AOS & Divorce

[ColombianoGringo 0]

A friend of mine is going through some serious problems with his wife. She got a K-1 and they were married in Florida about a year and a half ago. He is now finding out some very disturbing details about her that point to substantial fraud on her part throughout the visa process. I don't know all the details, but they are definitely divorcing and she is trying to pull some nasty moves on him.

She already has the two year conditional green card, but he wants to remove himself from the process and report her alleged fraud/. Who does he need to call at either USCIS or ICE? What, if anything, can he really do to keep her from getting the conditions removed from her green card.

I don't know, nor wish to debate their personal issues. Please only respond if you have details about the process he needs to follow at this juncture. He is not a member of VJ and simply asked me for some information that I know nothing about.

Thanks,

CG

[Savanphil 3]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...0,1020006.story

Immigration roundup in Florida targets sham marriages

Foreign visitors are accused of paying U.S. citizens to wed. At least 46 are arrested.

By Jim Leusner, Orlando Sentinel

May 10, 2008

ORLANDO, FLA. -- The four-tiered cake the newlyweds were about to cut was plastic. The glasses and plates on the reception table were empty. And the bride wore casual shoes under her wedding gown.

Those were among the clues that first caught the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after they searched the offices of Winter Garden-based All Kind Services U.S.A. In a back room were the cake, the fake reception hall and a rack with several wedding dresses.

"The cake is the first clue. . . . And the running shoes are a nice touch, too," said Mark Garrand, assistant special agent in charge of ICE in Orlando.

Investigators soon realized that the photos and props were identical in many of the 25 marriage cases they were probing with All Kind Services involving Central and South American visitors accused of paying for spouses so they could stay and work in the United States.

On Friday, ICE officials and federal prosecutors said such photos were among key evidence in Operation Knot So Fast, a Florida roundup of 83 people this week accused of organizing or participating in sham marriages in Orlando, Cocoa Beach, Jacksonville, Tampa, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

At least 46 people were arrested in the Orlando area and surrounding counties by ICE and FBI agents, U.S. marshals, and Orange and Osceola county deputies, and more arrests are expected.

At a news conference Friday in Orlando, U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill displayed marriage photos of Hugo Luppu, 29, an Argentine visitor accused of paying for an arranged marriage in January 2005 in Orange County, Fla., with Angelia Raimer, 25, an American citizen from Melbourne, Fla., so he could remain in the country.

O'Neill said that case was typical of foreigners paying up to $10,000 for arranged marriages, including up to $2,500 paid to the American spouses participating in the scam.

Luppu and Raimer were arrested this week and charged with immigration fraud.

"In these photographs, there are no pictures of people in the audience," O'Neill said. "They're having photos taken to make it look like these sham marriages were legitimate." Immigration officials said foreigners who often overstayed their visas paid various companies so they could marry Americans and stay in the country.

Several central Florida companies and their operators were accused of coaching the new couples on dealing with immigration officials and government documents.

Robert Weber of Tampa, who heads ICE investigations in central Florida, said immigration-marriage fraud is a multimillion-dollar industry across the country and a priority target for his agency. The agency investigated about 2,300 such cases in 2004. The number reached more than 5,200 in 2006 and the first half of 2007.

[ColombianoGringo 0]

Sorry, but what does your post have to do with this situation? She did not pay him to get married.

[Mononoke28 135]

CG,

There's absolutely nothing he can do for now until her 2 year conditional green card expires. When she files her I-751 to remove conditions, he will have to sign the form so she can do so. However, she can still lift conditions on her own if she has enough evidence to support her claims that she entered the marriage in good faith and that it wasn't her fault the marriage ended. If she proves this, she's in. If she can't they'll deport her.

From now on until then, his #1 priority and responsibility should be to gather as much info and evidence as possible to prove the situation otherwise. The thing is if the POE interviewing her to lift conditions believes her story, they will grant her the 10 year green card and there is nothing he can do then.

You can also go to the Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits forum to read endless posts regarding this type of situation. Or he can go read them himself and that should give him an idea of what he's up against.

Diana

Edited July 9, 2008 by Mononoke28

[ColombianoGringo 0]

Thanks Diana. You know who I'm talking about here. I think that the advice you gave him earlier is about the best he can hope for.

CG,

There's absolutely nothing he can do for now until her 2 year conditional green card expires. When she files her I-751 to remove conditions, he will have to sign the form so she can do so. However, she can still lift conditions on her own if she has enough evidence to support her claims that she entered the marriage in good faith and that it wasn't her fault the marriage ended. If she proves this, she's in. If she can't they'll deport her.

From now on until then, his #1 priority and responsibility should be to gather as much info and evidence as possible to prove the situation otherwise. The thing is if the POE interviewing her to lift conditions believes her story, they will grant her the 10 year green card and there is nothing he can do then.

Diana

[Rosie74 0]

Hi, I'm not sure but I believe that if she is on a conditional card and these conditions do not exist any longer at the end of the 2 year mark (divorce), then she is out of status again and she has to return to her home Country. Again, I'm not 100% positive but for what I understood after 2 years of conditional PR, you need to prove that your marriage is still in place in order to get the full priviledge, that's why you have to go and have another interview.

If they won't file for removal of conditions, she should automatically fall out of status and will have to return to her home Country.

[Mononoke28 135]

Thanks Diana. You know who I'm talking about here. I think that the advice you gave him earlier is about the best he can hope for.

Absolutely. It just breaks my heart since we all read about how happy he was from the very beginning.

Diana

[PattyS_Husband 0]

One sad thing to note here is that if for whatever reason she start getting federal or state assistance, the petitioner is still responsible for her. I am talking about I-864, Affidavit of Support. He will have to pay back all the money she will receive for these type assistance. So she still have a financial hold on him. I will advice him to get a good divorce/immigration lawyer or lawyers to see if he can save part of his money or properties. She can go after those if she is smart enough and someone helps her to do no good.

Sorry to hear that.

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Hi, I'm not sure but I believe that if she is on a conditional card and these conditions do not exist any longer at the end of the 2 year mark (divorce), then she is out of status again and she has to return to her home Country. Again, I'm not 100% positive but for what I understood after 2 years of conditional PR, you need to prove that your marriage is still in place in order to get the full priviledge, that's why you have to go and have another interview.

If they won't file for removal of conditions, she should automatically fall out of status and will have to return to her home Country.

She can file alone if by that time she is divorced. If this individual has proof that the marriage was for immigrant benefit alone, a report, unemotional accounting of events and facts, that is, could be sent to USCIS and the local processing center. This way the allegation is on file. Thereafter, when and if the alien applies to remove conditions on residency by way of a waiver, if nothing else, more scrutiny will be given to its adjudication.

[Rosie74 0]

Hi, I'm not sure but I believe that if she is on a conditional card and these conditions do not exist any longer at the end of the 2 year mark (divorce), then she is out of status again and she has to return to her home Country. Again, I'm not 100% positive but for what I understood after 2 years of conditional PR, you need to prove that your marriage is still in place in order to get the full priviledge, that's why you have to go and have another interview.

If they won't file for removal of conditions, she should automatically fall out of status and will have to return to her home Country.

She can file alone if by that time she is divorced. If this individual has proof that the marriage was for immigrant benefit alone, a report, unemotional accounting of events and facts, that is, could be sent to USCIS and the local processing center. This way the allegation is on file. Thereafter, when and if the alien applies to remove conditions on residency by way of a waiver, if nothing else, more scrutiny will be given to its adjudication.

Thank you diadromous mermaid, I then learned that there is a chance for people that get a divorce after the 2 year conditional card.