Urgent: i751 Rejected and we're getting married next month

[scottyH 1]

My fiance was previously married and has legally been in the united states because she had applied for the removal of conditions of residence but her i751 was just denied. We have been engaged for several months. I read that if the judge says that she commited marriage fraud, I can't petition for her to stay. If we get married before the hearing, would that prevent us from this problem? I will marry her yesterday if it means that we can stay together and I'm very upset and worried. You can email me at any time. I live in Saint Louis Missouri.

She has evidence that prooves that the marriage was real in terms of insurance, pictures, affidavits, a letter from the ex (after the ex set an angry letter) but the immigration did not believe her because there were no children and because they did not share joint bank accounts. She didn't have a joint bank account because the man would not let her have a joint account. She wanted one but he was extremely frugal and selfish.

My fiancé said that she actually got put in the removal proceedings because when she was told that she had to set up a meeting for the removal of her restrictions she went to the immigration office and was given forms to fill out. Upon arriving, at the window, the clerk did not tell her that she had to speak with an actual officer. 3 weeks later she was told that they were starting the deportation procedures. That was years ago. She cleared up that it was a misunderstanding about the forms but she has been going to the judge every 3 months to prove that she has been doing everything legally and transparently.

In regards to the refusal of the form, I can tell you that it cited lack of shared accounts and lack of children and a very short period of being married as the cause. They did not have children. They were married for a total of 10 months and only 4 after getting the green card. She got divorced because it was not love and he didn't treat her well and like a wife. They did live together, they did share insurance. They did not share bank accounts because he was a bad husband and said that they could have joint bank accounts whenever she actually made as much money as him. The fact that he was a bad husband does not mean that she did not get married in good faith.

They did have joint insurance. She did send affidavits. She did send pictures of them to the people.

If we get married can we apply for a different visa? What are our options?

[AussieDude 0]

This is a hairy one, probably best to get a professional opinion (ie immigration lawyer). You may also want to have a look and post in the major family changes forum. Your question is probably beyond any of our experiences here.

[baunzerbrudi 0]

Just from general experience and similar problems I have seen here, your situation is complicated but not really beyond hope. Unless she lied to a USCIS officer or forged any documents, a denied I-751 is not grounds for future denial of petitions. You might want to hire an attorney but as long as she is currently in status (not illegally in the US), and you guys are a bona fide couple, there will be a way. It might take a little while, they might grill you at interviews and you might have to pay a waiver her or there but in the long run I would say your chances of her staying (or, in the worst case, reentering on a fresh K3) are close to 100%. If you intend to marry anyway, I would go ahead and do it. That way you have a vested interest in her staying and courts as well as uscis honor a citizen´s interest above a non-citizen´s appeal (just my layman´s opinion). Also, once married, she can file to adjust status as your spouse.

[annelizabeth 1]

Scottyh, are you a US citizen? I got confused with the english flag. Because if neither of you are citizens it is an entirely different scenario. Good luck.

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Just from general experience and similar problems I have seen here, your situation is complicated but not really beyond hope. Unless she lied to a USCIS officer or forged any documents, a denied I-751 is not grounds for future denial of petitions. You might want to hire an attorney but as long as she is currently in status (not illegally in the US), and you guys are a bona fide couple, there will be a way. It might take a little while, they might grill you at interviews and you might have to pay a waiver her or there but in the long run I would say your chances of her staying (or, in the worst case, reentering on a fresh K3) are close to 100%. If you intend to marry anyway, I would go ahead and do it. That way you have a vested interest in her staying and courts as well as uscis honor a citizen´s interest above a non-citizen´s appeal (just my layman´s opinion). Also, once married, she can file to adjust status as your spouse.

When a marriage occurs while an alien is in removal proceedings, the marriage is presumed fraudulent. Thus the benchmark to meet and exceed is raised. This case requires the help of a competent attorney. Research the Matter of Velarde so you can know what questions to ask.

[jsnearline 2]

I hate to say this, but I'd suggest putting off the wedding until you get this mess cleared up. The worst thing would be to marry her and then see your new wife get deported. Then what would you do? Better to wait until her status is resolved one way or another. I know it's easy for me to say but much harder for you to do...

[sheraz 0]

This is a tough one. Very hard to show the sincerity of marriage. Consult a good attorney. It may be simply easier for the fiancee to go abroad and apply for CR1 visa rather than go through this process which could become long and very expensive.

The people in this forum may understand the intention of marriage but but if your fiancee hasnt been able to convince the judge yet because of a lack of evidence, it may be easier to start to voluntary depart, go back to home country and start with a clean slate.

[lucyrich 20]

Be very careful.

If there's ever been a finding of past misrepresentation, then the alien is inadmissible. Read this article for an illustration of that general point, but with significantly different facts and circumstances: http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0323-ellis.shtm

You don't want to just abandon one process and assume that a subsequent visa application will sail through because it's easy to prove that everything is bona fide this time. I'm not sure about what the best course of action is here, except to dig in and research your options thoroughly, with one or more very experienced and competent immigration attorneys.

[*Robert* 2]

I have to concur with what other members have said, and echo the suggestions of holding off with any sort of marriage, and to contact a competent immigration attorney. There are a lot of issues to get sorted out.

Good luck.

[Muergana 0]

This is good advice, for not only sensible reason but practical ones (i.e. how do you get a divorce after deportation?):[/b][/b]

I hate to say this, but I'd suggest putting off the wedding until you get this mess cleared up. The worst thing would be to marry her and then see your new wife get deported. Then what would you do? Better to wait until her status is resolved one way or another. I know it's easy for me to say but much harder for you to do...

If you ever want to see your woman again, this is not so good advice:

This is a tough one. Very hard to show the sincerity of marriage. Consult a good attorney. It may be simply easier for the fiancee to go abroad and apply for CR1 visa rather than go through this process which could become long and very expensive.

The people in this forum may understand the intention of marriage but but if your fiancee hasnt been able to convince the judge yet because of a lack of evidence, it may be easier to start to voluntary depart, go back to home country and start with a clean slate.

I think you better ask yourself if your woman is being straightforward with you about her past and also if she is really The One and worth all of this effort... otherwise you better walk away before you really hurt yourself...

Why haven't you seen a lawyer yet? Don't get married until you do, because supposing both of you get denied again, that could unfortunately get you in trouble w/ the law as well as getting her deported anyway...

And if you choose to walk away because you know she is not 'the one,' DO NOT feel guilty about it, and DO NOT carry someone else's burdens on your shoulders.

Careful, my heart goes out to you as this could happen to anyone, best of luck.

[NickD 202]

Wife likes to chat on MSN and makes internet friends with gals from her home country and discuss how immigration is going. List is growing, kind of like a chain reaction. She told me of one that stayed due to abuse, another that stayed by hardship for the I-751. I always ask my wife how did they get into that mess, usually they got married to quick without really knowing the other person, we took over two years as we both didn't want to go through a divorce again. One guy was mean, the other was looking for free help in his business.

I realize every case is unique, but this is just to let you know that I know of two examples where the women stayed here after a divorce and just wonder why your fiancée didn't go this route? Apparently the USCIS realizes that not all marriages work out and offered provisions for different means to stay here.

I don't much about that woman with the abuse case, my wife asked me to talk on the phone with the hardship case, she made a great sacrifice to come here, quit her job and either sold or gave away all of her assets to marry that salve driver, did get a job and was able to buy a house here, didn't have that much evidence about not marrying to come here for similar reasons given by your fiancée, but was granted a hardship not to be deported and did get her ten year card. Today she is a US citizen.

But there are bad guys/gals on both side of the fence either the immigrant or the US citizen. Lot's of sweet young sexy girls want to come here and are looking for any guy with a couple of bucks then dump him. If that happened to either you or me, both really nice guys, feel we would be quite teed off. What is her husband's side of the story?

Don't have to answer, but open your eyes and look around, just in case, sounds like she is desperate, but just sounds that way, not good to enter into a marriage under desperate situations.