darstar007

You wife did a very silly thing, my ex tried the same BS , opening credit cards with "my signature" and having them delivered to a PO box. Fortunately community property does not include the right to sign for me. I was off the hook because I didn't personally sign and community property was exempt from fraudulent acts by one of the parties. He on the other hand could discharge the debts through bankruptcy without having the card issuers come after him for fraud.

She did a silly thing; however, it is even sillier that there is no direct way to pursue this other than to send an e-mail and hope one day (God knows when) someone at FDNS replies to it.

Holy mackerel.

Didn't you immediately insist on speaking with the supervisor?

File an immediate complaint with the Ombudsman, and notify your U.S. Senator/Congressman.

The guy made his decision as soon as I mentioned divorce that he would not listen to anything I said. I even asked to speak with a supervisor or FDNS officer and instead he called security to escort me out. I have never experienced such a thing, was totally out of the Twilight Zone. He flashed his badge at me but then refused to give me his badge number. The security guys felt bad for me, but they couldn't do anything to help.

I tried once again to contact USCIS by phone. They cannot even tell me if I am a sponsor for somebody, ANYBODY. My ex has found a loophole in the system. Her petition for her mom is HER property and I have no possible way of getting that. Without the actual I-864A, I have zero recourse. All I can do is send email to FDNS to have a record of reporting this fraud so that if the government comes for me for money in the future, I can fight it saying that they refused to act, but my ex has gotten away with it.

Unfortunately it looks like this is a crime that she got away with. The AOS is hers and there is absolutely no way for me to get it even though I was used as a sponsor.

Wow, I've never been treated more rudely and with disrespect today at USCIS. After my first sentence where I mentioned my divorce he just said "Oh you are a vindictive ex-husband" and would not listen to anything else I had to say or evidence to show him!!!! When I asked him to listen to my evidence he just had security guards escort me away. Unbelievable!!!

Contacted USCIS and they told me to send an e-mail describing the situation to FDNS. Haven't heard back in a week yet, not sure how long I should expect, I assume USCIS is worse than the DMV!!! As a precaution, I made an InfoPass appointment to talk to someone face to face. Hoping this will gain me some traction.

Oh my what a mess.

I usually post things that are dramatically different from the consensus so no surprise here---

I do agree the proper steps are to contact USCIS and the local police dept. HOWEVER> I dont think much is going to be done about it. (sorry thats just my opinion). Theres this thing called signing with permission/ where a lot of people may be surprised but forgery laws are complex and you can infact sign something on someone elses behalf if you have permission to do so.

Please see this link as reference as it explains it better then I can- http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/if-someone-gives-me-permission-sign-their-name-have-i

Its recommended that you sign in a way that identifies that you are doing it with permission. You can get into tricky waters when the person (like in this case) insists they never gave permission then it becomes a he said she said scenario and there are never any winners in that.

As far as I am aware the law does not require it to be noted that it was done with permission BUT an appeals judge did hold up in 2009 that doing so (signing with out noting it was done with permission) was deceptive in a ruling http://www.oncontracts.com/signing-someone-elses-name-with-permission-butwithout-so-indicating-is-dishonest-7th-circuit-posner/

Oral permission counts as permission- Forgery involves "intent to deceive": SO with out the deceive part youve got nothing. http://www.lawqa.com/qa/if-someone-gives-you-oral-permission-to-sign-your-signature-that-breaking-law

The police/authorities (including USCIS) would have to believe that there is no way you would have given permission for her to sign that on your behalf- if they even get as far.

So first they would have to compare the signatures- if its not a match the signer is going to argue they did so with permission, You would have to prove or convince them you didnt. I doubt you have any proof of emails or communication where you are declining to sign. Its not unreasonable to assume a spouse would assist in signing such a form to bring their spouses family member over. (and now that it went bad they want a way out) So its an uphill battle and what kind of proof you have matters.

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I personally find it very unlikley that the police will act on your complaint. They will take the complaint because thats what they do- but I wouldnt hold my breath in seeking/waiting for them to prosecute because your case is your word (Im assuming you have no evidence where you flat out refuse to sign it and it turns up signed)-

I also browsed through the 864 and no where do I see anything about not accepting signatures on behalf but I suspect if it was attempted to be filed like that it would get rejected. So what is USCIS going to do with it. Im not sure and I am curious as to how this plays out. You wouldnt be the first person (from their POV) to have a signed 864 for a divorced family member that is trying to undo it by any means necessary.

Im inclined to say their FDNS is going to take the same outlook as the police- what proof do you have its not your signature?

But again I do recommend going to both the police and USCIS - specifically the fraud unit and seeing what they tell you.

Damara, thank you for the detailed and thoughtful response. Contrarian views are welcome too. I would just say that my case is more complex than I am able to reveal in this forum. There are multiple supporting evidence which would be used to bolster my case. When presented with this evidence my ex seems to have panicked that her act has come to light. She was willing to leave a few hundred thousand dollars on the table and cash out with a settlement for much less than she would have gotten if the divorce had played out. I am unsure of her or her mother's whearabouts at this point, but I just want to make sure the government is aware so that I am not on the hook if they decide to stay in the USA. I am under no illusions that it will be easy or quick, but it is something that I will need to follow through on.

and it took over a year to find out your wife forged your signature? Or did you know prior to the divorce and did nothing until now because of the divorce?

I did not know who the sponsor for her mother was until I had my lawyer demand to my ex that she provide the AOS as part of my trial for annulment. I finally got the damning document from her last week.

OP, between the time you made this post and now, have you made headway on the advices given here, have you compiled your evidenced and made an infopass appointment?

Yes the folks on this forum have been most helpful. Very much appreciated.

WOW, I am so sorry to hear that! This is awful. You should definitely press charges! Do not let them get away with crime.

Also, on a separate note, you said your ex-wife is from Iran. Did you meet her while serving overseas?

Thank you. I met her while vacationing in Turkey. I only mentioned Iran to emphasize her desire to flee from a country with obvious socio-economic pressures and how that made her resort to this criminal act.

I hope you have saved any sort or chat logs, sms or email conversation between you and your wife regarding the AOS form signed under your name and submitted without your knowledge. That will be crucial to prove that she in fact did the forgery otherwise it will be difficult to prove that since she might also say that you signed the form and later on you two started having misunderstandings because of petitioning for her mom and so she left you the day her mother arrived.

Gather any sort of evidences you might think will help you and definitely file a case against her in your district police station as others have said. Let USCIS know too about it through info pass and whatever medium so that you will not be responsible for them in the future.

The case is complicated. But through our divorce proceedings and document discovery, my ex produced I-864 with me as household member and indicated on that doc that I had completed form I-864A which I never did. She did not provide Form I-864A and now claims the form AOS she gave me during the divorce was a rough draft and not what she submitted to USCIS. In addition to this there are several other factors including her use of a P.O. Box instead of our home address for her correspondance to USCIS to keep me in the dark. I was pursuing an annulment based on fraud, but she settled with me for much much less than she could have had given Californias community property laws. She might realize that she and her mother are on borrowed time before their crime is discover by the government and she might have wanted to cash out now.

Take the facts as you know them to an InfoPass appointment. Speak with the FDNS Officer. Don't leave the premises until this has happened.

Advice noted. Thanks very much.

Stories like these make me so sad and angry, there are so many loving caring people out there, that would give the world to be with their partner in the US, but because of people like this the Immigration process is made harder for them and sometimes made impossible.

The truth is even sadder than what I've revealed. Basically my ex wanted to get herself and her mother and sister out of Iran under ANY circumstances and decided that wasting my life and opportunity to have a child were collateral damage. Now I am 44 and divorced and need to start my life over from scratch. I am determined that she will not get away with using me this way.

how long has your mother in law been here?

She just arrived in Oct 2014 and my wife left me the day she arrived and filed for divorce. She didn't even try to cover up her motives.

if your ex-mother in law has already become US citizen or she has credit of 40 qualifying quarters of work in US ( usually equals to 10 yrs of work in social security knowledge), your no more liable for her support.

Read item 11 in form I-864 (instructions for Affidavit of support)

The mother-in-law just arrived in the country and received her greencard in Oct 2014. She is nowhere close to becoming a citizen.

If it were me I would go to your local police department and go from there, the district attorney works for the tax payers in your city/county.

I would also make a infopass (I have heard various reports if they care of not) and make them take a report of your findings.

Appreciate the feedback.

There is the immediate need to submit the notice to the USCIS, also need to file and report with the local non-emergency authorities.

You are correct in that until the (ex-mother-in-law) is naturalized that you can be held responsible for her and this can be for so much more than just financial matters.

You can also be sued by your ex-mother -in-law if you fail to provided support.

You will also in my opinion need to seek legal representation.

This matter and and will be very tricky but you want to make sure that you get on top of it right away because per the USCIS once you find out you are to notify them right away.

Good Luck, and God Bless .....

Thank you so much for the well-wishes and advice.

Write to USCIS and tell them.

You cannot initiate a prosecution for forgery. Only a prosecuting attorney can do that.

I would put USCIS on notice so you don't get screwed, but don't let the anger against the ex get ahold of you. Let that part go.

Thanks for the advice. My situation is more complicated in that the purpose of it was for my ex to get Citizenship and her mother to get a greencard. For me this is a matter of justice, not revenge.

9 years are long time and if you just gone through messy divorce then I suggest to let it go. Its as hard as it sound, why would you want to go through pain again. Its not that big of a deal because you filed 864A as family member and now you are not part of household so you will not be entirely liable for immigrant. Yes you can pursue legal action for forgery but at immigration level, you will go through lots of hassel to prove your point.

Thanks for the reply but....you are wayyy off. First of all I did NOT fill out any form for support. My ex did everything behind my back until her mother arrived including forging my signature and financial information on form i-864a. Also divorce would NOT eliminate my sponsorship of her mother (it is easy to find this information on the USCIS website).

http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/affidavit-support

"Note: Divorce does NOT end the sponsorship obligation."

This is not about revenge, this is about not being financially responsible for someone I did NOT agree to support

Is the mother a US citizen now? If so, you are off the hook one way or the other.

That being said, if your ex forged your signature on those forms, that is a serious crime, I'd file a police report

No the mother has a green card. My ex left me the day her mother arrived. She only stayed with me to use me for this financial support unfortuntaley.

~~Moved to Effects of Major Family Changes from Bringing Family Members as by the sounds of it the Ex mother inlaw is already in the US.~~

That is correct. The mother (ahem) is here.

Hello,

My marriage of 9 years ended yesterday and as part of the discovery process, I found out that my ex-wife secretly petitioned for her mother to receive a greencard and used me on the Affidavit of Support, Form I-864 as a houshold member. She checked off box 11 which indicates that I completed form I-864A which would require my signature. I DID NOT SIGN SUCH A FORM. So now I am likely the main sponsor of her mother because my ex and her co-sponsor make minimum wage. How can I clear this situation up? I do NOT want to be responsible for this woman and my ex has gotten away with forgery.

Thanks for any help.