mattelo

7 hours ago, brevig said:

I met her November 2016, we've lived together 85+% of the time since January 2017.  We've traveled over 6x to other countries, my son lived here 1.5 years and daughter visited.  With a K1 there is no appeal and officers can look for the slightest reason to reject and call it "discretion".  With that I would advise making everything clean, especially Facebook.

Sorry, my question was initially for @MrsBryant

 😉

28 minutes ago, MrsBryant said:

Good morning! Thank you very much. You helped me a lot. I'm going to tell my fiance about that. You mean we should go for the K3 right? If so, I'll definitely check it out after work 😁

You're welcome! I'm talking about the immigrant visa IR1 or CR1. 

A question though, how long have you known each other? How many times have you met? 

Hi there 😊

Yes I did the K1 Visa after getting engaged to someone serving hard time (life sentence without the possibility of parole at the time). As long as it is not anything domestic violence related, you should be okay to go, and as long as you don't have a criminal record yourself of course. You'll also have to find someone to co-sponsor you, as I'm guessing he doesn't have income or very little. 

I encountered some difficulties, however, when I applied for the green card and my husband couldn't attend the interview to the USCIS office with me. My green card was denied because of that, so I had to hire an attorney to appeal their decision and we won! Some people would say it's safer to go for a spouse visa in our situation, because at least there's no joint interview required before the green card's obtention. Today I have my 10-year GC and don't regret a thing, it's totally doable in the end but be prepared to have to go through many hoops because they surely won't make it any easy on you.

Also, gather as much evidence as you can. All of your letters, emails, phone bills, pictures of you two together, gifts you sent him, gifts he sent you, etc. 

57 minutes ago, Jill Mackie said:

That's great news , I have been doing some research and reached out to a woman in the UK who's husband is on death row in North Carolina , she also received her 10 year green card and her attorney told her they cannot discriminate because you have a husband on death row or in prison as long as you can prove a valid marriage and back it up with years of evidence you should be fine. Your case is also proof and can now be used as an example should a problem about eligibility because of a spouse in prison comes up. I'm very happy for you and thank you for sharing your story for all those like us who have husbands in prison .

You're most welcome! I think the problem probably comes from the fact that Field Offices are responsible for the approval/denial of the cases, and most of them probably don't know how to handle cases like ours. That's why it can become so complicated, but now we know that everything worked out for a couple of people, so it shows that it's doable in the end, and more importantly that the law is on our side 😃

Last and final update ;-)

I got an email from my attorney this morning who reached out to the Field Office Director to make sure everything was in order and that I was not expected to respond to their RFE.

The Field Office Director confirmed the approval is correct (Thank God LOL 😆) and that they do not expect me to respond to the RFE. He said that due to the unique nature of my case and situation, they had numerous discussions as a team and with counsel regarding eligibility. During those discussions, they determined my case was approvable! He also said that they did not realize there was an outstanding RFE when they had the discussions (???) but they decided that based on the documentation already provided, the evidence was sufficient for approval.

I absolutely wanted to share this here for people in my situation. I'm happy that they had many discussions over my case because at the end of the day, it shows that if you have a husband in prison, even with a life without parole sentence, you can still be approved for a 2-year green card and a 10-year green card after that. The law is on our side, so do not give up! Just be prepared to go through the hoops. 🙊

Good luck everyone ;-) :-D

2 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

I truly hope you go get a beer tonight lol. On a more serious note, this tells you that there are still reasonable people at USCIS.

 

Oh yes, this deserves a drink for sure!! 😂 There are some reasonable people, yes. Now I still was discriminated against twice for having a husband in prison and that's not right. But the good news is that the law is on our side, whether they like it or not!!!! 

6 minutes ago, Jill Mackie said:

I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU !!!!! this gives me so much hope and confidence mine will be approved too. Congratulations to you!!!

There's no reason it shouldn't be approved for you too!!! Thank you 😁 

I just wanted to let you know that I just received my 10-year green card!!! 🎉😁 I still don't know what happened, my attorney wanted to make sure I had it before calling LOL But he believes that the Director of the field office (who is very involved in the approval/denial of cases) must have taken a look at it and probably saw that they had no reason whatsoever to not give it to me! 😊 Just thought I'd share the news with you, so other prison wives can relax; it is definitely doable... if you're willing to jump through their hoops lol 😅

31 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

Yayyyyy where’s the beer to celebrate?!

 🤣 Funny thing is that I was so ready to fight this and even going to court if necessary and now I'm so confused! haha I'll keep you updated with whatever happens next week!

1 hour ago, Jill Mackie said:

Congratulations!!!! 

I don't want to celebrate too soon but yes, it's looking good and I'm happy it can bring you hope! 🙂

43 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

Has your attorney got back to you yet?

He has, yes, but he's as confused as I am and wants to wait & see if I do get the green card in the end!

But last night, I had a new update in my case- Post Decision Activity / On July 29, 2021, we approved your Form I751, PETITION TO REMOVE CONDITIONS ON RESIDENCE, Receipt Number XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. We sent you an approval notice. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you do not receive your approval notice by August 13, 2021, please go to www.uscis.gov/e-request. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

So.... it's looking good so far I guess?!

1 minute ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

As soon as I said it, I realized that the N-400 does state you have to have been living in marital union for 3 years.

Yup! 😉 Either that or you have to wait 5 years, which is August 2023 for me. But that's okay, I'm not sure I want to be American at this point anyway 🤣

3 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

Yes, we did send the evidence. My point is that sometimes FOs make decisions independently of the centers .

I see. I just feel like the FO must send a "green light" at some point. I can't imagine a big center sending a file to the FO and then making a decision without them. It just doesn't add up, I don't know. The whole thing is weird. I'm hoping to receive a notification of action by mail. Once I have that piece of paper (rather than just an online notification), I'll feel more confident about it all, I think. And then, of course, let's hope for the GC in the next weeks so I can finally move on from all of this for the next 10 years!!

7 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

I am not sure if I told you my story, but we were scheduled for an interview on March 18, 2020, five days after the OMS declared the pandemic. Everybody was freaking out, and so the FO cancelled our interview. Then, a couple of days later we received a letter from the FO asking us to send them the evidence we were going to show at the interview (we didn’t send much evidence with our AOS package; we were going to show everything at the interview). No online notification. And then about 10 days later we were approved. My point is that yours and my experience prove that, in some ways, FOs work independently from the bigger centers.

But did you send the evidence in the meantime or not? Because that could be the reason why you were approved?

If not, then yes! I'm thinking that's what may be happening in my case.

1 minute ago, ra0010 said:

Honestly this would be the first case I see where they disregarded their own RFE request, and granted the card. Definitely weird things happen at USCIS but congrats! Let us know what the attorney says!

I know, that's why I feel super weird about it. Especially because I did not receive 1 single online notification for the interview or the RFE. It's like the minute the field office took over, I stopped receiving online notifications, and now I get one to say that my card is being produced??? This does not make any sense. I guess we'll see!!

Just now, USC4SPOUSE said:

Why not? Is not time yet? 

I have to wait 5 years after my initial GC, and not 3 like everyone else, because my husband and I do not live together...

1 minute ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Maybe they did some quality assurance and realized they missed a step. Who knows?

While USCIS is feeling generous, I would go ahead and apply for naturalization.  

I can't apply for naturalization, unfortunately 😉

2 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

Of course! There is always a chance that it might be a glitch but I doubt it. Though, it is strange because you have not responded to the RFE. LOL, you will know soon enough! We do not know what happens backstage. Maybe your officer got transferred and someone got the file and thought "yeah, I am not dragging this out. Here's your card" which is what I would do.  

I just find it so odd, especially because my case online hasn't been updated in ages! The interview and RFE notifications weren't even on there! So that's really strange.

However, it is definitely possible that someone got my file and realized that they were giving me a hard time just because we do not live together, which is not even a requirement to start with. Maybe they decided to do the right thing? I don't know, I really don't get it.

1 minute ago, ra0010 said:

I was just double checking because I’m also confused! Also, one would expect a note from them saying something like “disregard our need for RFE” but who knows lol

I know, right?!! 🤔

Just now, ra0010 said:

Congrats! So did you send the reply to your RFE?

No, like I said, I did not! Which is why I'm super confused!

Just now, USC4SPOUSE said:

Congrats, @mattelo!!! Your green card should be on its way soon.  

Thank you! I still want to be cautious right now, I'll only believe it when I see it lol 😅

The RFE was a standard letter asking me for the same proof all over again lol

Yes, I told my attorney but it's only 7:30AM here, so I don't think he has seen my email yet.

Little weird update with my case lol

This morning I had an email saying that my 10-year GC was... in production????? So, I'm super confused. They sent me an RFE and we decided to play for time and not answer it immediately. It has been a month since they requested the new evidence, and today my case got updated for "Card/Document Production". At this point I really don't know what to think anymore. Just wanted to share here!!!

17 minutes ago, NikkiR123 said:

WOW!! such incompetence , do they not read their own policy manual , that's why I believe its so important for @Jill Mackie to add that part of the policy to her AOS packet . 

Yes!!! That's why I told OP to add it to her packet, because they obviously don't know what they're doing. 

41 minutes ago, NikkiR123 said:

so they denied your original green card because your husband did not attend the interview and that was the only reason?

Yup! They said I abandoned my petition by going without my spouse to the interview, even though I provided proof of his incarceration and requested a waiver..... 🙄 Fortunately, it's because I did all of this that my attorney was able to overturn the whole thing in the end. He used it all to show incompetency on their part. 

5 minutes ago, Jill Mackie said:

I misunderstood you , I thought your green card was denied and you had to appeal it? I thought when you appealed your 2 year green card was approved . What RFE did they request 

My very first green card was denied. That's when I had to deal with that lady who was new and didn't know what she was doing. They denied my green card then. I appealed it, won the case.

The adjudicator I'm talking about now, the one who gave me a hard time about not living with my husband, is the one I saw during my ROC interview for my 10-year GC. I got this interview in April, and received an RFE in June. The RFE they sent is just a standard letter, nothing particular or specific to my case in it.

13 minutes ago, Jill Mackie said:

Are their any laws that state if you don'tive with your spouse you are denied a green card ? I'm not understanding how this adjudicator could deny you on that , like I mentioned death row inmates have successfully petitioned their spouses as have some life sentences .

He has not denied anything at this time. I was sent a RFE.

And at first, he said that the fact that we were not living together was an issue. My attorney said that it was not, there are many cases of people who do not live together, for plenty of reasons (not necessarily incarceration). Then the adjudicator said our case was different because my husband had LWOP so we might never get to live together one day. That rule, he completely made it up, even my attorney said so! But there's nothing we can do about this at this point because we can only appeal when they deny your request, which they haven't done in my case (yet?).

Like I said, they make you go through plenty of hoops. In the end, we will win this case because the law is on our side, yes. What I'm saying here is to just be prepared to have to go through the hoops.

11 hours ago, Jill Mackie said:

Seems to me like this adjudicator has more of a personal issue with you being married to an inmate than anything else , with that amount of evidence you should have been approved without problems. Your attorney should look to take legal action of some sort against this adjudicator , it seems to personal and that they're looking for anything to just deny you and that seems a little odd to me . Something doesn't seem right to me .

 

He actually ended up being quite nice to me (after we talked about the criminal case and he realized I was very involved and fighting to correct a miscarriage of justice), but wouldn't budge on the fact that we don't live together and might never live together. So I got an RFE. But now my husband does have a release date and could actually be out by the end of the year so I'm pretty confident that everything is going to be okay.

Even if he were to still deny my green card, I would definitely appeal their decision and I'm ready to go to court! 😉 I got my husband's criminal conviction overturned, so I'm not going to be afraid of some stupid immigration case haha