Brother Hesekiel

If asked at the POE whether or not the visitor plans to adjust status, and she responds with "no," and gets a "No AOS" remark in her passport to me, clearly and without the shadow of a doubt, is a documentation of misrepresentation when trying to adjust status nonetheless during that very visit.
As the I.O. looking at the AOS file, I would presume that the petitioner declared at the POE that she wouldn't attempt to adjust status, when questioned about it. If she does adjust, she lied at the POE.
My two cents.

I have tried to explain this in a quite reasonable manner, but it didn't get through, as some of the responses clearly show. Therefore, and only therefore I've been trying to explain it in an even simpler manner. But even that, as some of the responses show again, was obviously still too complicated. I accept the blame for this. Now I will try to do this in the most simple way I can. If I fail again, I give up.
When filing for Removal of Conditions via form I-751, it is REQUIRED to submit tax returns for the time period from becoming a LPR on.
USCIS I-751 Instructions
Under Evidence of Relationship it states explicitely:
"The documents should cover . . . . joint federal and state tax returns."
The O.P. has no tax returns since 2006. She has no tax returns, because her husband didn't file at all. She also has no tax returns of her own, since she didn't work. So even if she files her own taxes for 2009, she has no tax returns for 2008.
Deductive logic now:
If tax returns are required to remove conditions, and tax returns do not exist, conditions cannot be removed.
Even worse, not only can the O.P. not produce any tax returns, she and her husband, as a married couple, have failed to comply with Federal law: filing income taxes. The missing tax returns will trigger an RFE, and that RFE will most likely cause serious problems.
I'm holding my peace now.

Let me try to explain this like I would explain this to a 6-year-old.
Even if she files her taxes for 2009, she (a) has NO RETURN for 2008 (or 2007, for that matter), and (b), she ownes the taxes for said years, as neither she nor her husband have filed.
Step down to a 5-year-old.
Somebody who owes the IRS taxes for two years, and somebody who cannot provide the requested tax returns, will not get a 10-year Green Card, nor will she be able to become a naturalized USC until this issue is resolved.
I rest my case, as I can't find out how to explain this to a 4-year-old.

If asked at the POE whether or not the visitor plans to adjust status, and she responds with "no," and gets a "No AOS" remark in her passport to me, clearly and without the shadow of a doubt, is a documentation of misrepresentation when trying to adjust status nonetheless during that very visit.
As the I.O. looking at the AOS file, I would presume that the petitioner declared at the POE that she wouldn't attempt to adjust status, when questioned about it. If she does adjust, she lied at the POE.
My two cents.

Tita,
I hope you understand that when I said "bad resident" that I didn't mean that personally in any way.
The thing is this . . . the tax people and the immigration people have separate agendas.
As a married woman, you and your husband are a team. Each of you counts for 50% of this team. You can be a neat freak, if he's messy and they look at your house, it doesn't look as clean. If you are thrifty and he's wasteful, your balance sheet doesn't look as favorable anymore.
So if you pay your taxes, but he doesn't, you are 50% of a married couple that owes money to the IRS (assuming he even owes money).
That's the tax part.
Now to the immigration part. When applying for ROC, filing jointly, the I.O. wants to see proof that you guys are still a happily married couple, living together. Cornerstones of this are (highly preferable) jointly filed tax returns (unless tax reasons suggest separate filing), a joint residence, and the intermingling of finances in regard to banking and paying bills.
If you do not file taxes jointly, I'm very confident that your personal tax returns, even if filed as married, are not enough. IMHO it's very likely that they do want to see both of your tax returns, for reasons I already outlined in one of my earlier responses. For a moment try think like a drone. Why would a couple that is happily married and living together not file taxes jointly? Why would the wife not be able to provide the husband's tax returns? These are legitimate questions, and although you have a plausible answer to them, when it comes to evaluate your martial status, they may become obstacles on the way to your petition's approval.
Therefore I, and others, suggested that you work as vehemently as possible on beating some sense into your obviously stubborn husband's head. You may be able to circumvent the issue at ROC, although I doubt it, but in the long run you're hanging from the rope next to him. So instead of trying to patch the effect of the issue, try to go to the root and destroy it.
The first step may indeed be to get your hubby's pay stubs and payment information, put it all on the kitchen table, and sort out where he stands, tax wise. Saturday would be a great day to do that.

If asked at the POE whether or not the visitor plans to adjust status, and she responds with "no," and gets a "No AOS" remark in her passport to me, clearly and without the shadow of a doubt, is a documentation of misrepresentation when trying to adjust status nonetheless during that very visit.
As the I.O. looking at the AOS file, I would presume that the petitioner declared at the POE that she wouldn't attempt to adjust status, when questioned about it. If she does adjust, she lied at the POE.
My two cents.

Wonderful story. The moment people who've been voting along party lines, just because, because they always have, open their eyes and try to see and to understand and once they realize the difference between "people first" and "corporate interest" first, the evil cycle can be broken.
People put up with ####### because they don't know any better. In Denmark, just to name one example as I lived there for many years, health care cost $0 and a top notch university education cost $0 as well. Try to sell those people health insurance plans for $20,000 a year and a 4-year college tuition for $100,000 and see how many votes you get.
The same will happen here, slowly, but eventually it will happen. Of course, Denmark doesn't spend billions on warfare as they don't have corporations like Haliburton that constantly need to be fed with taxpayers' money. And they don't have "enemies" we have, because they don't invade other nations.

Wonderful story. The moment people who've been voting along party lines, just because, because they always have, open their eyes and try to see and to understand and once they realize the difference between "people first" and "corporate interest" first, the evil cycle can be broken.
People put up with ####### because they don't know any better. In Denmark, just to name one example as I lived there for many years, health care cost $0 and a top notch university education cost $0 as well. Try to sell those people health insurance plans for $20,000 a year and a 4-year college tuition for $100,000 and see how many votes you get.
The same will happen here, slowly, but eventually it will happen. Of course, Denmark doesn't spend billions on warfare as they don't have corporations like Haliburton that constantly need to be fed with taxpayers' money. And they don't have "enemies" we have, because they don't invade other nations.

Hi Amny!
I'm sorry to hear about your problems.
Your account of the events is exceptionally well written, covering all pertinent aspects of your relationship.
I do not know N.Y. State divorce law, but it is fair to assume that at some point you will have to have your husband served with the divorce papers. From that perspective you may want to use the opportunity of your husband's absence from the US to confer with a divorce attorney or two, retain the one you are most comfortable with, and get things started.
Viewed from an immigration perspective, I assume your husband is a conditional Permanent Resident, holding a 2-year Green Card. As such, he would be required to file for Removal of Conditions (ROC) not earlier than 90 days before his card expires, unless you guys are divorced, in which case he is actually required to file immediately.
Depending on how long it will take to get the divorce finalized, other events may take place. For example, if you are not divorced by the time his Green Card expires, he has to file the I-751 petition anyway, and will receive a Request for Evidence (RFE), asking for the divorce decree within a certain time frame.
If he can't produce that in time, he'll be in front of an immigration judge whom he (or his attorney) can ask to put deportation proceedings on hold until the divorce is final and his ROC petition is decided upon. In most cases this will be granted.
The ROC process requires him to prove that he entered the marriage in good faith, nothing else. Whether or not he can prove that I don't venture to guess.
Since you mentioned that your husband was physically abusive toward you, you may indeed consider filing a constraining order against him, especially as it is difficult to predict how he might react once he realizes that he's in trouble, relationship wise and immigration wise.
Wish you the best!

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Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
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And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Life is all about decisions. One decides to live in another country. One decides to assume a certain risk associated with it. One decides to become a soldier, invade a foreign country, and shoot at other people. Here to the individual assumes a certain risk. One decides to marry a soldier. And again that individual accepts a risk.
If you move to Alaska, don't complain about the cold. If you are a plumber, don't complain if you have smelly stuff on your hands. If you are a drug dealer, don't complain if you get locked up for life. If you are a firefighter, don't complain if you get burned. If you are a soldier, don't complain if you get shot. If you marry a soldier, don't complain if he doesn't come back. If you immigrate to a foreign country, don't complain about the bureaucracy.
There's always a choice.

Life is all about decisions. One decides to live in another country. One decides to assume a certain risk associated with it. One decides to become a soldier, invade a foreign country, and shoot at other people. Here to the individual assumes a certain risk. One decides to marry a soldier. And again that individual accepts a risk.
If you move to Alaska, don't complain about the cold. If you are a plumber, don't complain if you have smelly stuff on your hands. If you are a drug dealer, don't complain if you get locked up for life. If you are a firefighter, don't complain if you get burned. If you are a soldier, don't complain if you get shot. If you marry a soldier, don't complain if he doesn't come back. If you immigrate to a foreign country, don't complain about the bureaucracy.
There's always a choice.

Even better! Show that you had planned to return within 6 months, but that circumstances arose that required you to be gone longer. Does the employment certificate explain that your employer asked you to finish out the school year AFTER you arrived? If not, would they be willing to write you a letter that explains this? This would sufficiently cover the reason for not getting a reentry permit.
Also, be sure you have something that shows you continued to maintain a residence in the US while you were gone.

Obviously, you already know the basic facts about this. The CBP is allowed to presume that he abandoned his residency if he's gone more than 6 months. The four points they consider are:
1. Intent on departure from the US
2. Whether travel has a specific purpose, and a specific ending date
3. Whether the LPR paid taxes while abroad
4. Ties to the US (residence, bank accounts, etc.)
In your case, 1 and 2 may be related. If he knew his absence was going to be temporary, and for a specific purpose and length of time, then he would have known he was going to be gone for more than 6 months and should have obtained a reentry permit. It sounds like you've got item 3 covered. Item 4 sounds like it's partially covered. Returning to stay with your parents is not the same thing as maintaining a residence, even if you were living with your parents before you left. CBP could conclude you abandoned your residence when you left, and are reestablishing it on your return. If you had evidence you were paying rent, and continued to pay rent while you were gone, your case would be a lot tighter.
Unfortunately, nobody can guarantee what the CBP is going to do in a case like this. Try to come up with as much evidence as you can that you knew the departure would be temporary when you left, and that your actions before and during the absence were consistent with the presumption that you would be returning. Have a good excuse ready for not having obtained a reentry permit before leaving.
Good luck!

I don't blame anyone for having the strength to break unjust laws; I applaud them. Yes, I have been jumping through hoops to bring my spouse here legally: by following the constraints of the current system but frustrating as this time is, I understand that only a projection of that frustration could be responsible for an attempted vilification of those who try to 'sneak' in this country. I blame a lacking system that devalues human life by selling opportunities to thrive, to live as dignified human beings. Not everyone is just lining up to get in this country, but those who do desire to live in the US usually have a good reason and that reason is significant enough that they feel it justifies the risks they take.
I step back to view the whole picture, I see a people fleeing a land in which they perceived life to be oppressive, I see a people 'finding' a 'new' land. They drive away the oppressors that followed them. They become the oppressors in the new land. The land is 'taken' from its inhabitants. I see a flood of other peoples, from equally oppressive situations coming to this new land of opportunity, conditions / restrictions are created concerning who may enter this 'new found' land.
Today, the freedoms I enjoy, simply because of the country that I was born in, are mind blowing! I can travel and live pretty much anywhere I desire and have the means to visit or inhabit. I have access to some form of emergency health care no matter how much or how little I earn. At least 75% of the year, I can walk into any shelter, if need be, and be received by someone who offers me food, water and a bed, free of charge! I can receive education, knowledge, empowerment through schooling until the age of 18 for free! If I am very poor I can attend community college free of charge! I sleep soundly at night knowing that in the morning my electricity will most likely be working, I will have some food to eat in my house, and if I don't there are dozens of places that will feed me for free! I can go on and on. What did I do to 'earn' these 'rights?' Nothing but be born within the borders of this country.
Does that make me more human than someone else? NO
I love the freedoms I have, I am grateful that I am not for want. I am saddened by the fact that people in this country desire to hoard and restrict those freedoms that they did nothing to earn but being born in this country.
When being able to live, thrive and be happy becomes conditional, those who would deny others the opportunity to live dignified lives, contribute to the structural violence that the current systems in place perpetuate.
The value of human life is not conditional. Anyone who expects to be valued, have their dignity affirmed, have love shown to them, is obligated to do nothing less for the rest of the global village.
It saddens me that, through this loooooooong journey that we are all taking separately but experiencing together: the waiting, the forms, the tears and the joys of being reunited with our love ones - knowing the pain and agony of being apart from the person(s) who completes your heart - we find it so hard to understand that legal or not, financially able or not, 'sneaking' or not, we think that we are somehow unique, that our pain is legitimate because we feel it within the constraints of the current system.............
I value your opinions, this is my own.

Let's do the teenager thing first. Following after my mom who was truly extreme in this department, I'm still a neat freak. My shirts in my closet are color coded. I label everything. I do things my wife feels are insane. Speaking of her, she is "normal" and, at least in my eyes, quite messy. But compared to my wife, my 20 year-old daughter is a slob of the worst kind. There are mountains of laundry in her room on the floor, perhaps 8 to 10 empty water bottles, coffee mugs, and ####### everywhere. Her car looks exactly the same way. She never washes it and the trunk is filled with . . . #######. I can't stand it, and we've had quite a few discussions about this but seem to be unable to get this under control, as does my wife. So I can understand if somebody goes gagga over an issue like this.
But the real issue seems to be not your teenage daughters' messy rooms. It appears to me that it's one of the reasons mentioned by your husband why he "fell out of love" with you. So primarily you are dealing with a failed marriage or one that is about to fail. That's nothing I could help you with. But let's look at the immigration aspect of this, shall we. If you are the US citizen, then your husband has a 2-year Green Card, correct? If so, the joint lease alone doesn't do him any good in removing conditions, aside from the fact that if you two split, he will have to file on his own anyway. For this he will have to prove that he entered the marriage in good faith. It's out of your hands how they will decide on this.
If he has a 10-year Green Card, however, there's even less to be worried about. It's a non-issue. Even if you feel awful and perhaps believe that he married you primarily for the Green Card, there's nothing you can do or should do.
Which leaves you with the part I can't help you with: your marriage. You need to find out what you want to do, but it appears that there's not much you would want to salvage, or is there? Talk to people who know you and whom you can trust, and eventually you will perhaps divorce your husband.
Wish you the best.

Your sister will need to wait at least 5 years from the time she became a LPR (check the Green Card) until she can become a US citizen. It's a very simple concept.

Your sister will need to wait at least 5 years from the time she became a LPR (check the Green Card) until she can become a US citizen. It's a very simple concept.

Your sister will need to wait at least 5 years from the time she became a LPR (check the Green Card) until she can become a US citizen. It's a very simple concept.

You made a mistake in your thinking.
Yes, people have adjusted successfully from tourist visas. That's possible if a tourist enters the US, falls in love, and gets married without any intention on having so when entering the US. The big surprise!
But that's not the case with you. You entered with a tourist visa (B2), but you were already married to a US citizen. The surprise is missing, the wedding is missing, and therefore you cannot successfully adjust status. You could try, but your case is one of the few where a paper trail unmistakibly points to misrepresentation, and that carries a lifetime ban.
My advice in your situation: don't even think about it! Travel back to the great Republic of China and apply for an CR-1 visa.

You made a mistake in your thinking.
Yes, people have adjusted successfully from tourist visas. That's possible if a tourist enters the US, falls in love, and gets married without any intention on having so when entering the US. The big surprise!
But that's not the case with you. You entered with a tourist visa (B2), but you were already married to a US citizen. The surprise is missing, the wedding is missing, and therefore you cannot successfully adjust status. You could try, but your case is one of the few where a paper trail unmistakibly points to misrepresentation, and that carries a lifetime ban.
My advice in your situation: don't even think about it! Travel back to the great Republic of China and apply for an CR-1 visa.

I was about to answer the Census truthfully, but since I learned here on VJ that many people are just having fun with it, I just ripped it in pieces and threw it in the trash. Since Uncle Sam has never enforced participation in the past it is doubtful that he will do so this time, and, even so, who really gives a sh*t anyway, right?
A huge waste of taxpayers' money. Soooo sad.

I was about to answer the Census truthfully, but since I learned here on VJ that many people are just having fun with it, I just ripped it in pieces and threw it in the trash. Since Uncle Sam has never enforced participation in the past it is doubtful that he will do so this time, and, even so, who really gives a sh*t anyway, right?
A huge waste of taxpayers' money. Soooo sad.

If you are a human being as science knows it, you are unable to answer the questions truthfully before April 1. Plain and simple. Unable, as the questions are phrased very specific (did live, not assume to live) and contain a specific date (4-1-2010).
You can get hit by a bus tomorrow, your husband can have a stroke or heart attack, and something tragic can happen to your son or daughter as well. The fact that people even assume it's easy to predict what happens to the about 300,000,000 US residents within the next 2 weeks is proposterous and proof that people don't take the Census seriously. Hence, there you have it: a huge waste of taxpayers' money.

So you killed a few bad guys, did some minor drive-by shootings, perhaps a little robbery or an assault, but never got caught. And now you wonder if you should mention these crimes on your N-400 application and if you did, if that would get you in trouble?
Let think about that; I'll get back to you with an answer tomorrow.