acgmph

Okay- so you are right, if there is NO DIVORCE and you refuse to sign the forms she doesnt qualify (she doesnt meet VAWA, hardship etc)
However the part you are missing which several people have expressed (not directly) is the following:
Divorce can be initiated by EITHER party in the marriage. There is no such thing as one spouse stating I dont want it so its not going to happen. No one is required to be married to someone they dont wish to be. It doesnt matter if both parties agree to the divorce, once it is initiated (by either spouse) it is going to happen.
So if you do not initiate the divorce- what will happen is once your spouse realizes you wont be filing for removal jointly (signing the forms) she will be forced to initiate the divorce (if she wants to ROC). USCIS has procedures for situations like this. She will file for divorce and submit them proof the divorce is pending but not approved yet. Basically they will accept that proof and delay making a decision on her ROC until the divorce is final. She may end up going to Immigration court to ask for such an extension. Its complicated but there are provisions for it.
There is nothing you can do to stop her from initiating the divorce nor stop the divorce from happening. Period.
On a side note I believe in PA there is a mandatory 12 month separation period before a divorce can occur. Your choice is whether you want to initiate divorce proceedings NOW (because you know the marriage is over) OR wait for her. She will then decide to initiate them so she can ROC or she may decide she doesnt want to be an LPR anymore and still file for divorce but leave the country rather then applying. The decision to apply or leave is going to be up to her. There is nothing you can do to affect this beyond having conversations and stressing to her your desire to have her leave and the pros of a pro/con list of doing so.

Here's what can happen: she gets close to the 90 days from her conditional GC expiring and will ask you to sign the ROC form. You say no. She gets an immigration lawyer that tells her she needs to divorce you. She divorces you. She gets the waiver. You cannot do anything to stop her. Stop thinking of ways to get her. Even if she is not an LPR, but a foreign citizen, she is still allowed to appear in court for the divorce if she so chooses and make your life a living hell... USC or not, LPR or not.

Here's what can happen: she gets close to the 90 days from her conditional GC expiring and will ask you to sign the ROC form. You say no. She gets an immigration lawyer that tells her she needs to divorce you. She divorces you. She gets the waiver. You cannot do anything to stop her. Stop thinking of ways to get her. Even if she is not an LPR, but a foreign citizen, she is still allowed to appear in court for the divorce if she so chooses and make your life a living hell... USC or not, LPR or not.

Here's what can happen: she gets close to the 90 days from her conditional GC expiring and will ask you to sign the ROC form. You say no. She gets an immigration lawyer that tells her she needs to divorce you. She divorces you. She gets the waiver. You cannot do anything to stop her. Stop thinking of ways to get her. Even if she is not an LPR, but a foreign citizen, she is still allowed to appear in court for the divorce if she so chooses and make your life a living hell... USC or not, LPR or not.

Here's what can happen: she gets close to the 90 days from her conditional GC expiring and will ask you to sign the ROC form. You say no. She gets an immigration lawyer that tells her she needs to divorce you. She divorces you. She gets the waiver. You cannot do anything to stop her. Stop thinking of ways to get her. Even if she is not an LPR, but a foreign citizen, she is still allowed to appear in court for the divorce if she so chooses and make your life a living hell... USC or not, LPR or not.

Here's what can happen: she gets close to the 90 days from her conditional GC expiring and will ask you to sign the ROC form. You say no. She gets an immigration lawyer that tells her she needs to divorce you. She divorces you. She gets the waiver. You cannot do anything to stop her. Stop thinking of ways to get her. Even if she is not an LPR, but a foreign citizen, she is still allowed to appear in court for the divorce if she so chooses and make your life a living hell... USC or not, LPR or not.

Here's what can happen: she gets close to the 90 days from her conditional GC expiring and will ask you to sign the ROC form. You say no. She gets an immigration lawyer that tells her she needs to divorce you. She divorces you. She gets the waiver. You cannot do anything to stop her. Stop thinking of ways to get her. Even if she is not an LPR, but a foreign citizen, she is still allowed to appear in court for the divorce if she so chooses and make your life a living hell... USC or not, LPR or not.

Do not hurry with your police certificates. They need to be no more than 6 months old at your interview. The Hungarian one will need to be translated into English, but your Dutch VOG will not, as the US Consulate in Amsterdam accepts all documents in Dutch or English, without the need for a translation. Your Hungarian one will need to be, though.
Looking at your profile, you have a good chance that your petition will be sent to the California Service Center, in which case you can already start preparing your documents for the interview, as they approve petitions very fast there (about 30 days or so).

Hi,
You first have to decide if you want to return to the US or stay in Europe for a few more years. If you want to return, then read on. Otherwise don't bother with a visa now and wait until you need one.
If there is an USCIS international office in your country you can go the DCF route (get married and apply for your spouse's visa directly in your country of residence instead of the USCIS in US). This saves a lot of time and will get you both to the US faster.
Even if there is no USCIS office in your country, you can also consider getting married first and apply while you're still in Europe. Your spouse will have the 2-year green card as soon as she enters the US so she will be able to work and travel immediately instead of waiting for another 3 months to adjust status.
If you're applying for a K1 and not use it, then it might bring some issues down the road when you apply again for immigration benefits, it will raise the level of scrutiny your petition will get and make it harder for your spouse/fiancée to get her visa in the future.
If you choose to get married first, you can do so in any country you choose (US, Europe or Iran) and take it from there. If you go the K1 route, then you have to get married in the US - so her friends and family from Iran might have a harder time (financial and visa) coming to the wedding.
Hope this helps.

Of course your friend can't get a US green card because he was mugged on the street... The U visas are for real victims of serious crimes, such as human trafficking and slavery.
It says on USCIS' website that "U nonimmigrant staus provides immigration protection to crime victims who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse as a result of crime. While being mugged can be a scary experience, it is nothing compared to victims of e.g. human trafficking and the U visa is there to help them find their way to some kind of normal life, while assisting police in getting the traffickers behind bars. Link to the information from USCIS:
http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/other-ways-get-green-card/green-card-victim-crime-u-nonimmigrant
If your friend wants to find a legal way to stay in the US there are other ways, e.g. work visa, spousal visa, student visa etc.
On a personal note, I wish people would think more about the consequences their actions have on other people. By putting in applications for a U visa because you've been mugged on the street or any other "petty" crime, it means that USCIS have to spend time dealing with those ridiculous applications, which takes time away from the real victims that do need and deserve the U visa.

Hi there!
I had my interview July 30 and received my passport and the k1 package back on August 4 end of the day. The consulate had a technical problem with printing visa just before I went in for my interview and the interviewer explained that they were still working on a backlog of delayed visa and that I should really take 5 business days as an indication. I got the k1 package + passport back in 3 business days, so I thought that was pretty quick.
I understand you are worried - I had that too and would have preferred the option of just picking the package up myself - but it sounds like your package is coming your way soon. You have a track and trace code, so you know your package is not lost or something. Worst case is that they don't find you at home when they deliver and you will have to pick it up at some PostNL point.

Then use her name before you got married (the one after the name change)...
Strange that she didn't get a new birth certificate... A legal name change means you get a new birth certificate basically.

Usually after a name change they issue a new birth certificate with the NEW name. Did she get a new birth certificate after her name change?

Maiden name = A woman's family name before she is married. Used of a surname that is replaced by a woman when she marries. Also called birth name.
If she received a new birth certificate with her name change, then that's the name you use. Otherwise use the name in her birth certificate.

Careful to have the DKTP (the K is very important), not only DTP.... I had the same and had to do it twice... and it hurts like a mother for a few days
You will also need BRM. See if your GP can do this for you.
She was not rude when I was there, she was just careless with writing on the paperwork... so be careful and read what she writes on those forms
Ah... and don't forget to bring 4 pasfotos, not just 2.

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you it will be easy and it will be fine. I can tell you from experience that this past year it has not been easy. Probably it will be greatest test your relationship will ever go through. Many of our friends and relatives told us marriage is easy compared to what we've been through this past year... We were fortunate enough that we could visit each other every month and the entire summer this year. So travel! I now it's expensive, but I sold my car here in The Netherlands so I can travel every month. We both made lifestyle sacrifices to be able to be together. If your relationship is strong, you will be stronger on the other side when this will be behind you. Hang in there!
And expect the process to take more like 9 months, not only 6
Edit: I wanted to add that whenever we were both home we had FaceTime on all the time. Even if we were not talking, just having it open helps a lot. Midnight calls, sleepless nights, all on FaceTime.

She needs to send you the original I134 with copies of support documents (IRS Tax Transcript or copy of tax return for 2014 is preferred, add W-2 if she has any recent ones). And again, please create a timeline so other members of this site can help.

It depends on the country. I don't know about Italy, but in The Netherlands you can easily do that - maintain a local account and have an US address and phone number attached to it. I get my statements and all the correspondence in the US. I presume, as we're both EU there are the same rules in Italy too.
To open an account in the US she will need an ID and the SSN (probably the card). Read on your bank's website if more documents are required. It will help to have a joint account (to later prove to USCIS a strong relationship and bonafide marriage when she applies for removing of contidions), so maybe go together to the bank and add her as a beneficiary to your account. Get a checkbook for her and debit/credit card as needed. If you don't want to share a bank account, then open a new one for her, and get a checkbook and debit card (being new to the country she will probably not get a credit card until she establishes credit).
Now, to transfer her funds is a bit more tricky, as the US does not participate in the international bank account numbers thingy (IBAN). So in order for her to make a transfer from Italy to the US she will need the SWIFT BIC code of her US bank, routing number (first group of numbers on the checkbook), account number (second group of numbers on the checkbook), name of the account, full address of the beneficiary (her US address) and the bank's address (HQ is fine, you don't need the branch address). From The Netherlands I can do this online with my bank, so it depends if her Italian bank offers this on their online banking system. If they do not, then she needs to do it from a physical branch location.
Hope this helps

Yes, we are very lucky, and in the same time made and making huge sacrifices to make that happen. Nothing is more important than being together
We're exactly in the same boat as you guys - we just need someone to have a look at the paperwork and stamp the approval, then print the NOA2

Thanks again to everyone who answered my post. Will let everyone know how it goes. Praying for a NOA2 in early May

Private corporations or even a marketplace capitalism has no place in immigration. The USCIS is not in the business of profit margins it's in the business of immigration. I'd shudder to think if immigration were turned into profiteering enterprise in which we are herded through like a McD's drive-thru or dare I say.. an insurance company. You would soon find it rife with corruption, waste, and another avenue for bloated corporate welfare. A business model would not work, as immigration is in of itself a federal affair that belongs solely in the government's lap. What it needs is better oversight, policies that make sense for all immigrants, modernization, electronic record keeping, better communication, more staff, and more centers that handle specific applications. All of these things require funds that simply aren't there (even April's suggestion of electronic records would be a massive undertaking, and while cutting out waste and saving money would still cost money to set up efficiently).
There are some governments that operate using an expedited fee model. This fee does very little if everyone decides that they too will cut in the line by paying an expedite, nor does it guarantee approval. And when your application is lost, messed up, or rejected that's another thousand dollars out of your pocket and a lot more frustration. There is enough heartache seen every day on this forum as it is...
And I'll point out that while most of us would all love to be processed and approved by now with the speed of CSC, we know that they have had many issues in actually getting our files to the NVC of late. This is why, even though it will take a shorter time, I'm hesitant to want to be at CSC right now. That tells me even though CSC might be speedy, there is still something going wrong in the process policy. There was also a time iirc, that CSC wasn't so speedy. We know that Philippine cases continue to be expedited at TSC, and they pay the same fee as we all do. So there is evidence fast can happen at TSC. We just don't have the full picture to understand why.
What we see with these service centers are just fraction of a larger governmental problem in implementing immigration effectively.
..but handing my life and the life of my future husband over to a profiteering business while tapping into our taxpayer funds? No way. I'd rather patiently endure the agonizing wait.

Hi all
This is my first VJ post, and first I want to take the time to thank the community for all of their help so far. We managed to build our case based on what we found on this website. Huge THANK YOU to all!
Now, here's where it gets darker - we got NOA1 at the end of December 2014 and that our case was assigned to the TSC. And this is when my anxiety started kicking in because we have a wedding set for August. I doubt we'll make it if TSC takes until July to get to our case. Now, to ease my anxiety, can someone please tell me everything's going to be OK and that we will make it in time?
Thanks!

TSC is the devil but don't lose hope your time will come.

For those of you in favor of privitizing USCIS, remember the Tier 1 drones. They're not government employees but contractors. Do they seem much better to you? HA! I seriously doubt it.
If any of you have had the pleasure of having to get a visa for India, you'll see what a f-up a private company can be at this too (edited to add: India has contracted out its visa issuance services to private companies in a lot of the world now).
Competing service centers? Yeah, the government has enough trouble as it is. How are you going to coordinate the paperwork between these private companies and the government? Since the government HAS to be involved at some point since this is immigration and citizenship we're talking about.

Because, firstly, this is not a business and secondly, a corporation cannot decide on immigration processes - who gets a visa, who becomes a citizen, who gets to marry whom, and so on...