mrsjohnsonscat

I think the answer you got from SSA was in the context of retirement benefits, not ending an I-864 obligation but in any event, if she worked 10 years, she has the 40 quarters and you aren't responsible. Regardless, you'll have to list her on your affidavit(s) of support for the new filing. If you have enough qualifying income, you'll have no problem with the visa process on the financial score.

Yeah, the first part of the answer was in terms of retirement/death benefits, but I explained what the I-864 was and how my question about qualifying credits (quarters) applied to it and I got the answer repeated that the only way I can share my credits was only in cases retirement or death. Now it is possible that she was unaware of the regulations concerning USCIS.

I wasn't worried about having enough income, I confess i was just blindsided by her matter of fact statement and wanted a forum to bounce ideas off, which you guys have more than provided. Thanks.

$25,000 is not enough, you are going to need a co spnsor anyway.

Huh? Oh I see. When i mentioned $25,000 i wasn't refering to myself. I was explaining why a person may need medicaid and not be layabout, using how my job handles benefits and how a person working full time and making $25,000 would still have problems getting health care even if they have 'insurance'.

Sorry, if I wasn't clear.

Ok a quick call to SSA, (Gwad why do they always have to have an attitude?) and assuming she was correct. I cannot add my work credit to hers to make the 40, PRIOR to death...once I drop dead they can be added.

Of course she has worked and most likely has enough, but it was a strange statement to make out of the blue.

Ah well, after twenty years there's going be a little scarring.

Has far as the medicaid thing goes, health insurance is nearly impossible these days. I work for a small company, we have a HSA plan. The deductable for that plan is $4,500. That means I have to spend $4,500 before anything is picked up by the insurance company (this doesn't include dental or optical). That's great if you're healthy and strong as I am, but not so good if you're not and are only bringing home $25,000 a year, with a couple of kids, a car payment, rent etc. Normal everyday people.

Granted she was ill-advised to drop herself from my policy, but people do what they feel they must. The ecomony tanked and that was that.

Anyway, thanks for all the responses. Good luck everyone.

Nope, no citizenship. Medicaid is correct.

But i think immigration kind of works like a car warranty, whichever comes first. 10 yrs or the equivalent of 40 terms of work, terms isnt the right word, so i would think that if youve done your 10 yrs, then your off the hook, and it sounds like your wife kinda put it in a 'well you cant now, cause im a public charge, hahahahha, in your face' kinda way. Am i just misundersanding? Did you take it that way?

It was a strange conversation. A lot of anger, even though she wanted the divorce. A lot of, " I don't want to end up eating cat food when I'm 80, while your new wife has the house." I had my tubes tied....kinda of stuff.

I don't want to bore you guys, with a ton of divorce talk, but I'm getting a "I'm not going to sign these papers", unless we make changes, vibe.

Ah, well...

After 20 years of marriage and three years separation, we have the paper drawn up. I have been seeing a Russian lady for over a year and recently decided to let the kids begin to interact. She's in Moscow, but we use Skype, so the kids wave at each other and type a word or two. By seeing, I mean we actually have met several times and spend weeks together, it's serious and is what prompted me to get the divorce papers finalized.

My ex is from Britain, we met twenty years ago, while she was on a tourist visa and she never went home. A few years later, we got married, then we went to immigration, paid some dough and all was well.

Twenty years later, it's not and we split...ok enough of that.

So we're having coffee talking about the kids, and she tells me, "You know, if you decide to bring her, here you're going to have a problem."

"Why's that?", I said.

"Because when you married me, you promised you would not allow me to become a burden to the state, and now because I'm on medicare; I am."

I didn't remind her that she was covered under my policy, but wanted to be her own woman and ended up unemployed.

But that's neither here nor there..but I could have sworn that there was a 10 year time-limit on that not be a burden promise or am I mistaken?

The rest of the conversation didn't get much better. I will share this, I was pretty bummed about the wholet thing and spoke to my girl about it. It was quite honestly the most insightful conversation I ever had about women and what women want I have ever had. I don't know if it's cultural, but it was a defining moment for me.

As noted, there is great danger in using statistical data to make a decision.

Let's look at the over 50% of American marriages fail as being a true statement of fact. The next question you should ask yourself, is why is it 50%? Is is because it's relatively easy for people to get married without even the bare minimum of knowlegde about their partner? Is it because it's relatively easy to acquire a divorce?

Now compare one data point: Ease of marriage and the foreigns spouse.

In most cases it is not easy to get married to a foreign spouse. Few countries will allow a foreigner to walk into an county court and get married. They require paper work and usually waiting period. That along allows for a period of "cooling off".

OK, now you're married; next you have to bring your bride home. How long will that take? 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 days if you're lucky; unlucky...well read the boards.

The very process of marrying a foreign spouse requires the very thing that most Americans don't display in the process of getting married...patience and research.

Is there any wonder the divorce rates are so different?

My point is, sure statistical data can tell you somethings, but without understanding what causes the numbers to be what they are; the data is nearly worthless because you are unable to make an informed decision; just one based on what you think the numbers mean.