Financial responsibility after divorce

[Poetry 0]

Hello everyone! It's nice to be back here. I have a question that some of you may know the answer or some who don't might learn from it. I am a permanent resident with a 10 year GC. My husband and I are getting a divorce and we filed for it as joint petition. But then he changed his mind and he doesn't want to sign the papers. I think one of the reason is he just wanted to give me a hard time, but the main reason is he doesn't want to be financially responsible for me for another six years. He said he called the USCIS and according to them he would be still responsible for me financially after the divorce. And in that case he said he would do everything to have me deported. I think he was given a wrong info by the people from immigration. But I am not really sure if its true or not. Does anyone know if theres some truth on this infortion? If so would you please send me a link where I can find it from their website.

I already told him I do not want any material things from him, all I want is my freedom. I can no longer stand to stay on this abusive kind of relationship for for four years of being married to him.

Please feel free to share your opinion.

Thank you very much.

[belinda63 3,052]

Married or divorced he is financially responsible for you per the I-864. He cannot do anything to have you deported.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I am a permanent resident with a 10 year GC.

My husband and I are getting a divorce and we filed for it as joint petition. But then he changed his mind and he doesn't want to sign the papers. I think one of the reason is he just wanted to give me a hard time, but the main reason is he doesn't want to be financially responsible for me for another six years.

He said he called the USCIS and according to them he would be still responsible for me financially after the divorce. And in that case he said he would do everything to have me deported.

I think he was given a wrong info by the people from immigration. But I am not really sure if its true or not. Does anyone know if there's some truth on this information? If so would you please send me a link where I can find it from their website.

I already told him I do not want any material things from him, all I want is my freedom. I can no longer stand to stay on this abusive kind of relationship for for four years of being married to him.

I'm a little confused. You are filing a joint petition for DIVORCE right? You're not talking about removal of conditions? I know you said you HAVE your 10 year card but I dont understand why does he think NOT signing the divorce papers will get you deported, or why he thinks it will make him responsible for the next 6 years. He's responsible for the next 6 years (possibly more) whether he signs the divorce papers or not. Once he signed that I-864 to get you your 2 year conditional card he signed up to support you.

Divorce does NOT end the obligation. He is responsible for you until:

- you have worked 40 quarters of work (roughly 10 years)

- you leave the US and give up your greencard

- you become a USC

- you die

If you have a look here: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864.pdf page 18 it discusses the obligations. When your 2 year greencard was approved he agreed to these conditions.

If you want him to not worry, you can explain to him that you will just become a USC (unless you don't want to of course) and THEN the obligations will end. There's proof there in the link I posted. Or you could tell him that as long as you don't claim means tested things then the government won't chase him for repayment.

You are still entitled to alimony after some years of marriage (though I don't know how many, you said you've been married 4 years. You will need to check your states information), this has nothing to do with the I-864.

Edited May 22, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The sponsor assumes an obligation to ensure that the immigrant is supported at 125% of the poverty guidelines (minimum), and to ensure that the immigrant does not collect means tested benefits from the government. However, USCIS has no authority to enforce this. Only a court can order the petitioner to pay. If the immigrant collects means tested benefits, then the government could take the sponsor to court to seek reimbursement. If the immigrant is not being supported at 125% of the poverty guidelines (minimum) then the immigrant can take the sponsor to court. Until SOMEBODY takes the sponsor to court and gets an order for payments, nobody is going to collect anything from him.

Read the I-864 contract carefully. It says the government can sue the sponsor, and the immigrant can sue the sponsor. It does not say that the sponsor is automatically obligated to start writing checks as soon as either the government or the immigrant demand it. Only a court order can force him to begin making payments.

In addition, immigrants have had mixed results trying to get a court to enforce the I-864. Family courts in many states won't touch it because the state's often have strict guidelines the judge has to follow in ordering support, and there are no provisions in the state's family code for an affidavit of support. Civil courts in many states won't touch it because the the contract is between the sponsor and the US government, and the state's civil code won't allow a 3rd party to sue to enforce a contract. The odds of getting a judgment are better in a federal court.

To the OP, your husband is bound by this contract whether you remain married or get divorced. I have no idea why he's thinking that a divorce would somehow change this. Tell him to talk to a lawyer about it. You can still get a divorce without his cooperation, but it will probably take longer.

As far as alimony is concerned, most states rarely award it anymore. It has largely been replaced by spousal support, which is more equitable and gender neutral. Many states aren't compelled to order spousal support if the marriage is of short duration (5 years is typical). Who pays the support, and the amount that must be paid, depends on who is earning more money. It is not uncommon for a wife to be ordered to pay her husband spousal support.

[Poetry 0]

Thank you so much guys for taking the time to share your knowledge and accreliable information, I really appreciate it. To clarify some things about the divorce we had to refile everything. Instead of joint petition they switched it to summon petition since he doesn't want to cooperate. He doesn't want to go with the divorce procedure, what he wanted to do is file an annulment and have me deported. I have no idea where hes getting all these information that he can file an annulment and he can have me deported because he doesn't want to be responsible for me anymore. He thinks the only way to end the I-864 contract is to have me deported. He said he would tell the immigration that everything is fraud that I just used him to get my GC. We have a lot of common friends who can testify that our marriage was in good faith. He just have a bitter taste in his mouth because he wanted to reconcile for him to have the power to manipulate, control and abuse me. But I refused simply because I don't wana go back to that miserable kind of life. So since things did not turn out the way he wanted it he is now being vindictive.

He also mentioned that if I remarry right away that would end his obligation or responsibility. Is there any truth on this? I keep telling him I do not want anything from him I even made that statement to these people who process our divorce papers.

Again please feel free to share some input.

Thank you so much.

Have a good week everyone.

God bless.

[belinda63 3,052]

After this long a period of time I don't see how he could have the marriage annulled that is usually reserved for marriages that were never consummated or were fraudulent from the beginning, like you misrepresented your age, knew you couldn't have children and didn't tell him, etc. After being with him this long I don't see that he has any grounds.

The I-864 is a contract between him and the government. You can divorce and re-marry as many times as you want. The I-864 is NOT an obligation for him to pay YOU a certain amount each month nor does it require him to maintain you in a certain lifestyle, it is just to ensure you don't become a burden on the government.

So proceed with the divorce and don't let his threats bother you, BTW why would you still be talking to him? Personal advise from my experience is communicating with him is just giving him the opportunity to continue controlling you if only by creating stress in your life.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thank you so much guys for taking the time to share your knowledge and accreliable information, I really appreciate it. To clarify some things about the divorce we had to refile everything. Instead of joint petition they switched it to summon petition since he doesn't want to cooperate. He doesn't want to go with the divorce procedure, what he wanted to do is file an annulment and have me deported. I have no idea where hes getting all these information that he can file an annulment and he can have me deported because he doesn't want to be responsible for me anymore. He thinks the only way to end the I-864 contract is to have me deported. He said he would tell the immigration that everything is fraud that I just used him to get my GC. We have a lot of common friends who can testify that our marriage was in good faith. He just have a bitter taste in his mouth because he wanted to reconcile for him to have the power to manipulate, control and abuse me. But I refused simply because I don't wana go back to that miserable kind of life. So since things did not turn out the way he wanted it he is now being vindictive.

He also mentioned that if I remarry right away that would end his obligation or responsibility. Is there any truth on this? I keep telling him I do not want anything from him I even made that statement to these people who process our divorce papers.

Again please feel free to share some input.

Thank you so much.

Have a good week everyone.

God bless.

Belinda is correct. There is very little chance he could get an annulment after a marriage of this duration. Also, annulment would not terminate the affidavit of support, nor would it result in your deportation. Your immigration status is no longer conditional on your marriage. Even if it were (i.e., you still had a conditional green card), you could still have removed conditions after an annulment by self-petitioning. The only time an annulment would have resulted in an automatic termination of your immigration status, with little recourse available to you to stop deportation, would be if the annulment occurred before you adjusted status.

Any course of action he takes now with regard to the marriage is NOT going to affect your immigration status. He is certainly able to tell USCIS that he believes you engaged in a fraudulent marriage in order to get a green card. USCIS won't take any action on this accusation unless he has concrete evidence that this is the case. If all he has are suspicions or accusations, then there is zero chance USCIS will do anything. Since this sort of fraud is all about intent, the evidence he presented would practically have to be an admission of guilt in some form. Of course, he could always try to claim that you admitted this to him, but then that would implicate him as being complicit in the fraud. If he succeeded in getting you deported with this, he'd probably also succeed in getting himself convicted and sentenced to prison.

If you remarried then it may terminate an order for alimony or spousal support, but it won't have any effect on the affidavit of support.

Again, tell him to consult with a lawyer to determine what his legal obligations are, and what he is actually capable of doing, and to stop spouting off about what he thinks or wishes he could do.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

USCIS will probably leave the question of support up to the authority granting the divorce. Most likely, all the marital assets will be ordered to be evenly divided, and if no equitable division can be agreed to amongst the parties, the assets will be ordered to be sold, and the proceeds evenly divided. I personally know of one case where the USC was abusive of the foreign spouse, here in California, and that was the determination.

[Ready2Kl 1]

Married or divorced he is financially responsible for you per the I-864. He cannot do anything to have you deported.

Once you are divorced, He is not financially responsible for you unless the divorce decree specifically states alimony. He is just responsible for fulfulling what the divorce decree says. Only if you use public means tested benefits the government can go after him to get that back. He does not have any obligation towards you but only to the goverment to make sure you are not a burden on the society as per the affidavit of support he submitted. I mean you do not have a cause of action against him in court to support you. The divorce ends that right. It is towards the goverment that he has an obligation to pay back in case you use any public benefits. In case you do not use any public means tested benefits then there is nothing that the goverment will do to make him pay for any financial obligation.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Ready2Kl

[helpmelord 3]

That is not true what he said, go online and uscis and read the i864 affidavit form, if you have not been married for five years the he is responsible for you until the 5 yrs complete and he cannot get you deported you have already compleated your obligations occording to immigration rule on obtaining your 10 yr GC and they wuld not have encourage you to stay in an abusive relationship with your spouse, there are many state in which you can file a divorce without him contesting it.

Good Luck

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

That is not true what he said, go online and uscis and read the i864 affidavit form, if you have not been married for five years the he is responsible for you until the 5 yrs complete and he cannot get you deported you have already compleated your obligations occording to immigration rule on obtaining your 10 yr GC and they wuld not have encourage you to stay in an abusive relationship with your spouse, there are many state in which you can file a divorce without him contesting it.

Good Luck

The bold part of your post is incorrect. The affidavit of support expires if the immigrant accrues 40 quarters of Social Security work credits, or becomes a US citizen, or loses their LPR status and leaves the US, or either sponsor or beneficiary dies. There is only a coincidental association with a 5 year term. For example, a divorced immigrant could apply for US citizenship 5 years after they became an LPR. Or, if the immigrant remains married, and both the immigrant and their US citizen spouse are working, then they could accumulate a combined 40 quarters of Social Security work credits in 5 years.

On the other hand, an immigrant who remains married could apply for US citizenship in only 3 years. Or, they might never apply for US citizenship. They also might never accumulate a total of 40 quarters of Social Security work credits. It's conceivable that the affidavit of support could remain in effect for the remainder of the sponsor's life. The affidavit expires when one of four specific events occurs, and not on any specific date.

As far as being responsible for her, he isn't responsible for anything until a court issues an order to enforce the affidavit. That isn't going to happen until somebody sues him to have it enforced.

[justashooter 430]

some of the answers you have gotten so far are correct, and some are misleading.

the long and short of it is that you can divorce him and there is nothing he can do about it but wait out the maximum time allowed by your state. in pennsylvania a divorce can be agreed upon and finished in 90 days, or contested and finished in 2 years by order of court. in the meantime you must observe the requirements of your home state in regard to where you live and who you sleep with in order for the divorce proceeding to remain active. tsalk to an sttourney sbout this for specifics.

your husband does not have to give you cash to pay for your lifestyle during or after your divorce unless a divorce court orders him to do so. they will not if you have a job, unless he makes 5X what you do, or you can demonstrate that you have made sacrifices that empowered him (working to support him while he was in college so that he could have a higher salary, and giving up the opportunity to better yourself in the process). if you don't have a job, the court might order him to pay you a minimal amount of cash, the duration of which term and amount of cash being dependent on variables like how long you were married and lived together, and how high his salary. WAG in your case, with a short marriage, assuming that you have a job, and assuming he has an ordinary salary, you will get nothing, or a small monthly amount for a year, at most.

if you marry someone else or are living with them after your divorce, a family court will probably remove any responsibility your husband might have to pay support to you.

the 864 is not about your husband paying money to you. it is about his promise to the government that you would not be a burden on society. he may be sued by the government if you divorce him and use certain public benefits, or he may not. in a few very unusual court cases ex-husbands have agreed to make support payments when the woman's lawyer cited 864, but these people were just idiots. county level family courts have no authority to enforce a civil contract between a citizen and the federal government by ordering payment to a third party that is not even signatory to the contract, and that offers neither promise or reward in the contract.