Going to divorce before removing condition, who should be the plaintiff?

[ShariNYC 0]

Hi,

My marriage ended because it just didn't work out between us. We just signed a seperation agreement today and going to file for the divorce soon after, under the ground of abandonment (Our mediator explained that this ground is very common when people just want to get divorce, basically it's not literally abandonment but more like the person refused to sleep with the other...for example). My background is, I entered the country with K-1, we did everything right and we did enter the marriage in good faith. I have a Conditional GC which will be expired in March2010. I know that I have to remove the conditions by the end of this year. My questions are:

1. I am not sure which would benefit me more when I file for the waiver by myself, between me being the plaintiff or him (I mean for the divorce). (This is kind of urgent, please anyone have any idea?)

2. To make matters more complicated, I am going to a grad school this coming fall. I am applying for financial aids and loans which seems to be no problem because I am a qualified permanent residence. I am unemployed right now(got laid-off like everyone else) and don't think I will have a job when I am in school either (It's a tough year). Is that going to make matter worse when I file for the waiver? By having a big student loans, and not having a job, chance that I might not get a green card because of that?? I know a friend who divorced before removing conditions but she has a good job and makes decent amount the whole time, she now received her 10yrs GC w/o even having an interview! My grad school will be 2 years, and I really do need to have GC to get the loans and all that, and I really want to graduate to not mess up my life further.

Please advise on both questions, or if anyone know a free immigration consultation in New York area, please suggest. I will be really appreciated any help. Thank you so much.

-Naomi

[-B&T- 1]

Hi,

My marriage ended because it just didn't work out between us. We just signed a seperation agreement today and going to file for the divorce soon after, under the ground of abandonment (Our mediator explained that this ground is very common when people just want to get divorce, basically it's not literally abandonment but more like the person refused to sleep with the other...for example). My background is, I entered the country with K-1, we did everything right and we did enter the marriage in good faith. I have a Conditional GC which will be expired in March2010. I know that I have to remove the conditions by the end of this year. My questions are:

1. I am not sure which would benefit me more when I file for the waiver by myself, between me being the plaintiff or him (I mean for the divorce). (This is kind of urgent, please anyone have any idea?)

2. To make matters more complicated, I am going to a grad school this coming fall. I am applying for financial aids and loans which seems to be no problem because I am a qualified permanent residence. I am unemployed right now(got laid-off like everyone else) and don't think I will have a job when I am in school either (It's a tough year). Is that going to make matter worse when I file for the waiver? By having a big student loans, and not having a job, chance that I might not get a green card because of that?? I know a friend who divorced before removing conditions but she has a good job and makes decent amount the whole time, she now received her 10yrs GC w/o even having an interview! My grad school will be 2 years, and I really do need to have GC to get the loans and all that, and I really want to graduate to not mess up my life further.

Please advise on both questions, or if anyone know a free immigration consultation in New York area, please suggest. I will be really appreciated any help. Thank you so much.

-Naomi

I think you need to get a job in case you will end up with a divorce to show that you can still support yourself even without your spouse and with regards of whose going to file the divorce, if your spouse will be the plaintiff and using the grounds for abandonement I think you'll be screwed because it will looked like you only married him for the Green card.If you are being abused maybe it's gonna be different the favor will be on you but hell, who wants to have an abusive husband or wife.Well,this is just an opinion and am sure you will get a lot of responses from other members so just hang in there.Wish you the best of luck anyway.

[Ladylethal 12]

USCIS does not require an affidavit of support to remove conditions on residency, I am not sure about you going for financial aids as the government could come after your husband since he did have to sign an affidavit of support for you, and he's responsible for you financially (not 100% sure but I think even after the divorce the affidavit remains valid, until you naturalize or otherwise have certain employment time requirements fulfilled), so if that will show up during removal I am not sure.

I'm not familiar with the procedure to file for removal alone, so you're better off waiting for more experienced members. Either way you'll need a lot of evidence that the marriage was entered in good faith.

[ShariNYC 0]

USCIS does not require an affidavit of support to remove conditions on residency, I am not sure about you going for financial aids as the government could come after your husband since he did have to sign an affidavit of support for you, and he's responsible for you financially (not 100% sure but I think even after the divorce the affidavit remains valid, until you naturalize or otherwise have certain employment time requirements fulfilled), so if that will show up during removal I am not sure.

I'm not familiar with the procedure to file for removal alone, so you're better off waiting for more experienced members. Either way you'll need a lot of evidence that the marriage was entered in good faith.

Thank you, you raised a good concern about financial affidavit. It's a very good point and I'll definitely talk to someone about it.

As for the removal and waiver, I do have some evidence but it's not perfect. I mean I do have joint bank account, utillity bills, cable bills, phone bills, some letters/invitations to us at our address, but only up to the middle of last year since he left. And those are for the period of probably 6 months only (We didnt' do the joint paper work for bills right away since we got married, I should have be more careful with that. We were together for a year before he left, and we've been seperating for 8 months now before we signed the seperation agreement today, will follow by the divorce). Another evidence that I have is tax paperwork, we did file taxes together for 2 years. So if anyone know that would be enough proof for me when I file for waiver, please let me know. Thank you so much!

Edited March 27, 2009 by otr

[ShariNYC 0]

Also anyone who had experience divorcing before removing conditions? who should be the plaintiff? In the case that we're both want the divorce and simply because it's not working out, no abuse and drama. Anyone had that experience and did you eventually get GC?? Please help...

OH..I really forgot a big point here. I live in NY and here the only way you can get a divorce is someone has to sue another ( Eventhough you dont' go to court, just sign the paperwork, one person has to be a plaintiff and another be a defendant). Anyone from here has a clue, which would be better for me when I file for waiver later??

Thank you so much..

[KarenCee 3]

Also anyone who had experience divorcing before removing conditions? who should be the plaintiff? In the case that we're both want the divorce and simply because it's not working out, no abuse and drama. Anyone had that experience and did you eventually get GC?? Please help...

OH..I really forgot a big point here. I live in NY and here the only way you can get a divorce is someone has to sue another ( Even though you dont' go to court, just sign the paperwork, one person has to be a plaintiff and another be a defendant). Anyone from here has a clue, which would be better for me when I file for waiver later??

Thank you so much..

Speaking from my own experience with divorce, I *think* the one who files the divorce papers is the plaintiff. When I filed for divorce from my ex I was listed as the plaintiff - I live in Georgia. This was MY experience. There may be others who will say something different or have a different experience. My best advice would be to ask your attorney...IF you have an attorney...or the one who drew up the separation documents that you signed. That person would be the best one to answer your plaintiff/defendant question.

Best wishes Naomi.

[ShariNYC 0]

Also anyone who had experience divorcing before removing conditions? who should be the plaintiff? In the case that we're both want the divorce and simply because it's not working out, no abuse and drama. Anyone had that experience and did you eventually get GC?? Please help...

OH..I really forgot a big point here. I live in NY and here the only way you can get a divorce is someone has to sue another ( Even though you dont' go to court, just sign the paperwork, one person has to be a plaintiff and another be a defendant). Anyone from here has a clue, which would be better for me when I file for waiver later??

Thank you so much..

Speaking from my own experience with divorce, I *think* the one who files the divorce papers is the plaintiff. When I filed for divorce from my ex I was listed as the plaintiff - I live in Georgia. This was MY experience. There may be others who will say something different or have a different experience. My best advice would be to ask your attorney...IF you have an attorney...or the one who drew up the separation documents that you signed. That person would be the best one to answer your plaintiff/defendant question.

Best wishes Naomi.

Hi, your time line is very close to mine. I received my CG in the mail in March 2007, will have to apply to remove the conditions by the end of this year. So when you file for your divorce, did you consult any attorney? And what was the ground for your divorce? Do you have any concerns for when you will file to remove your CG? Hope you don't mind I ask, would be really helpful if you could share...

Thank you

[alimar 0]

For the removal of conditional residence you need to show them that your marriage was in good faith before you get divorced. They dont want to know your financial situation. You should better collect all the evidence that you have before to get divorce. good luck!!!

[ShariNYC 0]

For the removal of conditional residence you need to show them that your marriage was in good faith before you get divorced. They dont want to know your financial situation. You should better collect all the evidence that you have before to get divorce. good luck!!!

U mean I don't actually have to file anything before I get divorce, but more like collect any documents from my ex before we're not seeing each other again after the divorce, so that I can file for waiver by myself later?

I do have those documents from when we were together, joint bank account, bills, some letters from people who sent to us both at the marriage address. So is it safe for me to just go ahead and divorce him now? And I'll file all these later for my removal...

Please let me know , thank you for any help!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

You can file for the Removal of Conditions with a waiver once you are divorced. You do need to include proof that you had a real marriage - the more proof the better, so if you can still gather more evidence try and do that. You should also include tax returns for the years you were together - you can order tax transcripts directly from the IRS. It is up to you to decide if now is the right time to get divorced or not. If there is no chance to reconcile then you may wish to get the divorce underway sooner rather than later as it does need to be finalized before you file to remove conditions.

Good luck to you.

[KarenCee 3]

Also anyone who had experience divorcing before removing conditions? who should be the plaintiff? In the case that we're both want the divorce and simply because it's not working out, no abuse and drama. Anyone had that experience and did you eventually get GC?? Please help...

OH..I really forgot a big point here. I live in NY and here the only way you can get a divorce is someone has to sue another ( Even though you dont' go to court, just sign the paperwork, one person has to be a plaintiff and another be a defendant). Anyone from here has a clue, which would be better for me when I file for waiver later??

Thank you so much..

Speaking from my own experience with divorce, I *think* the one who files the divorce papers is the plaintiff. When I filed for divorce from my ex I was listed as the plaintiff - I live in Georgia. This was MY experience. There may be others who will say something different or have a different experience. My best advice would be to ask your attorney...IF you have an attorney...or the one who drew up the separation documents that you signed. That person would be the best one to answer your plaintiff/defendant question.

Best wishes Naomi.

Hi, your time line is very close to mine. I received my CG in the mail in March 2007, will have to apply to remove the conditions by the end of this year. So when you file for your divorce, did you consult any attorney? And what was the ground for your divorce? Do you have any concerns for when you will file to remove your CG? Hope you don't mind I ask, would be really helpful if you could share...

Thank you

I think I have confused you...I'm sorry. I am the USC and I was previously married to another USC. I am now very happily married and my husband is the LPR. As for when I divorced, I filed with an attorney which made me the plaintiff. I hope you understand but I prefer not to disclose on what grounds I filed divorce.

Best wishes.

[NickD 203]

In states where you have no fault divorce laws reasons like "incompatibility," "irreconcilable differences," or "irremediable breakdown of the marriage" are given, and depending on the nature of your divorce, the key elements are property settlement and who gets custody of the children. If both parties are friendly, can normally buy a divorce kit and feel it out yourselves and determine who gets what in a friendly matter. But all this is state dependent, one country, 50 states, 50 different sets of laws.

If you can't agree for a mutual divorce, the courts decide which one gets the kid or the toaster, and that ten buck toaster can end up costing 700 bucks an hour paying two attorneys to fight over it. You have to check into your states law on this subject.

Regarding lifting conditions, and assuming the alien wants to stay into this country, this can get very complicated, would suggest finding a good immigration attorney. And unlike hiring a divorce attorney that must be registered in your state, can be any good law firm in the USA for immigration cases. Finding a good honest attorney is the hard part.

You can go to your county court house and talk to the clerk of court about the kit where to get it, and what's involved. In my state can be as cheap as 200 bucks if both parties can settle. Regarding immigration attorneys, met a couple last Friday that hired a local yokel and already paid that jerk over 3000 bucks and got nowhere.

What's iffy with the USCIS is proving the marriage was entered into with good faith, that is way beyond any advice I can give.