what if there is a approved visa but a pending divorce

[Anita 0]

Hi everyone - i have a question you probably have all seen before - a cousin of mine has been approved for a visa a few years ago (2007) and never sent in her packet of pwperk from NVC that contained the AOS & Application for Employment, etc... now she is facing a divorce and spouse is not wanting to proceed with her immigration packet. is there anything she can do to keep her approval status? Thanks in advance for your advice! If I'm posting in the wrong forum please move my post thx

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

NO

[pushbrk 12,824]

Hi everyone - i have a question you probably have all seen before - a cousin of mine has been approved for a visa a few years ago (2007) and never sent in her packet of pwperk from NVC that contained the AOS & Application for Employment, etc... now she is facing a divorce and spouse is not wanting to proceed with her immigration packet. is there anything she can do to keep her approval status? Thanks in advance for your advice! If I'm posting in the wrong forum please move my post thx

I think you mean the US Citizen's petition was approved in behalf of you cousin. Without an Affidavit of support from the US Citizen, there will be no visa. Technically, the I-130 petition approval doesn't expire but NVC only keeps them for year with no responses. Any visa is based on a bona fide ongoing relationship, so not going to happen without one.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Your post is confusing. Tell us which of these two scenarios happened:

1) Your cousin got an CR-1 or IR-1 visa and moved to the United States to be with her husband? She is in the US since 2007 but has not applied for AOS? Now they are about to have a divorce.

2) Your cousin got an CR-1 or IR-1 visa in 2007 but never moved to the United States. Now they are about to get a divorce and she wonders if she can self-petition so that she can become a lawful resident of the United States?

Here is where I'm not sure about what really happened. If she moved to the US in 2007, the moment she arrived she was a Lawful Permanent Resident, and the Green Card should have been mailed to her. No need to apply for AOS as her status upon arrival was that of an LPR already.

If she never moved to the US, despite her visa from 2007 and they now get a divorce, the visa is expired and there is nothing she can do. The whole idea of the visa is to allow a US citizen to get his or her spouse to the US and to live together. If they are not a couple anymore, the visa loses its only reason to exist.

Yet, if they are married, why would she not have moved to the US in 2007? Do you understand why this is confusing to us?

Well, there's a third scenario: she came with a K-1 and got married, but never filed for AOS.

Please clarify.

Edited May 3, 2010 by Just Bob

[sachinky 465]

I think the OP meant that the petition was approved but never passed the NVC stage. I infer this from her "AOS package" comment.

[Darnell 8,478]

The petition (I-130) was approved, but there is no 'visa status' as there was no 'work' done at NVC, no subsequent Visa Interview in Mexico.

Something she can do? Sorry, no.

[Anita 0]

I think the OP meant that the petition was approved but never passed the NVC stage. I infer this from her "AOS package" comment.

Thank you for your feedback! And sorry I should have clarified a bit more - she applied through the Life Act back in 2001 (I think); her 245-I petition was approved; her visa was approved - but she never did the rest of the steps at NVC... so it looks like the answer is no... wow thats tough..

If you can suggest anything else we'd appreciate it!!

[Darnell 8,478]

Well, if she has a VISA #, she can review the VISA stamp in her passport, then call USEM Mexico, see if it's still 'current' and call NVC to inquire if the VISA is still 'active' or no.

[pushbrk 12,824]

Thank you for your feedback! And sorry I should have clarified a bit more - she applied through the Life Act back in 2001 (I think); her 245-I petition was approved; her visa was approved - but she never did the rest of the steps at NVC... so it looks like the answer is no... wow thats tough..

If you can suggest anything else we'd appreciate it!!

Some people are still confused because you are using the word "visa" when you mean "petition". Steps at NVC precede visa issue, so I have concluded there was never any visa issued. Further, if a visa ever was issued any time in 2007 and has not yet been used to enter the USA, that visa is expired.

If she is no longer married to the US Citizen petitioner and is not already legally in the USA, she has no basis on which to claim any visa or other immigration benefit.

[pushbrk 12,824]

Some people are still confused because you are using the word "visa" when you mean "petition". Steps at NVC precede visa issue, so I have concluded there was never any visa issued. Further, if a visa ever was issued any time in 2007 and has not yet been used to enter the USA, that visa is expired.

If she is no longer married to the US Citizen petitioner and is not already legally in the USA, she has no basis on which to claim any visa or other immigration benefit.

On careful reading of the opening post, it's also possible you mean she obtained a K3 visa but has not yet adjusted status to permanent resident, has no green card and no work authorization. Either way, if now divorced, she has no path to legal permanent residence.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Persons who file under 245(i) don't get visas. They don't need one.