JimVaPhuong

They're not required to understand them, under the Arizona law. They're supposed to contact federal authorities to verify status. Presumably, if they've got an A# then they should be able to verify status reasonably quickly.

They're not required to understand them, under the Arizona law. They're supposed to contact federal authorities to verify status. Presumably, if they've got an A# then they should be able to verify status reasonably quickly.

Some of the advice being given here is misleading. The US does not specifically forbid dual citizenship, but it also does not explicitly recognize it. In fact, US law does not mention dual nationality at all. If you are a citizen of the US and another country, the US simply ignores the fact that you are a citizen of another country, and treats you like a US citizen.
The misleading part is that the US requires you to renounce any foreign allegiances when you take the oath of citizenship. After that, as far as the US is concerned, you are no longer a citizen of any other country. The US will not recognize, nor make any concessions for, any obligations your citizenship to another country might place upon you. Whether that renunciation actually results in you losing your foreign citizenship depends on the other country you are a citizen of. In the case of Canada, they do not recognize the renunciation as an abandonment of Canadian citizenship, nor does the Canadian government require you to renounce other foreign allegiances when you become a Canadian citizen.
US law, however, does recognize a renunciation of foreign allegiances made to another country as an abandonment of US citizenship. Many other countries also recognize a renunciation of foreign allegiances made when becoming a US citizen as being an abandonment of citizenship of that country.
When a US citizen decides to become a citizen of another country, or a citizen of another country decides to become a US citizen, it is critically important that they understand the laws of both countries. Depending on those laws, they may not be dual citizens afterward.

As long as you were still married at the end of the year then you can file a joint tax return. It's not necessary that you live together for any specific period of time. His friends are confusing the requirements for a dependent with the requirements for filing a joint return. You are supposed to have his cooperation and permission to do this, which means using his PIN if you used eFile or obtaining his signature if you filed a paper return.
If he is working "under the table", then technically you both did not claim his income since you filed a joint tax return.
Removal of conditions to get a permanent green card does require that you jointly file an I-751 with USCIS. Except under a few specific circumstances, this must be done in the 90 day window before the conditional green card expires. However, he can file the form on his own, or "self petition", if the marriage has ended in divorce. In that event, he would not have to wait until the 90 day window to file. In fact, USCIS is compelled take steps to terminate his conditional legal residency if they discover the divorce, so he should file as soon after the divorce as possible. In order to successfully remove conditions on his own he will need a final divorce decree, and he'll need to prove he entered the marriage in good faith. This usually involves evidence that you lived together as a married couple, such as co-mingling of finances. If he doesn't already have this evidence, then he'll probably try to get you to provide it for him.
Most LPR's are not generally eligible for taxpayer funded public benefits until they've been an LPR for 5 years. It's unlikely you'll be required to pay any spousal support after a relatively short marriage, but it depends on the state laws where the divorce is filed. It's possible he could use the I-864 as a basis to get support. Again, it depends on the state laws. Many family courts won't consider it because there is no basis under state law to consider it. He could still file a separate civil case, but those fail more often than they succeed. The biggest problem lies in the fact that he's not a party to the contract, so many courts will tell him he needs to get the federal government to sue on his behalf. They won't do that.
Only a good divorce lawyer could tell you what the chances are that he'll get any money from you, since state laws play a big role here. There are some things to consider here, though.
He can't remove conditions on his own until you are divorced. He could file without the divorce decree, but he'll end up getting an RFE for the divorce decree later. If he can't provide it then he'll end up in removal proceedings. He could ask the immigration judge to postpone the proceedings until the divorce has been granted. They'll usually grant this request. If you don't file for the divorce, and don't cooperate in filing a joint petition to remove the conditions on his legal permanent residence, then he will be forced to file the divorce himself. This will put you in the unenviable position of being the respondent in a divorce case filed in another state. Unless you want all motions he submits to be granted by default, you'll need to hire an attorney in that state to represent you. This could get expensive, and you may not get the outcome you desire. You'd probably be much better off filing for the divorce yourself. As soon as the divorce is final, send a copy of the divorce decree along with a cover letter to USCIS explaining that you will not support his removal of conditions. This may force him to self petition immediately in order to avoid removal.

Anyone caught by this law would have better luck with the "un-constitutional" tactic. Racial profiling is extremely difficult to prove in court.
I have no doubt there will be some racial profiling as a result of this law. The only way it could have been avoided is if the law did not contain the "reasonable suspicion" clause, and required cops to ask for proof of legal status from everyone they had lawful contact with. Otherwise, "reasonable suspicion" is going to be "He didn't have any identification, he spoke with a Mexican accent, and he was dressed like a Mexican." Pretty much the same standard the Border Patrol uses.

No, that's not how it works. She must not intend to IMMIGRATE when she ENTERS the United States with a non-immigrant visa (or visa waiver). It has nothing to do with whether she intends to wait until she arrives to get married.
If she plans on getting married and adjusting status, and those plans are made BEFORE she enters the US, then she is committing visa fraud. She is using a non-immigrant visa for the purpose of immigration. If caught, the consequences are severe - she could be banned from the US for the rest of her life.
Many people do what the field officer recommended you do. Many have also been caught, their AOS denied, and they are deported.
Geez, it's bad enough when people get this sort of advice from an attorney, but it's far worse when it comes from a government employee!

You mistakenly presume that doing nothing was the ONLY alternative. How about doing it RIGHT? Isn't that the point the Repub's were trying to make when they kept repeating "Start Over!"?

As long as you were still married at the end of the year then you can file a joint tax return. It's not necessary that you live together for any specific period of time. His friends are confusing the requirements for a dependent with the requirements for filing a joint return. You are supposed to have his cooperation and permission to do this, which means using his PIN if you used eFile or obtaining his signature if you filed a paper return.
If he is working "under the table", then technically you both did not claim his income since you filed a joint tax return.
Removal of conditions to get a permanent green card does require that you jointly file an I-751 with USCIS. Except under a few specific circumstances, this must be done in the 90 day window before the conditional green card expires. However, he can file the form on his own, or "self petition", if the marriage has ended in divorce. In that event, he would not have to wait until the 90 day window to file. In fact, USCIS is compelled take steps to terminate his conditional legal residency if they discover the divorce, so he should file as soon after the divorce as possible. In order to successfully remove conditions on his own he will need a final divorce decree, and he'll need to prove he entered the marriage in good faith. This usually involves evidence that you lived together as a married couple, such as co-mingling of finances. If he doesn't already have this evidence, then he'll probably try to get you to provide it for him.
Most LPR's are not generally eligible for taxpayer funded public benefits until they've been an LPR for 5 years. It's unlikely you'll be required to pay any spousal support after a relatively short marriage, but it depends on the state laws where the divorce is filed. It's possible he could use the I-864 as a basis to get support. Again, it depends on the state laws. Many family courts won't consider it because there is no basis under state law to consider it. He could still file a separate civil case, but those fail more often than they succeed. The biggest problem lies in the fact that he's not a party to the contract, so many courts will tell him he needs to get the federal government to sue on his behalf. They won't do that.
Only a good divorce lawyer could tell you what the chances are that he'll get any money from you, since state laws play a big role here. There are some things to consider here, though.
He can't remove conditions on his own until you are divorced. He could file without the divorce decree, but he'll end up getting an RFE for the divorce decree later. If he can't provide it then he'll end up in removal proceedings. He could ask the immigration judge to postpone the proceedings until the divorce has been granted. They'll usually grant this request. If you don't file for the divorce, and don't cooperate in filing a joint petition to remove the conditions on his legal permanent residence, then he will be forced to file the divorce himself. This will put you in the unenviable position of being the respondent in a divorce case filed in another state. Unless you want all motions he submits to be granted by default, you'll need to hire an attorney in that state to represent you. This could get expensive, and you may not get the outcome you desire. You'd probably be much better off filing for the divorce yourself. As soon as the divorce is final, send a copy of the divorce decree along with a cover letter to USCIS explaining that you will not support his removal of conditions. This may force him to self petition immediately in order to avoid removal.

Apparently, Albert Gutierrez has not actually read the bill. It doesn't require YOU to prove ANYTHING to the cops. It requires the cops to make a reasonable effort to determine your status with federal authorities. Nowhere in the bill does it say they can detain you indefinitely while they attempt to make this determination. The provisions in the bill regarding detaining and remanding people to federal authorities all refer to people who have already been determined to be in the country illegally.
I'm amazed at the degree to which people are spinning this. I read an article this morning where the commentator said that the bill will require cops to punish victims in a crime if the victim is suspected to be an illegal, and then made the claim that the punishment for the victim was worse than the punishment for the perpetrator. Nowhere did he mention that an illegal alien IS a perpetrator of an immigration crime, and that deportation is NOT a punishment under the federal law.

You can remove the conditions on your green card without your husband's help. The requirements are that you are a person of good moral character, that you entered the marriage in good faith, and that the marriage ended in divorce. All of these have to be proven.
Good moral character is easy to prove - don't get into any trouble with the police. The divorce is also easy to prove - after the divorce is final, get a copy of the divorce decree. The hard part is going to be proving you entered the marriage in good faith. USCIS usually wants to see evidence that the marriage began like a normal marriage. Since you were married almost two years at the time you entered the US, do you have any evidence that you had a viable marriage before while you were in the Philippines? Did you live with your husband for any length of time there? Did he support you? Did you make any concrete plans for how your marriage would continue after you came to the US?
USCIS recognizes that the marriage begins the day you get married, and not the day you step off the plane in the US, but you have to prove anything you claim with evidence. For most people, that evidence is a lot easier to get after they begin living with their spouse in the US. You might consider hiring an attorney to help you with this.

Actually, the law requires the police to make a reasonable effort to determine the legal status by contacting federal authorities. The cops are not supposed to try to make this determination themselves.
BTW, some states do not recognize an international driver permit. California, for example, will recognize a valid license issued in another country, but NOT an IDP.

You can remove the conditions on your green card without your husband's help. The requirements are that you are a person of good moral character, that you entered the marriage in good faith, and that the marriage ended in divorce. All of these have to be proven.
Good moral character is easy to prove - don't get into any trouble with the police. The divorce is also easy to prove - after the divorce is final, get a copy of the divorce decree. The hard part is going to be proving you entered the marriage in good faith. USCIS usually wants to see evidence that the marriage began like a normal marriage. Since you were married almost two years at the time you entered the US, do you have any evidence that you had a viable marriage before while you were in the Philippines? Did you live with your husband for any length of time there? Did he support you? Did you make any concrete plans for how your marriage would continue after you came to the US?
USCIS recognizes that the marriage begins the day you get married, and not the day you step off the plane in the US, but you have to prove anything you claim with evidence. For most people, that evidence is a lot easier to get after they begin living with their spouse in the US. You might consider hiring an attorney to help you with this.

If you consider it imperative that you marry in the US, then a K1 may be the only way you're going to get her into the US for the wedding. A tourist visa is going to be even more difficult to get once CBP knows she's engaged to a US citizen. You have to see this from the viewpoint of the US government. Unless there is some inadmissibility you haven't told us about, they denied her a tourist visa because they believe there was a risk she'd try to stay in the US after her visa expired. If they knew she was engaged to a US citizen then they would believe it was a virtual certainty that she would stay in the US, since the spouse of a US citizen may apply for a green card if they are in the US. Using a non-immigrant visa or entry pass to immigrate is illegal, but it's difficult to prove the intent of the alien when they enter the US, so consulates go out of their way to prevent this form of fraud from happening.
Forget the K3. It has no advantages over the CR1, and has many disadvantages. It's also the policy of the National Visa Center to discard the K3 petition if it is approved at the same time as the I-130, and process the case as a CR1. If you decide to marry before coming to the US then apply for a CR1.
Any middle east or Islamic country is going to be difficult, but Iran is especially difficult. Be prepared for the possibility that this process might take a very long time - possibly even years - to complete.
Re. Australia - it sounds like you're trying to tackle multiple immigration problems at the same time. Since both immigration problems are going to offer substantial hurdles you'll need to overcome, it might be better if you focused on one or the other, and take whatever time is needed to get the first one resolved before you begin tackling the second one. Don't try to operate on any firm timetable because neither the US nor the Australian government is going to act according to your schedule.

You can remove the conditions on your green card without your husband's help. The requirements are that you are a person of good moral character, that you entered the marriage in good faith, and that the marriage ended in divorce. All of these have to be proven.
Good moral character is easy to prove - don't get into any trouble with the police. The divorce is also easy to prove - after the divorce is final, get a copy of the divorce decree. The hard part is going to be proving you entered the marriage in good faith. USCIS usually wants to see evidence that the marriage began like a normal marriage. Since you were married almost two years at the time you entered the US, do you have any evidence that you had a viable marriage before while you were in the Philippines? Did you live with your husband for any length of time there? Did he support you? Did you make any concrete plans for how your marriage would continue after you came to the US?
USCIS recognizes that the marriage begins the day you get married, and not the day you step off the plane in the US, but you have to prove anything you claim with evidence. For most people, that evidence is a lot easier to get after they begin living with their spouse in the US. You might consider hiring an attorney to help you with this.

VJ is heavily focused on do-it-yourself family immigration. It's a safe bet that most people here who have successfully navigated the process did not hire an attorney, or perhaps only consulted with one. Even if they are aware of an attorney whom they consider to be good, their opinion may not be based on personal experience, so you'd have to take it with a grain of salt. There are also a number of people here who hired an attorney and did not receive good service or had a bad outcome with their case, which is what led them to VJ. About the only valid opinion they could offer is not to hire the same attorney they hired.
Beyond that, any person's opinion of an attorney they actually hired is going to largely dependent on whether they got the outcome they wanted. You would need many such opinions to make an informed decision. An attorney who failed for someone else might very well succeed for you, or vice versa. In the end, hiring an attorney is a lot like hiring a job applicant. Referrals from other people play a role, but the most effective tool is asking the right questions, and knowing if the answers you get are correct.
If you think your case is complicated enough that it would benefit from having a good immigration attorney, then prepare to do some work in selecting one. Educate yourself about the process, and potential problems you might face along the way, and in particular about the unique idiosyncrasies of the consulate where your fiancee will interview. Armed with this knowledge, approach the hiring of your attorney as if you were a manager looking to hire an employee. Your knowledge will help you ask the right questions, and especially help to determine if the attorney is educated enough to help you tackle the consulate stage and succeed. Interview as many attorneys as possible before making a decision.

This really should have been posted in another forum since it's not "off topic", but here goes...
Most countries will require you to have a passport to enter. Some countries will additionally require you to have a visa. The requirements are generally the same as they would be for anyone else from the same country as the LPR. In other words, just because a country would permit a US citizen to visit without a visa does NOT mean that the country will allow a legal permanent resident of the US the same privilege. On the other hand, your foreign passport may allow you to visit some countries without a visa where a US citizen would require a visa to enter.
An LPR requires only their green card to enter the US, since a green card is considered by CBP to be a valid entry permit. However, you should have your passport anyway. In fact, you should never leave the US without it. If you're outside the US for less than 6 months then re-entry should be relatively simple. Between 6 months and 1 year the CBP may screen you for inadmissibilities. Between 1 year and 2 years of absence they may be presume you've abandoned your residency in the US unless you applied for a re-entry permit before leaving (they could take your green card away). After 2 years of absence you'll need a returning resident visa in order to return to the US.

Ok, so it's really more like 18 months, and it just took an unusually long time to get from approval of the petition to the interview (for whatever reason).
The letter you got from the Vermont Service Center is NOT a NOID. It's a somewhat standard response when USCIS doesn't want to waste any time deciding if the consulate's accusation is true or false, so they take the easy way out and just close the case because the petition's approval has expired.
The tactic that Scott mentioned is being used at the California Service Center. I haven't heard about it being at VSC yet, but it could be. Like he said, it involves them sending a NOID on the second petition, and the reasons they cite are the consulate's reasons for denying the visa on the first petition. This tactic is new, and we're still watching to see how these cases turn out. If this happens to you, then you'll be the first case at VSC that I've heard about where this tactic was used.
Just out of curiosity, did you send the second petition with any sort of delivery confirmation? It's very curious that they haven't cashed your check or sent any notice of receipt yet. Either something is still going on with the previous case (the new CSC tactic perhaps), or your petition got lost.
In any case, keep checking with them, and keep the heat on. If you do get a NOID then you absolutely must respond to it with a vigorous rebuttal. When the consulate denied your fiancee a visa, they were essentially accusing her of misrepresentation under section 212(6)(C ) of the Immigration and Nationalization Act (INA). In other words, they accused her of fraud. This accusation is still in her records at USCIS, and potentially hangs over any petition filed for her. Lawyers call it a "P6C marker". If USCIS decides to make a decision on this accusation, that's when you'll get a NOID. If you don't respond with a rebuttal, or if the rebuttal fails and they deny the petition approval, then the P6C marker becomes a "finding of fact"; i.e., she's guilty of immigration fraud. You may eventually get a petition approved for her in the future, but she'll be denied any sort of visa. You'll have to apply for a hardship waiver. It will take considerably less time and trouble if you respond to the NOID and stop them from denying the petition. You have a very limited amount of time to respond to the NOID, so gather your evidence and be prepared to put together a rebuttal quickly.

Divorce will not affect his status, other than when he will be eligible for citizenship, as you mentioned.
There a many MANY websites that contain forms and advice on filing without an attorney. Do a Google search for "Illinois divorce forms" or "Illinois divorce law".
A "no fault" divorce in Illinois usually requires a 2 year period of separation. You can ask the judge to reduce the period to 6 months, but I think that's the best you're going to be able to do. If you need to file sooner than that, then you'll need to file based on fault. Adultery, while still technically a misdemeanor in Illinois, is very rarely prosecuted. Prosecutors consider it time consuming, costly, and largely pointless. Fornication is also, technically, a crime in Illinois. If they sought to prosecute for it then Oprah Winfrey would be facing a year in jail. There hasn't been a conviction for adultery in Illinois (that I was able to find) since 1943. A case was brought in Harvey, Illinois, in 1997, but the prosecutor refused to prosecute.
On the other hand, people divorce on the basis of adultery quite often in Illinois. There is no recent case (again, that I could find) where the divorce resulted in criminal prosecution of the accused adulterer.
Yes. No waiver needed if this will be your second K1, and it's been more than 2 years since your first K1 was approved.
Not likely to make any difference with the petition approval. Possible it might come up at the interview, but much less likely at the Embassy in London than with a high fraud consulate. Also possible it could come up at AOS or ROC, but not likely to be a problem.

Whoa!
I think your friend is yanking your chain. A US citizen cannot revoke his wife's green card by sending it back to USCIS saying he's "no longer filing for her". First, the US citizen does not apply for the green card - the immigrant does. The only thing the US citizen can do is withdraw the affidavit of support, and once the AOS is approved and the green card is issued then it's too late to withdraw the affidavit of support. Second, he could get into SERIOUS TROUBLE for sending her green card back. It's not HIS green card, and he has no business doing ANYTHING with it. Third, adultery is not a violation of ANY aspect of immigration law, and is NO basis to revoke a green card. Fourth, even if they thought that SHE had voluntarily surrendered her green card (which she could certainly do), they would not have sent ICE to pick her up. She would have been permitted to leave the country voluntarily.
Your friend's story sounds like something a jilted husband of an immigrant wife might fantasize about doing, and might even believe that he could do, but it's highly unlikely it actually happened like that.

Geez, Mustafa, you keep stretching this with hypothetical scenarios that introduce fraud into the process, and then make the HUGE jump to the conclusion that marrying with a B2 visa is illegal. By using your logic, I could claim that it's illegal to drive a car in San Francisco because if you intentionally run over a pedestrian then you might go to jail.
Many people have used B2 visas to come to the US and get married. Many were completely honest with the consular officer, and even showed them the wedding invitations and other documents related to the wedding. They got their visas, came to the US and got married, and left before their visas expired. No laws were broken. Getting married in the US while on a B2 visa is NOT illegal.
Where people run into problems is if they stay in the US after the wedding and apply for a green card. It's not legal to use a non-immigrant visa like a B2 if you have the intention of immigrating. Your intention when you enter the US determines whether applying for the green card is illegal. The marriage itself is NOT illegal, but it does make you eligible to apply for a green card while you're still in the US, which MAY be illegal, depending on your INTENTIONS. It is because of the possibility that the marriage may lead to a fraudulent green card application that CO's in many countries will refuse to issue a B2 to someone if they state they are going to get married, and NOT because it's illegal to get married with a B2 visa. If you can convince the CO that you'll leave the US after the wedding and before your I-94 expires, then they'll give you a B2 visa so that you can come to the US and get married.

Whoa!
I think your friend is yanking your chain. A US citizen cannot revoke his wife's green card by sending it back to USCIS saying he's "no longer filing for her". First, the US citizen does not apply for the green card - the immigrant does. The only thing the US citizen can do is withdraw the affidavit of support, and once the AOS is approved and the green card is issued then it's too late to withdraw the affidavit of support. Second, he could get into SERIOUS TROUBLE for sending her green card back. It's not HIS green card, and he has no business doing ANYTHING with it. Third, adultery is not a violation of ANY aspect of immigration law, and is NO basis to revoke a green card. Fourth, even if they thought that SHE had voluntarily surrendered her green card (which she could certainly do), they would not have sent ICE to pick her up. She would have been permitted to leave the country voluntarily.
Your friend's story sounds like something a jilted husband of an immigrant wife might fantasize about doing, and might even believe that he could do, but it's highly unlikely it actually happened like that.

In your case, it shouldn't have any affect on your visa.
I asked because there is a certain kind of visa fraud that is sometimes suspected when someone who recently became a US citizen sponsors someone from their home country for a fiancee or spousal visa. This particular kind of fraud involves two people who are married or romantically involved, and both want to immigrate to the US. If they are already married then they will get divorced. One of them will get involved in a relationship with a US citizen, and eventually come to the US on a fiancee or spousal visa. They may wait three years, get their US citizenship, and then divorce their US citizen spouse. Or, they may divorce sooner, and wait five years to get their US citizenship. Soon after they get their citizenship, they sponsor their original partner for a fiancee or spousal visa. If the circumstances warrant it, the consulate may take extra time to investigate whether there was a relationship between the petitioner and beneficiary before the petitioner's previous marriage.
Consulates are sometimes suspicious if the beneficiary was recently divorced because they think it might be the beginning of the plan described above.
They won't suspect this in your case because your fiance has been in the US for a long time.

Don't get me wrong. I also understand completely why someone would want to come to America, especially when they come from some desperately impoverished dung hole. I met a LOT of people just like that in Vietnam. If I were in their position, I'd want to come to America as well. What I wouldn't do is express my desire to live in the US by coming here on a tourist visa, break the law by overstaying, break the law again by working here, and then after getting caught and being put into deportation hearings, break the law a third time by entering into a sham marriage.
Heck, most of us would like to have a million dollars, but most of us wouldn't point a gun at a bank teller to get it, and then ask that we be allowed to have the money anyway because we come from a dirt poor country. People who are willing to break multiple laws in order to immigrate to the US are the LAST people we want to allow to stay here. They have a serious lack of morals, and I don't understand why the OP has any sympathy for them.

USCIS presumes every marriage to a US citizen which is entered into AFTER removal proceedings have begun is a sham for immigration purposes. They have a difficult hurdle to overcome this presumption, and the odds are against them. Unless they can convince USCIS that three siblings miraculously found three Americans, fell in love, and got married AFTER they were placed in removal proceedings, then they will be deported. A lifetime ban for the sham marriage fraud is also likely.
Your friends violated immigration law when they overstayed their visas. They violated it again when they worked illegally in the US. Immigration laws in the US were designed specifically to keep people like your friends OUT of the US. I'm wondering why we should have any pity on them?

This is an important distinction.
I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Are you saying she should use evidence of physical violence, as opposed to evidence he refused to file a petition for a green card? If the choice is to use either the physical violence evidence OR the refusal to petition for a green card, then I would tend to agree with that. Refusing to file a petition for a green card may be one type of intimidation a US citizen spouse might use in an overall pattern of abuse, but it doesn't constitute abuse by itself. However, if she has evidence of both, then both should be submitted. When filing a VAWA petition, you don't withhold any evidence, since any single piece of evidence may be enough to tip the scales in your favor.
rescueme, your lawyer is wrong. You can get divorced, as long as the abuse is related to or is the reason for the divorce. You cannot marry again until the VAWA case has been decided.
If you don't have the necessary "good faith marriage" evidence, then your VAWA petition will probably be denied. You will probably be placed in removal proceedings shortly thereafter. If you marry again during that time then USCIS is required to presume that the marriage is a sham for immigration purposes. You and your new husband will probably be heavily interrogated at your AOS interview. Personally, I don't think there's much hope it would be approved since what you are doing looks like a pattern of immigration fraud to USCIS. Unfortunately, overstaying your J1 visa has cast a dark shadow on everything you've done since then.
I hope you have a very good immigration lawyer.