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I recently met somebody who came to this country on a spouse visa. She has been in this country for about a year now, and she is not happy, she feels the marriage is not working out and wants to file for a divorce. However, she still has conditions on her visa. If she was to file for divorce, would I be able to be a new petitioner for her? I'm assuming I would have to marry her to do so?

If she was to go through with the divorce and we were to get married, how would we go about the process? What forms would we need to fill out? Would Immigration still require any paper documentation from the first marriage?

Thanks.

I recently talked to a customer service representative at the uscis 800 number. I asked him about if somebody came over on a spouse visa, CR-1 within the first two years, when it comes time to file the I-751, what documentation do they need? I asked if there was a divorce whether that person would need proof that the marriage was in good faith, such as joint bank accounts, etc., and he said no, that since there is a divorce, they would look at it differently, and that those articles of a bona fide marriage would not be expected to be produced in a divorce situation. He said that for the I-751 they require proof that the marriage was legitimate OR the divorce decree, one or the other. This seems to contradict what I have read on this site. Who is right? Is there anybody on this site who has gone through the process who can share their experience?

Another question. He also said that if divorce occurs, the person should wait until 90 days prior to the 2 year anniversary to file the I-751, and should not fill it out beforehand. I told him I read somewhere(this site) that if the person divorces that the I-751 should be filed immediately once divorce is finalized. He said no, if that is done, the form will be sent back due to filing too early. He said the green card has an expiration date on it that is valid REGARDLESS of whether the person divorces or not. This also contradicts what I have read on this site previously, where somebody had said that once divorce is finalized, that person should immediately file the I-751, since the CR-1 is based on marriage. Who is right?

Thanks for your input.

Baron makes a good point, about the relationship being solid first, but let me ask this as a counterpoint--wouldn't bringing her over and actually spending time together do just that? By being together for that period of time, we would be able to really confirm our relationship. And isn't that what the 90 day period is for? If it wasn't, then why not just make the time period 30 days? or 7 days?

Wow! Thanks for all of your responses and great input. In regards to Vanessa and Tony, I"m willing to say what got me to this point-- I can always use more input and opinions. However, just a warning--it's kind of a long-winded story.

We talked with each other online, and at a point, I decided to go and visit her. She lives in the Philippines. Here are the incidents that have caused me to reconsider.

1. The initial plan was she was going to meet me at the airport. However, a few days before the trip, she contacted me and told me she would meet me at the hotel the next day. Initially, this didn't bother me; however, after talking to a few other people, they said this was not a good sign, that when their guy came over to visit them, they couldn't wait to see them at the airport. I asked her why she didn't meet me at the airport, and she said she hates airport traffic.

2. This was the big thing. We spent some time together, it was good, then when I got back to the U.S., I told her I wanted to start talking online more often. We had been talking 2-3 times a week, I wanted to talk 4-6 times a week. She said she didn't want to. I"m the kind of person where when I'm in a serious relationship, I need to talk to the person on a daily basis--I know some people don't, but I do. If I don't, it's hard for me to maintain feelings for the person. So I brought up the idea to her several times, but she resisted every time. I asked her why not, and basically she came up with two reasons: 1. she's busy with work, and 2. she doesn't like the crowded Internet cafes.

3. Up until last week, we had never talked two days in a row for the purpose of talking to each other. One incident really upset me. One Sunday night, I suggested we talk online the following night. She gave me the usual reply--nope, can't do it, she's busy. The next night I go online, and she's online! I asked her--I thought you said you were busy. And she replied that her sister(who lives in the U.S.) wanted to talk to her. That infuriated me. I asked her why is it that you're too busy to talk to me but not to your sister? She just smiled and said something about her sister knowing how to convince her.

As these incidents went on, I hesitated more and more to send in the I-129. But I figured we were so far along, that we should do it, so I sent it in.

Another factor to mention--she is physically attractive. I am physically attracted to her--that's not the problem. Or maybe it is the problem. When the webcam comes on and I see her, I started to forget about the personality flaws.

4. Another incident. Just a couple days before her embassy interview, she came online. We had talked the previous night, so I thought we would talk again. But she wasn't on to talk to me--she had to fill out some online form prior to the interview. When I tried to talk to her, she said she was busy. I waited for two hours, then I told her I was going to sleep(major time difference between the two countries). I told her she could have taken a 30 minute break and talked to me--she said she was stressed out over filling out the form she didn't realize she needed to do. That incident was kind of the final straw. A few days later, she had the interview, and the visa was approved. But by this point, the feelings I had had for her had been drained by all these incidents. This incident was pretty much the final straw.

5. She never called me and she rarely texted me. When I asked her why not, she said it's expensive to call. I was okay with that. As a result, I called her, but we always had problems hearing each other, so we both agreed online chat is better, which is another reason on the emphasis of chatting online. A rare time she called me, and I got excited cuz I thought it would be a romantic gesture--instead she called me to remind me to send in the paperwork, then she ended the conversation! That was so disappointing.

6. She also made a few flippant remarks which I thought was inappropriate for two people in a relationship.

So she got the visa, but my feelings for her had been drained by this point, so I told her I was not bringing her over. She did a lot of crying, and she said I was hurting her. She said that she loved me and only me, and that she was always honest with me.

My intuition is that it's not a fraud issue but a personality issue, maybe a lack of relationship experience? I don't know. The bottom line is she did not do things to make me fall in love with her, instead, just the opposite. The physical attraction was there, but it didn't go beyond that.

One final note to add to this. She was the second woman I met from the Philippines--the first one I had met prior to this one. We had great chemistry together, and she found a way to go online and talk to me almost every day even though she didn't have much money. She soon told me she was in love with me, and she wanted me to come over and visit her. But my job situation wouldn't allow me to do so at that time. But instead of waiting for me, she went and found another guy and they soon got married. While I was going through the paperwork process, we talked as friends and I told her my situation and I was having doubts. She soon told me she was having doubts about her marriage also, she now thought she had made a mistake, that I'm the one that she loved, and that she wished she was married to me instead. But now it was too late, because she is already here in the U.S. with the other guy. It was heartbreaking, because she put forth so much effort to talk to me, and we had such chemistry together. Talking to her during that period also put things into perspective and influenced me on not bringing the other girl over.

Sorry--kind of a depressing story, but that's the reality of the situation right now. Thanks for reading! I still haven't gotten a clear majority answer as to whether I need to contact the embassy or if I can just let the visa die on its own. In any case, I would like to be in good standing with uscis.

We've completed the process, and she has the visa in hand. However, I have not pulled the trigger on bringing her over here, i.e., buying the plane ticket, because of certain things she has done and said lately. If I do not bring her over and the visa expires, am I responsible for notifying the embassy of why I didn't bring her over here, or is that simply my choice not to do so?

What kind of documentation does she currently have?

She has the green card, marriage contract, pictures, mail

I have a friend who came over here on a CR-1 visa, and she is now having doubts about the marriage, and is considering divorce. She has only been here about 6 months. She knows she can get a divorce, but she is still afraid of being called out for marriage fraud and eventually being deported. They are currently living together, but he has refused to have joint bank accounts, and she has little paper documentation other than marriage contract, pictures and some mail. If she was to leave him now and file for divorce, would she be at risk for marriage fraud, given the length of time she’s been here and the small amount of paper documentation? She’s super-sensitive about the fraud issue, that’s why she’s asking me to ask this on her behalf. Thanks for your input!