congrats. However, this post is totally useless without you having a timeline or without at least saying in your post what your NOA1 date was.

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with temporary work permits (particularly TN status)while waiting for their K1? Could it interfere with my K1 or are they likely to just deny me? If anyone can help or direct me to where I could find this information that would be great. I have a science degree so I think I would fall under the NAFTA agreement and could consider TN status. I just recently started looking into this. I'm so depressed being stuck in Canada, I hate my job and where I live, so if I could get down to the US a little sooner I would!

Thank you!

Melissa

I have only done one TN visa app in my whole career, but my experience is that they don't scrutinize these too closely but since you have a K-1 pending, that may be a bar. Although K-1 is a non=immigrant visa, it demonstrates immigrant intent, which you can't have when on a TN. In that respect it is not like an H-1B. Also you have to wait for at least 90 days (preferably longer) in my opinion before you adjust for status while on a TN visa (possibly more) because they will deny it on the grounds of fraudulently entering the US on the TN visa if you do it sooner than that. I know it is a difficult and frustrating wait, but I would say the money and chances of success probably say you should wait for your K-1 to be approved.

:thumbs:get your social, file AOS asap is always the rule.

If you were admitted and inspected when you entered the US, (and you were on a K-1) then even though you are out of status you can still adjust as an overstay on the basis of a marriage. I would file the application as quickly as possible because you are accruing unlawful presence. The longer you do it, the worse it looks. Do NOT leave the country. Stay out of the USCIS' radar until the AOS interview. If you are picked up by ICE agents, you can be placed in removal proceedings until you get your green card.

This individual needs to contact counsel at once. Under certain circumstances, you can get a waiver for US citizenship if you have been convicted of fraud, sexual assault or other crimes. If you are found to have under penalty of perjury claimed US citizenship without actually having it, there is no waiver. Hopefully that gives you an idea of how serious this is and why a lawyer is needed. There are defenses (lack of intent for instance), but a pro needs to do the app and accompanying cover letter.

this issue can result not only in the denial of the N-400, but most likely an issuance of the Notice to Appear in Immigration Court at the natz interview and the start of removal proceedings. Then it gets more complicated and more expensive.