Need assistance with refiling

[tuesdaysgone 0]

Basically this is my actual situation. Came to the US 2 years ago on student visa, met my wife who is a US citizen. She was separated but still legally married, she filed her divorce papers and in our state there is a 60 day wait period before remarrying. We checked with a number of sources that if you marry in certain states like Florida and Nevada there is a no wait period for out of state residents and that the home state must recognize it.

So we got married filed an I-130, I-485 and I-765 to adjust permanent status. I-765 was granted soon after. 4 months after filing we had the green card interview and had a poor interviewing officer who was trying to find faults with our application. She made an issue of marrying during the 60 wait period, we had explained to her that we checked and was told it was ok. She was told she would check and let us know a decision in the mail.

During this time I withdrew my student status as I could not afford to stay in college. This is legally ok as I was in a pending status for the green card.

7 months later we received a notice of denial for the I-130. The only reason we had been denied was because they think we are not legally married in our state and therefore I am no elgible.

1 month prior to receiving this denial letter we did actually get married in our state.

We now have the option to appeal. I only have the money to hire an attorney to appeal or instead I will go back to the UK and file from there.

I have briefly spoken to an attorney who said if I am quick I can refile stateside. Is this true?

If so forms would I be filing?

I assume I would have to take the medical examinations again. We have all the evidence etc so I could get the information packs, forms etc ready within a day.

I really do not want to leave my family and have to refile in the UK, so if I can refile here I'd really apprieciate some advice.

I can only afford an attorney to either appeal their decision or file it myself.

I currently work fulltime on my EAD card. As the original application is denied will this mean by EAD will be expired by the end of the 30 days denial period or can I still work while I am refiling. The attorney said I could indeed I wanted to check.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

I would think you would need to file the appeal before trying to re-file the whole application again.

If you have been denied, re-filing to me would not make sense, since you have that denial hanging over your head.

I would suggest you consult with another lawyer prior to leaving to see what you options are.

It's too bad you did not maintain your student status, you could of probably stayed using that existing visa.

About the marriage thing, did your state recognize the Fla marriage? I remember a post here where people did the same thing, in the state of Washington, but USCIS goes by the rules of the state your living in - not other states - that story didn't end well either.

[tuesdaysgone 0]

The attorney believes I have a strong case, she explained it to me and for me to reiterate what she said is very hard as its attorney language, the case law they used to deny me "krug vs krug" apparently apparently works in my favor.

When I say refile, I mean it would be a new application based on our new alabama marriage certificate not the original florida certificate that caused the issue.

With regards to the denial, the attorney basically said we would write a letter accepting the denial and then file a new application, because there has been a notice of denial we are still allowed to apply for a new application.

With regards to does Alabama recognize our Florida marriage license on the basis of remarrying within the 60 day wait period. I don't know. People on here will quote legisitation saying it is, while other places say it isnt. We have had no problems in Alabama with it and the attorney said that it should be recogniozed and weve been married as common law. It's hard for me to understand all the legal spiel.

I'm going to speak with the attorney again on Monday, but right now time is of the essence and we need a back up plan and do what we can within the time allowed.