usc wants divorce, conditional gc almost expired

[worldcitizen 0]

hi all,

looking for some insight to my situation and i hope someone out there can help.

long story short, i am the usc and my husband is a conditional green card holder. he has approx 30 days left on his conditional green card to lift the conditions before it expires. we've been having a really rough time together for the last year, but have been trying to work it out. i've gone to a couple of different lawyers, he has too, and we're now trying to make the best decision without making things look fraudulent, as they are not. we married for the right reasons, and it's just not working.

so, anyone know any cases where there was a joint i751 filed and while it was pending a divorce was filed? what if divorce is filed after the i751 is approved?

my husband's laywer told him to file a hardship waiver since until recently i have been pretty unwilling to sign anything. i just don't want to be charged with marriage fraud because i haven't done anything wrong. this lawyer charges $3k for this his serves with this paperwork, plus filing fee, plus court fee (if needed). he does not go and secure any documents, but rather only puts them in a packet and makes a cover letter for $3k. what a racket?!!! i did the k1 visa and the aos paperwork myself no problems. i feel like this is an absorbent amount of money to charge anyone. when my husband tried to ask him different questions about filing jointly and divorce and how that affects everything, the lawyer pretty much avoided these questions. the lawyer refused to speak with me--even though i am willing to "compromise".i was advised that a hardship waiver is basically impossible to get approved, so i am fairly hesitant with this option.

i read on the usics website that if you file joint, you just need to send in the divorce decree when it's finalized an ROF has been sent for it. that seems pretty straight forward and not a problem. all the tools/info i could find support the green card holder and not the citizen, so i am a bit hesitant.

help please!

[worldcitizen 0]

hi all,

looking for some insight to my situation and i hope someone out there can help.

long story short, i am the usc and my husband is a conditional green card holder. he has approx 30 days left on his conditional green card to lift the conditions before it expires. we've been having a really rough time together for the last year, but have been trying to work it out. i've gone to a couple of different lawyers, he has too, and we're now trying to make the best decision without making things look fraudulent, as they are not. we married for the right reasons, and it's just not working.

so, anyone know any cases where there was a joint i751 filed and while it was pending a divorce was filed? what if divorce is filed after the i751 is approved?

my husband's laywer told him to file a hardship waiver since until recently i have been pretty unwilling to sign anything. i just don't want to be charged with marriage fraud because i haven't done anything wrong. this lawyer charges $3k for this his serves with this paperwork, plus filing fee, plus court fee (if needed). he does not go and secure any documents, but rather only puts them in a packet and makes a cover letter for $3k. what a racket?!!! i did the k1 visa and the aos paperwork myself no problems. i feel like this is an absorbent amount of money to charge anyone. when my husband tried to ask him different questions about filing jointly and divorce and how that affects everything, the lawyer pretty much avoided these questions. the lawyer refused to speak with me--even though i am willing to "compromise".i was advised that a hardship waiver is basically impossible to get approved, so i am fairly hesitant with this option.

i read on the usics website that if you file joint, you just need to send in the divorce decree when it's finalized an ROF has been sent for it. that seems pretty straight forward and not a problem. all the tools/info i could find support the green card holder and not the citizen, so i am a bit hesitant.

help please!

here is the info from usics

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=745218a1f8b73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4ca43a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

If You Are In Divorce Proceedings But Are Not Yet Divorced

If you are still married, but legally separated and/or in pending divorce or annulment proceedings, and:

• You filed a waiver request. We will issue a request for evidence (RFE) specifically asking for a copy of the final divorce decree or annulment (if applicable).
• You filed a Form I-751 petition jointly. We will issue a request for evidence (RFE) specifically asking for a copy of the final divorce decree or annulment and a statement that you would like to have your joint filing petition treated as a waiver.

Upon receipt of the final divorce decree or annulment within the specified time period, we will amend the petition, to indicate that eligibility has been established for a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on the termination of the marriage.

[rika60607 215]

How soon can you get a final divorce decree? Did you file for divorce already?

I think your lawyer is not worth the money (avoiding questions is not a reasonable way to earn $3000). He probably suggests hardship waiver as a stalling technique, anticipating long divorce proceedings. Then he would later replace hardship waiver with divorce waiver.

If you already filed for divorce (or one of you will file for divorce before he files for ROC) and you expect to have a final decree within 4-5 months, he should file with a bona fide marriage/divorce waiver... he should be able to produce divorce decree in time to respond to RFE.

Think about it... if you file jointly and nobody tells USCIS about your divorce... how would they know to send him an RFE for a divorce decree? And if he gets approved as a joint filer after divorce is complete, he'll be in for misrepresentation charges!

You filed a Form I-751 petition jointly. We will issue a request for evidence (RFE) specifically asking for a copy of the final divorce decree or annulment and a statement that you would like to have your joint filing petition treated as a waiver.

Upon receipt of the final divorce decree or annulment within the specified time period, we will amend the petition, to indicate that eligibility has been established for a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on the termination of the marriage.

[worldcitizen 0]

you have a good point about how would usics would know if no one told them. i guess i was assuming that somehow government agencies would talk..... i guess i should know better.

we haven't filed for divorce. in california it takes 6 months and i751 is taking that amount of time in ca as well, so paperwork would time pretty evenly. by the time a RFE comes, divorce decree should almost be finalized or already finalized. i hear you get 87 days to return a RFE anyways.

what happens if you file everything joinlty, green card gets approved, and then you file for divorce later down the road? not a problem for either party?

i was looking at a sample cover letter for the i751 on vj, and it specifies living together. do i have to specify that we are or that we are not? he moved out 3 weeks ago. what i've read on this site looks like there isn't anything that would stop a joint petition based on living together. he would just need to do an address change and it would need to be specified in the paperwork.

[rika60607 215]

He already moved out and at least one of you wants a divorce. If there is any evidence that you live separately (they do check!), you filed joint petition and did not address the reason for living separately, you will very likely get RFE'd or called for an interview.

It is safer and more honest for him to file for ROC with a waiver. Most of waiver filings get approved. Check waiver timeline thread in ROC forum for stats and support. In my experience, at least divorce based ROCs are processed with a delay compared to joint filers. So time-wise he should be OK if he has a divorce decree in 6 months. He will not be deported simply for being unable to produce a divorce decree on time, either.

you have a good point about how would usics would know if no one told them. i guess i was assuming that somehow government agencies would talk..... i guess i should know better.

we haven't filed for divorce. in california it takes 6 months and i751 is taking that amount of time in ca as well, so paperwork would time pretty evenly. by the time a RFE comes, divorce decree should almost be finalized or already finalized. i hear you get 87 days to return a RFE anyways.

what happens if you file everything joinlty, green card gets approved, and then you file for divorce later down the road? not a problem for either party?

i was looking at a sample cover letter for the i751 on vj, and it specifies living together. do i have to specify that we are or that we are not? he moved out 3 weeks ago. what i've read on this site looks like there isn't anything that would stop a joint petition based on living together. he would just need to do an address change and it would need to be specified in the paperwork.

[worldcitizen 0]

thanks again for your help.

can we say that we are working on our relationship? i'm curious what they would think is appropriate. i was reading in the lifting of the conditions facts that you do not have to live together. you can be separated and still file jointly. (now of course, i cannot find that page on this site that i've read several times before)

another lawyer basically confirmed what the first one said. i am going to try to call the national center myself and see what they say.

[rika60607 215]

You probably could file jointly and then replace the original petition with a waiver... if you are indeed still trying to work things out. Important thing is that his petition should not be approved as joint if at the time of approval you filed for divorce or got a divorce already.

You may call the mis-information line, but they are not IOs, they are just a hired customer service. They hold no responsibility for what they say either. Better go for an InfoPass appointment and talk to a real IO.

thanks again for your help.

can we say that we are working on our relationship? i'm curious what they would think is appropriate. i was reading in the lifting of the conditions facts that you do not have to live together. you can be separated and still file jointly. (now of course, i cannot find that page on this site that i've read several times before)

another lawyer basically confirmed what the first one said. i am going to try to call the national center myself and see what they say.

[worldcitizen 0]

my call got transfered to an officer and she was very helpful. the customer service people can only provide so much info. beyond basic info, you have to get your call escalated to an officer.

You probably could file jointly and then replace the original petition with a waiver... if you are indeed still trying to work things out. Important thing is that his petition should not be approved as joint if at the time of approval you filed for divorce or got a divorce already.

You may call the mis-information line, but they are not IOs, they are just a hired customer service. They hold no responsibility for what they say either. Better go for an InfoPass appointment and talk to a real IO.

[Brad and Vika 129]

my call got transfered to an officer and she was very helpful. the customer service people can only provide so much info. beyond basic info, you have to get your call escalated to an officer.

What was the result of the call?

[worldcitizen 0]

What was the result of the call?

she provided me with the information i needed. basically, if we are living apart, explain that we are having a diffuclt time in our marriage, etc etc..affidavits should show how people know about our marriage. for example, my parents live in another city 500 miles away. i should detail when they last saw us, frequent phone calls, etc etc. if we file for divorce down the road before his application is approved, then they need to be notified, and he can change his application from joint to divorce waiver. it didn't really seem like anything is an issue. once the i751 is recevied, they issue a 1 year exenstion on his status for the application to be approved regardless.. if for some reason his case is not solved by then (due to pending divorce or whatnot) he can ask for an extension from a judge.

i don't have a lot of the evidence they are requesting. no kids, no joint property, etc etc etc etc so affidavits i think are even more important in our case.