2-yr. green card after seperation of marriage

[cymru.goch 0]

My wife and I met in the U.K., travelled, moved back to the U.S., and decided to stay. It became obvious that in order for me to stay, we should get married. We were happily married for a time, until she drastically changed her lifestyle and became a person I could no longer relate to or spend time with. I tried for a year, to coexist with her despite the new conditions of our marriage. Eventually though, I became unhappy and lonely. I ultimately met, and began seeing a woman that I work with. My wife is unhappy but I can no longer stay in my depressing marriage. I care about her and don't want to hurt her, but the situation is so unhealthy. I certainly entered into the marriage in good faith, but now my wife and relationship bear no resemblence to what I signed-on for. I am up to apply for my 10-yr. green card in March. My question is: Can I still apply, even though my wife may not sign and is demanding money if she does? She has consistently threatened my status and has kept me financially vulnerable because she has always demanded that I pay my full salary in rent while she maintains savings and a disposable income. I feel like she is holding my hostage.

[Marzy 1]

My wife and I met in the U.K., travelled, moved back to the U.S., and decided to stay. It became obvious that in order for me to stay, we should get married. We were happily married for a time, until she drastically changed her lifestyle and became a person I could no longer relate to or spend time with. I tried for a year, to coexist with her despite the new conditions of our marriage. Eventually though, I became unhappy and lonely. I ultimately met, and began seeing a woman that I work with. My wife is unhappy but I can no longer stay in my depressing marriage. I care about her and don't want to hurt her, but the situation is so unhealthy. I certainly entered into the marriage in good faith, but now my wife and relationship bear no resemblence to what I signed-on for. I am up to apply for my 10-yr. green card in March. My question is: Can I still apply, even though my wife may not sign and is demanding money if she does? She has consistently threatened my status and has kept me financially vulnerable because she has always demanded that I pay my full salary in rent while she maintains savings and a disposable income. I feel like she is holding my hostage.

I have nothing to contribute, but to say awful situation.

[Yurika & Jim 77]

My wife and I met in the U.K., travelled, moved back to the U.S., and decided to stay. It became obvious that in order for me to stay, we should get married. We were happily married for a time, until she drastically changed her lifestyle and became a person I could no longer relate to or spend time with. I tried for a year, to coexist with her despite the new conditions of our marriage. Eventually though, I became unhappy and lonely. I ultimately met, and began seeing a woman that I work with. My wife is unhappy but I can no longer stay in my depressing marriage. I care about her and don't want to hurt her, but the situation is so unhealthy. I certainly entered into the marriage in good faith, but now my wife and relationship bear no resemblence to what I signed-on for. I am up to apply for my 10-yr. green card in March. My question is: Can I still apply, even though my wife may not sign and is demanding money if she does? She has consistently threatened my status and has kept me financially vulnerable because she has always demanded that I pay my full salary in rent while she maintains savings and a disposable income. I feel like she is holding my hostage.

Do you have any reason to post this on Regional Discussion > Philippines forum?

You should better post on Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion forum??

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Moving to Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits forum.

To the OP: very sorry to hear of your situation. It may be possible to remove conditions on your own, but you will need to (as far as I know) at the very least initiate divorce proceedings in order to do so.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

My wife and I met in the U.K., travelled, moved back to the U.S., and decided to stay. It became obvious that in order for me to stay, we should get married. We were happily married for a time, until she drastically changed her lifestyle and became a person I could no longer relate to or spend time with. I tried for a year, to coexist with her despite the new conditions of our marriage. Eventually though, I became unhappy and lonely. I ultimately met, and began seeing a woman that I work with. My wife is unhappy but I can no longer stay in my depressing marriage. I care about her and don't want to hurt her, but the situation is so unhealthy. I certainly entered into the marriage in good faith, but now my wife and relationship bear no resemblence to what I signed-on for. I am up to apply for my 10-yr. green card in March. My question is: Can I still apply, even though my wife may not sign and is demanding money if she does? She has consistently threatened my status and has kept me financially vulnerable because she has always demanded that I pay my full salary in rent while she maintains savings and a disposable income. I feel like she is holding my hostage.

First - you would need to get a divorce.

Since you are seeing someone else, and you express your current wife is mistreating you, for all intents and purposes, your marriage is over. Make it official.

Once you divorce, you can file the I-751 with a waiver (since you are now divorced) and file by yourself. You will need to show that the marriage was entered in good faith.

You could file "late", as getting a divorce can be considered something beyond your control (you would provide a written explanation to such with your application).

Best thing to start with is contact a lawyer (one for divorce, one for immigration) and start the paperwork.

[Dakine 26]

Hopefully your "wife" won't make waves with USCIS. She has you by the "short hairs"!

Hopefully the "grass is greener" on the side of the fence you ended up on.

My opinion is getting another lady was "jumping the gun" [to soon] when in your situation.

Edited January 28, 2010 by Dakine

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hopefully your "wife" won't make waves with USCIS. She has you by the "short hairs"!

Hopefully the "grass is greener" on the side of the fence you ended up on.

My opinion is getting another lady was "jumping the gun" [to soon] when in your situation.

If he self petitions based on divorce then his wife won't have anything to say about it. USCIS won't even contact her. The only "waves" she could make were if she contacted USCIS with evidence of immigration fraud. From what others have posted here over time, it seems as if USCIS doesn't often give much credence to such claims from a "wounded spouse" after a divorce has been filed, unless the evidence is very compelling.

cymru.goch, I wouldn't risk having your current wife file a joint petition with you to lift the conditions on your residency. If you end up getting selected for an interview then she could throw the whole thing with a single statement, and your petition would be denied. You can self petition based on divorce, provided you can show proof that you entered the marriage in good faith. Unfortunately, these petitions are not approved until the divorce is final. I doubt you have time to get a divorce completed before March. You can file before the divorce is final, but you will receive an RFE for the divorce decree before the petition is approved. It's possible you may not receive the RFE for many months, which may be enough time to complete a divorce. If you plan on taking this route then you should get moving quickly on the divorce.

You will need evidence you married in good faith. Begin collecting this evidence now. This includes proof you cohabited - both names on leases and accounts, joint bank accounts, joint tax filings, co-ownership of property or vehicles, etc. It also includes proof of a marital relationship - photos of "family" events together, affidavits from friends who knew both of you, etc.

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Try to file to remove conditions on your green card jointly with your current wife if at all possible. If she refuses, make sure you have sufficient evidence of a bona fide marriage and then self-petition with a waiver under the grounds that removal from the USA would cause you hardship; hasten to get divorced and then replace that waiver (which will undoubtedly be denied if adjudicated) with one on the grounds that your good faith marriage terminated in divorce, once the decree is avilable. All other advice is risky, in my opinion.

[Okalian 41]

I support diadromous's response. Look up "scorpionking"'s postings here on visajourney. He was almost in your shoes and he did exactly what diadromous said. He's also approved.

Pray.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I agree that filing on grounds of divorce without the decree in hand can be risky if you are hoping that the RFE doesn't come before you get the divorce over with. If the divorce takes too long (maybe 6 months in your state?!), the RFE response time might expire before you have the documents.

USCIS has tried to speed up the process by using contractors to open packages and ensure that everything is present. This can lead to more errors (like ours), but also leads to RFEs being issued much sooner than they ever were before.

[nigel 7]

Was there not a I-864 A.O.S signed by the usc?