Wife signed confession during interview

[belinda63 3,041]

A little legal lesson here for you people from someone in a similar situation, different reasons for it but I was in a situation where a person in authority wanted to speak to me about something that I knew might lead to criminal charges. I specifically and repeatedly requested an attorney. The response was "you are not under arrest you are not entitled to an attorney. I said find if I am not under arrest I am leaving. Next thing I knew I was lying on the floor in handcuffs and told I was under arrest. I then asked for an attorney again. I was told that because I was not being questioned about the potential crime I was not entitled to an attorney.

This is from the US Army military police at Fort Knox, KY.

I can easily see how she was intimidated into this situation, in a room with a person of authority being threatened with arrest and her mother being threatened with investigation and arrest she probably thought her only way out the door without handcuffs was to do whatever they told her to do

This is a typical technique with police, just tell us what we want to know and you can leave. If you don't do what we tell you we will have to hold you in jail until this is sorted out.

I sympathize completely and hope you hire an attorney and SUE the living F*** out of the agency and the Officer.

[FortLaudy 10]

So your visa expired before you got married to your current wife or shortly after?

Figure out how many months exactly it was when your first wife sent the I-130 and the current one did... if it's a matter of a few months, USCIS have it on record that you married two USC's shortly around the time your visa was expiring - extremely damning evidence of marriage fraud.

You should Never have married two woman so quickly after each other in any circumstance, but ESPECIALLY arround the date your visa was expiring in the US, this screams fraud! Even if you had the sincerest intentions concerning your current wife you should've have known that this situation will jeapordize your AOS...

see people make the mistake thinking as long as their married to a USC they're immune from deportation or action like that from USCIS - WRONG ! It was still your obligation to show them that you had a bonafide marriage without intent to commit immigration fraud through marriage, however you showed them the exact opposite and her signing that confession sealed your fate unfortunately... they pretty much had solid proof and just confronted her with it...

The morning you found out that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with your current wife you should have consulted an attorney - given the fact that you were then already out of status and the recent divorce from another USC, he probably would have advised you to: go home as you were out of status and by then it was too late to attempt to extend your visa. You could have gotten married in the US before you left, gone home and returned on a spousal visa and you would've been granted a greencard on arrival, or gone home and returned on K1 or another type of visa that would have allowed you to get to know your current wife well before signing up for another marriage...

Could have, Should have, Would have... oh well, it's all water under the bridge right now unfortunately, but hopefully a real good lesson for someone else reading your case.

You need to hire a really good immigration attorney, I don't know if there's anyway you can weazel your way out of this, but if you truly have a bonafide relationship with your current wife and she is willing to go to the ends of the earth for you in trying to get her confession retracted and proving the relationship is legit etc. you MIGHT have a chance, however extremely slim. You'll likely have to appear infront of an immigration judge.

Are you with your wife right now? Or did she leave your shared home already?

[fech75 1]

So your visa expired before you got married to your current wife or shortly after?

Figure out how many months exactly it was when your first wife sent the I-130 and the current one did... if it's a matter of a few months, USCIS have it on record that you married two USC's shortly around the time your visa was expiring - extremely damning evidence of marriage fraud.

You should Never have married two woman so quickly after each other in any circumstance, but ESPECIALLY arround the date your visa was expiring in the US, this screams fraud! Even if you had the sincerest intentions concerning your current wife you should've have known that this situation will jeapordize your AOS...

see people make the mistake thinking as long as their married to a USC they're immune from deportation or action like that from USCIS - WRONG ! It was still your obligation to show them that you had a bonafide marriage without intent to commit immigration fraud through marriage, however you showed them the exact opposite and her signing that confession sealed your fate unfortunately... they pretty much had solid proof and just confronted her with it...

The morning you found out that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with your current wife you should have consulted an attorney - given the fact that you were then already out of status and the recent divorce from another USC, he probably would have advised you to: go home as you were out of status and by then it was too late to attempt to extend your visa. You could have gotten married in the US before you left, gone home and returned on a spousal visa and you would've been granted a greencard on arrival, or gone home and returned on K1 or another type of visa that would have allowed you to get to know your current wife well before signing up for another marriage...

Could have, Should have, Would have... oh well, it's all water under the bridge right now unfortunately, but hopefully a real good lesson for someone else reading your case.

You need to hire a really good immigration attorney, I don't know if there's anyway you can weazel your way out of this, but if you truly have a bonafide relationship with your current wife and she is willing to go to the ends of the earth for you in trying to get her confession retracted and proving the relationship is legit etc. you MIGHT have a chance, however extremely slim. You'll likely have to appear infront of an immigration judge.

Are you with your wife right now? Or did she leave your shared home already?

** I am still with my wife (not sure why people think she left to her mom). She feels really ashamed for what happened and the putting our relationsip in such jeopardy. Me, on the other hand can't help but to blame myself for putting her in this situation.

The statement was signed under duress. If my application gets denied then be it, but I don't want to risk my wife facing federal charges. So my priority will be to retract her statement if possible. I spoke to a few lawyers and they think there is a possibility of nullifying the statement since the threat of criminal charges was done not only to her but her mom is a witness as well. I don't know if they have a recording of the conversation, but if they do i wonder if I can get a copy as well as a copy of her signed statement.

[thongd4me 69]

A little legal lesson here for you people from someone in a similar situation, different reasons for it but I was in a situation where a person in authority wanted to speak to me about something that I knew might lead to criminal charges. I specifically and repeatedly requested an attorney. The response was "you are not under arrest you are not entitled to an attorney. I said find if I am not under arrest I am leaving. Next thing I knew I was lying on the floor in handcuffs and told I was under arrest. I then asked for an attorney again. I was told that because I was not being questioned about the potential crime I was not entitled to an attorney.

This is from the US Army military police at Fort Knox, KY.

I can easily see how she was intimidated into this situation, in a room with a person of authority being threatened with arrest and her mother being threatened with investigation and arrest she probably thought her only way out the door without handcuffs was to do whatever they told her to do

This is a typical technique with police, just tell us what we want to know and you can leave. If you don't do what we tell you we will have to hold you in jail until this is sorted out.

I sympathize completely and hope you hire an attorney and SUE the living F*** out of the agency and the Officer.

I agree 1000% with this, as a victim of police brutality myself - I didn't play their game, waited them out for an hour or two and they let me go, LOL

They were surprised I didn't fall for their bull~hit.

There were charges but I acted as my own attorney and they were dropped because they knew they were bull~hit.

When I saw the pile of cases the DA had on his desk with people who actually HAD committed crimes, I knew that their harassment of me wouldn't stand up.

The trick was to ignore what they are trying to get you to do, just smile and cooperate without admitting anything or commenting.

If the charges sound unbelievable, they are.

They step over the "line" to the extent that you can't prove that they are acting unlawfully,

but their aim is to get YOU to voluntarily step over the line of self-incrimination or committing

an additional act that WOULD be construed as unlawful.

Edited December 19, 2009 by thongd4me

[FortLaudy 10]

Is your wife a USC or permanent resident?

Yes, if your wife is willing to stand by your side through this, getting that confession retracted should be your biggest priority, come hell or high water... and then the huge burden of convincing a judge that she made the confession under duress and that you are a legitimate married couple.

If you guys are truly in a bonafide relationship and this was not a sham marriage then I wish you the best of luck - you'll definetely need it from this point on..

Please keep us posted on the progress of your case, you might be able to help a lot of other people in similar situations...

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Again . . . we know that the annulment of the first marriage to a USC and the rather quick second marriage to a USC with a high degree of certainty caused the red flag and the rather harsh conduct of the Immigration Officer at the AOS interview. Doesn't really matter.

What matters is that the USC signed a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury that her marriage was entered in order to gain immigration benefits for her husband. I personally doubt that even a fragile wife -- who is a US citizen -- will sign such a sworn affidavit because she feels insecure or intimidated.

You tell my wife that her husband, whom she loves and who provides for her, only married her to gain immigration benefits, and she'll get up and leave the room, talk to me, and we together would either go to the supervisor right away or retain a lawyer. Speaking of which . . . in a case like this I would have been in the presence of a lawyer anyway. My wife and I were, just in case.

What would it take for my wife to sign a false statement that would also incriminate her? Most likely an elephant pulling out all of her fingernails, one by one, then hammering down her toenails. Once she's certain she will die a painful death, just in an attempt to escape unbearable torture, she probably would sign anything for the mercy to die quickly. That's why civilized countries don't torture, at least not formally. None of this happened here.

I'm sorry, but now that the signed statement regarding the fraudulent marriage is formally on file, all a good attorney can do is file a claim of misconduct against the Immigration Officer. At the same time, he will open the door to a case of perjury against the wife. I wouldn't spend thousands of dollars in order to get that one going. It's a road that leads to nowhere in regard to immigration benefits, and one to suffering in regard to prosecution.

I'm sorry, but at this time, I can't think of any argument that would render the signed affidavit invalid and set the immigration case back to an earlier state. What's done is done, and can't be undone.

[sachinky 465]

I'm not naive enough to think that these interrogation techniques from hell do not happen. They do and sometimes quite often. And no doubt it is extremely frightening to the person who is actually in that situation. But these are immigration officers, not the police, the military or the FBI. Besides, she is the USC petitioner--I can still understand a beneficiary who is similarly badgered into making a statement.

I still want to know WHAT transpired in the interview. WHAT scared your wife so much that she signed the statement? Why didn't she know that she could walk out of the interview, schedule another one and have a lawyer present at that? Why didn't she leave (did she attempt to, at least?) -- what were they going to do? Strap her to a chair and hold her there against her will? They said "You'll be going to prison!" and she didn't ask "For what?" If the case was already denied and this was conveyed to her by the I.O. -- why sign an incriminating statement on top of that? What good would that do?

OP, do you have that blow-by-blow account of the interview? What questions were asked? I guess what I'm trying to get at is -- how much was it under duress? And how much was it due to the fact that on some level she really did doubt you and your marriage? Even if it got to her for one split second, that might have been enough.

I'm not saying this to be mean. But just so you have all your bases covered. Let us know how the consulation with the lawyer goes on Monday.

Edited December 19, 2009 by sachinky

[trillium13 84]

I think this has probably been asked, but I didn't see an answer. Why was the IO on the phone with your wife's mother? Why should she have anything to do with your marriage?

[Lars-N-Yenia 8]

ummmm...who would REALLY get grilled like that at an AOS....i would think the BENEFICIARY would be the ONE...and what PETITIONER would sign anything(written or said) without reading it it???...think about it...soooo eager to respond and has only been a member for not tooo long.....im getting a bad "wiff"

[yogib37 3]

This situation sucks.

I honestly do not think they can enforce the statement she wrote cause they TOLD HER WHAT TO PUT IN THE CONFESSION AND WHAT TO SAY. She was under duress and she was not in her 'Right' mind. she was not thinking clearly. That will make it NULL AND VOID.

you can't be force to sign something. it has to be at 'free will'

She had a gun pointed at her head to sign. I do not mean physicaly had a gun, but was force to or she will face charges.

and I would if get clear try to have her removed from her job. Have her fired. She is a federal empolee I would have my congress rep, put to have her 'relived of her duties' It sounded like she done this in the past so it is not her first rodeo.

Take care GOOD luck and let us know what happens

Yogi

[FortLaudy 10]

Might be a trol, but if this is not a clear cut case of "immigration fraud by marriage" in the eyes of the USCIS then I don't know what is...

[TwoInLove 0]

How completely awful I am so sorry to hear this, how terrible!!! First I would call my senator and let him/her know what went down there, if there is any way to file charges against them I would do that too, that is awful! I'm sorry that she felt obligated to sign that paper, that was a mistake. I would be furious. Which embassy did she go to, where was it located?

That is just awful I am so sorry - I will say a prayer for you. I would get an immigration attorney as well, there is one named Laurel Scott in Texas, look her up as she is an immigration expert. Good luck to you.

[HeatDeath 430]

I think the lesson we can all take away from this, whether the story is true or not, is this:

ALWAYS tell the truth in anything having to do with immigration!

It doesn't matter who is telling you to lie, or how persuasive or threatening they can be.

It doesn't matter if it's clueless relatives, your sleazy lawyer, or even some very threatinging immigration officers.

No matter who wants you to lie, or how bad,

no matter how good an idea lying may seem at the time,

always Always ALWAYS tell the truth.

Lies will always screw you up badly, no matter who wants you to tell them, or how good an idea it may seem.

[fech75 1]

**** UPDATE

I went to a lawyer, explained the situation and I reapplied. The layer sent a complaint letter against the IO to the USCIS office with my application. Fortunately, the IO has a history. We got a second interview shortly after the application. We went to the 2nd interview with my lawyer and it went great. The officer did say that because we had an issue the first time, he couldn't approve the application right away.

A couple of months after our interview we got a call from a director in the USCIS office because he wanted a sworn oath from my wife about what had happened during our 1st interview. They said that they needed it in order to take action against the first IO. Even though we were reluctant to do it, we decided to do it in order to avoid this type of things to continue to happen to others. Our lawyer was present at the meeting.

We are still waiting on a decision regarding our case.

I hope this helps. Advice is to go to a lawyer. Remember everything that happened and write it down in a piece of paper before meeting your lawyer; include the officer's name.

-F

[Oshun 3]

This is truely a nightmare situation. I hope everything turned out for you. Please keep us all updated!!!