AtariBaby

1 hour ago, sandranj said:

She should file for divorce NOW. She should not wait to see what he will do with her. 

 

If she doesn't have kids or assets to share she should go to the Court and ask a  PRO SE DIVORCE KIT, and she doesn't need an attorney to file for divorce,the package comes with instructions.

Thanks my understanding is that was filed this morning, and she's going to try and get him served tomorrow.

16 minutes ago, Damara said:

This question comes up a lot. You can assure your friend that USCIS views annulments the same as divorces. Having a marriage annulled does not make it void for immigration dealings. The only issue (which is true for both divorces and annulments) is IF the paperwork contains fraud wordings. Meaning it was granted because of fraud. If she doesn't have a lawyer for the divorce/annulment proceedings she should look into finding a pro-bono or low cost one. Also annulments are very very hard to obtain. They are very rarely granted. You can google the state they reside in plus annulment and see what the requirements are for obtaining one. Their marriage probably doesn't qualify. 

 

You should encourage her to join this thread (even if she has an attny). There is a lot of good info here and she can track her cases progress along with others who have filed around the same time. Its also a great source of emotional support. 

 I sincerely thank you for your replies. The shelter has rules, and of course for good reason! One of them is no emailing while she's there.

But she is reading your posts and is very grateful. And I'm sure she probably will sign up later when she's in a place that she's allowed to do so.

She is filing papers tomorrow!

Thank you. She is a very smart person so I'm sure she won't make any such mistakes. She is mainly concerned about the possible making good on his threat, and what she might be looking at to defend herself. She is certain he doesn't have any documentation to bolster a threat of annulment for fraud, and she has quite the opposite: evidence of a genuine marriage of love and evidence of that person turning abusive. 

27 minutes ago, gramercy said:

He basically threatened her, but there is nothing for her to fight at this point since there is no notice of actual legal actions pending!

Annulment is only bad if it's granted based on his accusations of fraud, but that just doesn't happen easily just because he said so!

 

Just tell your friend to NOT disclose her location to her spouse at any cost and NEVER sign anything he sends her. just go about her vawa case & divorce him if possible. if he's abusive he will do and say anything to torment her.

Hi

Is this the thread to post VAWA questions in, as opposed to a new topic?

I have a friend (this is in San Francisco, California) who was in the process of immigration through marriage, and the husband became extremely abusive. She got out safely and is in a shelter, because it was really bad.

She is now in VAWA. She has an attorney helping via a nonprofit service. But in a recent conversation with the husband, he threatened to file an annulment, intending to ruin the immigration process. She heard that this can be expensive to fight. She heard of a case where a woman in similar shoes had to spend $20K on a private attorney to fight this.

Does anyone know anything about an annulment tactic, and the consequences? I should also point out that according to her, he's penniless, so if annulments are costly, he won't be making good on the threat.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the support guys!

California Service Center (17 applicants, 2 approved - 12%)

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved

ATARIBABY.............05/31/14......06/02/14......07/01/14......07/25/14

JABER2014.............05/31/14......06/02/14......06/20/14......--/--/--

BAGUETTE..............06/02/14......06/05/14......07/02/14......07/24/14

TIGER17...............06/03/14......06/05/14......07/02/14......--/--/--(Early Bio 06/18)

COOCOO................06/03/14......06/25/14......--/--/14......--/--/--

J-DZZY................06/07/14......06/09/14......07/01/14......--/--/--

DUSTIN C..............06/07/14......06/09/14......07/11/14......--/--/--

KRAMIREZ1416..........06/07/14......06/09/14......07/03/14......--/--/--

BARNABASB.............06/10/14......06/16/14......--/--/14......--/--/--

CEDV..................06/11/14......06/16/14......07/21/14......--/--/--

CHIQUITAVALIENTE......06/12/14......06/16/14......07/14/14......--/--/--

NURSEVIV..............06/13/14......06/16/14......07/14/14......--/--/--

KARL AND OLGA.........06/14/14......06/16/14......07/14/14......--/--/--

BREYANDTTHEW..........06/16/14......06/18/14......07/18/14......07/14/14(early bio 07/01)(Military)

SETH2013..............06/18/14......06/20/14......07/16/14......--/--/--(early bio 07/14)

A16!!24A..............06/18/14......06/20/14......07/16/14......--/--/--

SELAH.................06/21/14......06/23/14......07/18/14......--/--/--

Vermont Service Center (28 applicants, 0 approved - 0%)

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved

SCH7..................05/24/14......06/02/14......06/27/14......--/--/--

LOVE MY BABY..........05/27/14......06/02/14......07/07/14......--/--/--

ISLANDLADY............05/27/14......06/02/14......07/01/14......--/--/--

UK_FAN................05/29/14......06/03/14......07/01/14......--/--/--

MINAE.................05/30/14......06/03/14......07/07/14......--/--/--(Early Bio 06/27)

USAEAGLE..............06/02/14......06/06/14......07/07/14......--/--/--

WORRIER...............06/02/14......06/06/14......07/14/14......--/--/--

AIMEE K...............06/03/14......06/05/14......07/03/14......--/--/--

SRUTGERS198...........06/06/14......06/09/14......07/11/14......--/--/--

GREYCITY..............06/08/14......06/10/14......07/15/14......--/--/--

MISSDINADEE...........06/10/14......06/11/14......07/16/14......--/--/--

SOPHIE89..............06/10/14......06/16/14......07/14/14......--/--/--(applying to postpone)

TONY&DARQUISE.........06/12/14......06/17/14......07/18/14......--/--/--

KAT2011...............06/12/14......06/13/14......07/21/14......--/--/--

SCOTT AND EMY.........06/13/14......06/16/14......07/18/14......--/--/--

LOVE4LIFE09...........06/13/14......06/17/14......07/17/14......--/--/--(Early Bio 07/03 at OK City)

JAMES C FOX...........06/16/14......06/--/14......--/--/14......--/--/--

TEAM KATMAN...........06/16/14......06/20/14......07/18/14......--/--/--

AAYITRUN..............06/16/14......06/21/14......07/23/14......--/--/--

GABIRU................06/17/14......06/20/14......07/18/14......--/--/--

CHEROKEE501...........06/17/14......06/23/14......07/29/14......--/--/--

MRSAVEEMAC............06/18/14......06/25/14......07/22/14......--/--/--(Early Bio 07/09 Miami, FL)

LSRBIGFOOT............06/18/14......06/23/14......07/22/14......--/--/--

REBECCAHAN88..........06/18/14......06/23/14......--/--/14......--/--/--

HUCKERMAN26...........06/19/14......06/23/14......07/31/14......--/--/--

THONYZ................06/23/14......06/28/14......07/28/14......--/--/--(Early Bio 07/09)

POLINKA_TLT...........06/25/14......06/30/14......08/04/14......--/--/--

KARLA_DOUGLAS.........06/27/14......06/30/14......07/30/14......--/--/--

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Holy cow. Please help us understand ur situation. Are you in the military or something? If not is there any unique circumstances on ur end that expedited ur situation?

Congrats by the way. Vermont SC applicants, sadly enough, must be pulling their hair in frustration when they see this.

That account is definitely atypical. I'm very happy for them, though! Sucks that the East coasters are experiencing such delays compared to us lucky Westerners. But I'm also sure it will happen for them as well, soon, and we'll all be looking to citizenship next.

Anything is possible, I guess.

It might be accurate to say that if your case is expedited, early walk-in could speed things up by a few days. One can just look at that all the statistical data collected all over these forums and see that early walk-ins don't change anything for normal cases.

I think VSC is about 4 months from Biometrics, California much less at times but fluctuates. and I think they both fluctuate at times. But people are getting approved pretty much on a weekly basis. Right now January filers I think are getting approvals.

July 1st.

Is this technically a July filer? Not that I care if they are here, mind you!

I forgot how easy biometrics is, at least here. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Here they do say "no cellphones" at the door, so I'm glad we remembered and left them in the car, but there wasn't even a metal detector, much less any searching or questioning about belongings.

I'm sure it will be a breeze, UK Fan.

Very happy to hear your wonderful news, seth.

I'm aware of the concept of "authority to search". That doesn't address certain particulars. Anyway, dropping this discussion, personally, since it's going nowhere.

Well, a knowledgeable answer would be better than a "likely", if anyone knows.

But do you have to let them? I can only relay my experience: she had her phone unlocked, and her computer locked. They went through all the content on her phone and had quite a good time passing around risqué photos on it and giving her a hard time about it. Her computer was password protected and she declined to give them access, and they let it go at that.

My situation was very different than yours: Girlfriend coming to visit me repeatedly and staying for weeks each visit on a tourist. I can tell you that they harassed her unmercifully, after she visited several times. But so long as everything is on the up and up, you'll be fine. Do NOT bring through anything that might miscontrue an intent to do any menial work, like credentials or tools, etc. I would also password protect your phone and your computer, because they will pop them open and have a look around otherwise, should they decide to pick on you.

Sorry, an honest question deserves an honest answer.

Welcome to the expat community in Thailand, especially Pattaya. A bunch of angry unhappy foreigners. I personally think they should drop a daisy cutter on that town and start over.

Shocking!

Hey, thanks for your response. It's kinda disconcerting to see how scared they have us. I mean yeah, my right to live in the US is endangered, but my very existence certainly isn't I do love my job and America is great, but you know, life goes on and my marriage certainly will too, whether we live here or not.

Having said that, it's pretty silly of my husband to send the letter without tracking - to spare 90 cents or whatever I don't think he'll be doing that mistake ever again.

And yes, California was my designated service center. We have more than enough proof that we're a legitimate couple and while I don't really enjoy doing the paperwork, I don't think it's brain surgery. A lawyer is an overkill. At my AOS interview, the IO said she's pretty sure no one is going to bother interviewing us for ROC and our case is pretty straight

I'm mainly relieved to hear you sent it to the right place. *whew*

The people who answer the phones are astonishingly clueless. You'll get more accurate replies the thread you're starting.

Hi guys,

My green card expires in early August, but I was so busy at work and traveling that I didn't get a chance to send in my i-751 until June 3. My husband mailed the package and for some reason, he decided not to overnight it but to send it with the slowest mail option, with no way to track or confirm that it's been received. We still haven't heard anything. Our check hasn't been cashed. We sent it to the cali service center, which as far as I understand is the faster one. We called twice and the customer service reps (even the supervisors) claimed we have to wait for 30 days and it would harm our case if we send the papers a second time. That sounds kinda silly as a threat, but I didn't do anything yet. Does anyone have experience with such delays? I've noticed that all of you who applied even weeks later have already had a NOA1. I'm starting to get worried, especially since I'll be out of the country for most of July. 30 days since we sent the papers will be July 3, which is when I leave the country and d-30 till my green card expires. Rather nerve-racking. What would you do?

Coocoo

Oh man, you have to follow all their rules to the letter or you'll be sorry. It might sound silly when they tell you not to submit paperwork a second time but it's about as serious as you can get, I assure you. Likewise you weren't supposed to send your paperwork to the "fastest" service center, you were supposed to send it to the one designated for your state! I hope you happened to send it to the right one. And it was a mistake to send in something that affects your very existence with no form of tracking or confirmation. DO NOT leave the country without the letter stating that your status is extended for one year while they process you.

It might be a good idea to start your own thread in the forum, instead of this thread, because more VisaJourney helpers can advise you.

From now on follow the guides here and ask questions if you have any. If you're going to be so casual about the whole thing, you're much better off getting an attorney to dot the i's and cross the t's.

Good luck and keep us posted.

^I say conflicted because I can't find corroborating evidence. And if you dig deeper, it appears that several people in Pattaya are dedicating entire websites to attacking each other, trying to pass themselves off as legitimate press. It's weird and I don't understand it at all.

Conditions are terrible there, and the penalty for apostasy is death. I would seek advice and guidance in many places on the internet on getting through this, but I wouldn't know where to tell you to look.

This is the USA, you can wear Star Trek uniforms or pay to get married at Disneyland if you want, and some do. And you can even have your own ceremony, provided that someone is legally certified to officiate a wedding ceremony. http://www.ulc.org

Here is a guide for marrying in Los Angeles. NOTE I haven't used that guide, but I arranged my own wedding ceremony officiated by a friend, and got my marriage license in San Francisco. Getting all that done isn't hard but with all things, make sure you do all the paperwork carefully. In San Francisco, at least, you have to do the entire process in two or three parts, so it takes a few days for processing.

If you don't have a complicated case, follow the guides (click guides above) and ask questions in the relevant forums here. Depends on your situation, but usually attorneys will cost you a lot of money, increase the amount of work you must do, and slow things down, because you have to exchange all this information with them.

I'm conflicted over whether or not to post this, but the owner of that firm appears to be embroiled in some serious controversy right now: http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2014/06/thai-brides-visa-agent-on-child-sex.html

Are you talking about proof of signature, to a PO Box? I think you'll see that Monday, because they get signed for or stamped or otherwise processed when the mail is actually picked up at the PO Box. It has been delivered but not actually received, if that makes sense.

Hi everyone, we had our green card interview before yesterday, and the lawyer said that everything was fine. The offi cer started asking about the application we submitted to see if all the questions would still match with our answers.

No problems, everything matched.

I have two red flags, I came in the country with a B2 visa and got married after 160 days from my entry . The second one is my husband and I have an age gap, he is 25 years older than me.

And before any judgemental, insolent, stupid person who is thinking about to comment something to bring me more down, I tell you, you dont know me, you dont know what is inside my husband and I hearts. Please have compassion for other s people suffering .

Thank you guys .

You're actually here with scores of people who are going through or went through the same thing you're going through. You're among friends. Sounds like they didn't even grill you you too hard. Our examiner had me stuttering and shaking in my boots! I was sure I had flunked it, but we were quickly approved. Surely, just based on what you've said here, you're going to be fine. Ultimately, most are. I am 20 years older than my wife; this might be something that makes them suspicious, but there are lots and lots of big age gaps on marriages, going through this system.

I remember the terrible agony of suspense. Most likely we'll be celebrating with you soon.