Mobius2

That DUI, unfortunately, will block you from passing the "Good Moral Char". Letters from friends, church, work, etc will not do any good here. You can still apply but 99% chance of denial along with the lost fee and wait time. Imo, wait 5 years from when you were officially charged and convicted of DUI.

Since your divorce took place out of the US, I am unsure if the court is involved and how much to keep track of CS. If you can obtain a receipt, often called a Child Support Arears Affidavit, it would be great. If not, then print all of your receipts of payments sent thru WISE and your bank statements and take them along to the interview. Often they don't get a chance to look at uploaded docs ahead of time. It sucks that ex-spouses become extra difficult after divorce esp when children are involved but that is human nature...

Late to this thread but unfortunately this is going to be the Achille's heel of your immigration journey. USCIS operates with an assumption that every marriage-based case is a fraud and it's the petitioner's job to prove them wrong. This just gave them all the ammunition needed to verify their assumption. All I can say is good luck but I also feel for USC. As you have already heard many times, it was not a good thing to do (morally and immigration-wise) but then again there are no saints. Life is strange.

Yes, you should always be prepared to answer ANY immigration-related questions from your first day in the US to the end of your marriage to your appointment date. The type and intensity of questions depend on 1. Complexity of the case, 2. Personality of IO.

Assuming he has a GC and not Citizenship, you could write up a detailed letter to USCIS about how he "used" you. If what you say is true, it will catch up to him to some degree during citizenship. The evidence would need to be on point, void of hurt emotions, and need to contain material facts that violate laws which could point out how the marriage on his part was purely a means to an end. And don't lie about things as that is a punishable offense. If you can't do so, "lick your wounds" and move on. It's a crazy time we live in, where not just in marriage but in many other aspects of life morality is non-existent.

You have seen misinformation lol. Divorce final before joint i-751 approval (without an interview, without RFE) = BAD move Divorce final after joint i-751 approval (without an interview, without RFE) = Bring a lawyer. See conditions. Conditions: Your IO's personality. Your lawyer's confidence and ability to guide you through that interview. Your own confidence, case, and the past marriage's merits. Regardless, people in this situation need to consult lawyers.

I consulted 10, all gave me the same opinion. And their opinion was right, not a stroke of luck.

Idc about asylum seekers and other cases, neither my quarrel nor my expertise. I am sure the system is far from perfect but what's undeniable there is a high level of integrity when bestowing citizenship or permanent residency. Now you can go and question their policy and process all day every day but the fact is they are the gatekeepers and not VJ forums. What's most important is that the OP has decided to opt for a lawyer who will answer his questions more clearly and with authority than anyone here. And THAT is all I care about. Wouldnt mind him sharing the feedback. This thread has served its purpose. Sayonara

Every single lawyer, unless employed by the govt. itself has problems and gripes with the govt. Since the whole idea is to prove each other wrong by translating the law in their own favor. (Similarly, between police and lawyers - they not literally but figuratively despise each other) Luckily, no matter how you look at them, their investigation is thorough because not only IOs jobs depend on it but also there is a checklist at the end of interviews, followed by supervisor signoffs whose jobs also depend on accurate processing. Not sure if you have seen an n400 FOIA, check it out sometime. Even an AOS FOIA has necessary checks required. With the introduction of AI and software advancement, red flags are automatically raised on potential concerns making IOs jobs easier and abuse more detectable than before. Back then I751s were a piece of cake, a matter of a couple of months with good evidence. But obviously, with now the former and charged president who made everything very difficult during his time and covid forced halts, the processing time has been increased. No one here is making up rules either but following them.

But it's not a farce. Instead, a final check before a person is admitted as a full permanent resident and filter out marriage case abusers. Hold on to your logic that i751s for USCIS is a farce. But I didn't say there's no relevance. You are either married or divorced. Two distinct statuses. Nowhere does it say that a person is obliged to inform of separation/ pending divorce. The assumption is the person telling them. Going back to your earlier pun that I got lucky, which entails that IOs/ supervisors are not double-checking their work. Combine this with the farce, and it tells me that you have pretty much no respect and no trust in USCIS, yet you paste these text blocks here, to what end? I think the OP has gotten the correct advice he deserves and is now in a better mindset.

More interviews today are waived only because of the huge backlog as well as the completeness of the evidence. In some cases even with a lot of evidence interviews were conducted. And as I said in my post that you quoted, "no interview scheduled - approved properly". The reason is, if you inform them of separation (there's no obligation to do so), then you are forcing an interview and putting yourself on the 87 days clock. Most divorces take a lot longer than that, esp with a child, even more with a narc spouse.

I-751s are at the bottom of their workload, the reason being you are here, legal, able to work, etc. With current times, I'm sure your divorce will be finalized before it's approved but also you could be "lucky" and your i-751 gets approved beforehand. Be careful when amending your I-751 because once you do it, you are on the clock. USCIS will give you around 87 days to produce the final decree. Will you have it in that time window? Another route you could take (after a consultation with a lawyer) is to withdraw your I-751 joint and file a new divorce waiver i751 but the question again might be, where is the decree in that short span of RFE? Actually, by law, you are not even able to file nor amend your i-751 until you have it. Some IOs just let you do it. Relax, this is far from over, the fact that you have a child is above everything regarding the bonafide of your marriage, even USCIS's list of evidences says that....trust me some people still do not believe it 😒 The absolute worst thing that can happen (besides improper approval -avoid that like the plague) is deportation court but you have a 100.00% of winning that case, again, your child is proof enough.

The "old GF" is the red flag here more than anything else. It's one of the tactics abusers use to get an immigration benefit, leave/ divorce their spouse, and file for their original GF, which USCIS perceives was the plan from the start. Often time in that case the original marriage is then questioned, which is where he failed. Now let's take the divorce side. There are only two marital statuses, married or divorced. Separation itself isn't a status nor a reason for denial. If the person/ his spouse hasn't moved out of the house (Hence no AR-11), no one withdrew the I-751 joint, and no RFE issued or interview is scheduled. If all this happened before a divorce is finalized (i.e. marital status still married) then the approval was not improper. FYI, a story from Amani. One of her clients had her divorce finalized one day after her joint 1-751 approval, with no interview. She had an n400 (5-year) interview and was approved as well. No one said this is the best way and the aim is not to trick USCIS but to submit information only when it's deemed necessary and applicable according to the laws.

A denial before the OP can file for a divorce waiver can lead to deportation court. Again it's your opinion against not only seasoned lawyers but also a former USCIS IO. They take everything seriously. I was referring to immigration lawyers such as Hacking and not IOs. But rest assured they are good at their jobs, given both GC and N400 apps go through a final approval process.

In the end, my aim is to help a person in a similar situation that is suffering the same way I did. I could have quit these forums and never looked back since I got what I wanted but I know the misery I went through, the uncertainty of life, dependents, was real and beyond the comprehension of these jokers who wouldn't waste a breath misleading people. I don't expect much from the mods either, since post counts trump actual, verified, proper information here.

Because it's a complicated case yet approvable with no room for mistake. However, given you don't trust our legal/ justice system (law degrees, bar exams, endorsements, approval process), I can see why you think so.

Unfortunately, your later comments included your misinformed opinion as well.

If there were no legal implications to uploading his firm's contract, I would prove he was willing to take on my case which he in the end (his wife's convo with me as well) believed was winnable. But then again I do not have to prove anything to an online forum where posters get glee out of scaring people. Back to the topic, OP, please contact a law firm. I have sent you a DM with details.

He's a lawyer, and sacring people into contacting him for hire is part of the program.

Because the other path can lead to a deportation court (yes still approvable but more messy, expensive, time-consuming, and worrisome). While this path also has a clean path. Just differs from your opinon. Funny, you say lucky. Pretty much trashing the hard-earned law degrees, the officers who do this every day.

You as a moderator are de-railing the thread to force your opinion ( a non-lawyer ) to misguide a person. I have given you my example and Hacking's personal communication to me. If that's not believable to you then you have already decided your opinion will not change.

The rampant spread of misinformation, esp from the usual suspects, on these forums, is not new. FYI, Hacking also says he doesn't take cases that he feels are un-winnable. He was very comfortable taking my case, however, I went with a different (cheaper) lawyer. Under your and Boiler's theory, I am wrong, Hacking is wrong, my lawyer is wrong, IO who approved the case is wrong, and the supervisor that issued the final approval is also wrong. But the self-proclaimed lawyers here, as usual, are right 😄

After becoming a citizen, I am proud to let you know that it's you that is wrong.

I have been in your situation and am now a Citizen. The important thing here to consider is that your divorce needs to happen quickly, however, given there is a child involved this may not be the case. But the more important thing is that your I-751 (Joint) approval must not happen after your divorce is finalized (that would be improper approval). * Once your divorce is finalized or you know it's VERY near then go ahead and inform USCIS to amend your I751 to Divorce waiver. If I-751 (joint) gets approved without RFE, without an interview before your divorce gets finalized, then you are fine for N400.

@justmarriedusciti (OP) It's very important to share the correct timeline as thats the deciding factor for N400. If I am reading it right, your spouse filed for divorce and it's now finalized. Did you get your 10-year GC before the divorce was finalized or after?