immigration help..

[lahsib 0]

hi everyone.

I was wondering if i could get any good sugestion regarding my case. I was married to US citizen about a year ago and later on i found out that her marriage was still valid at the time we got married.but before that i was in very abusive relation, her mom , her brother and my friends have witnessed the abuse. physically, mentally and financially. ( i don't have any police and medical record) she even stole my room mate car ( she left a voice message at that time that she is taking her car) and which i have to pay later.I am out of status and threatening about immigration is common....

i was wondering if i am eligible for vawa.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Probably not, because you were never legally married.

How did you get to the USA (ie fiance or spousal visa, or another way)?

What sort of greencard do you currently hold?

[Inky 1,111]

If her marriage to someone else was still valid when you got married to her, then you are not married.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

hi everyone.

I was wondering if i could get any good sugestion regarding my case. I was married to US citizen about a year ago and later on i found out that her marriage was still valid at the time we got married.but before that i was in very abusive relation, her mom , her brother and my friends have witnessed the abuse. physically, mentally and financially. ( i don't have any police and medical record) she even stole my room mate car ( she left a voice message at that time that she is taking her car) and which i have to pay later.I am out of status and threatening about immigration is common....

i was wondering if i am eligible for vawa.

There aren't many details here, but from what you've told us so far it appears the answer would be "no". There are aspects of the VAWA law that pertain to domestic partners and people in non-marital relationships, but they have to do with eligibility for government assistance in dealing with the abuse. The immigration benefits of VAWA are only for people who are lawfully married to a US citizen or permanent resident. You would also need substantial and credible evidence that the abuse occurred. It sounds like you have neither a lawful marriage nor sufficient evidence of abuse.

Tell us more about your situation. What sort of visa did you arrive with, and when did you arrive? When did your authorized stay expire? Do you have relatives in the US who are US citizens or LPR's? Have any of them ever submitted an immigrant visa petition on your behalf?

There may be other ways to stay in the US, but we need more information.

[lahsib 0]

There aren't many details here, but from what you've told us so far it appears the answer would be "no". There are aspects of the VAWA law that pertain to domestic partners and people in non-marital relationships, but they have to do with eligibility for government assistance in dealing with the abuse. The immigration benefits of VAWA are only for people who are lawfully married to a US citizen or permanent resident. You would also need substantial and credible evidence that the abuse occurred. It sounds like you have neither a lawful marriage nor sufficient evidence of abuse.

Tell us more about your situation. What sort of visa did you arrive with, and when did you arrive? When did your authorized stay expire? Do you have relatives in the US who are US citizens or LPR's? Have any of them ever submitted an immigrant visa petition on your behalf?

There may be other ways to stay in the US, but we need more information.

thanks for the response, I was here 4 years ago as an F1 and i have been out of status for almost 1 and half year,and i don't have anyone in US and have never applied for anything in immigration. but i think as per the USCIS page a victim of bigamy is also eligible for vawa as long as he/she have been abused. my problem is i have 10 - 15 witness who have see the abuse in different interval and some of whom are her family( her mom , brother and nephew)

and are ready to write affidavites if needed.

[Inky 1,111]

Do you already have a green card from this "marriage"?

[lahsib 0]

Do you already have a green card from this "marriage"?

no.. have not even applied.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

thanks for the response, I was here 4 years ago as an F1 and i have been out of status for almost 1 and half year,and i don't have anyone in US and have never applied for anything in immigration. but i think as per the USCIS page a victim of bigamy is also eligible for vawa as long as he/she have been abused. my problem is i have 10 - 15 witness who have see the abuse in different interval and some of whom are her family( her mom , brother and nephew)

and are ready to write affidavites if needed.

The bigamy exception is tied to the "good faith marriage" requirement. You would have to convince USCIS that you sincerely believed you were entering into a legitimate marriage, and you were completely unaware that her previous marriage had never been terminated. This adds a whole new dimension to your "good faith" burden of proof.

It's pretty unusual for a VAWA case to be approved solely on the basis of affidavits. Why didn't you call the police?

[lahsib 0]

The bigamy exception is tied to the "good faith marriage" requirement. You would have to convince USCIS that you sincerely believed you were entering into a legitimate marriage, and you were completely unaware that her previous marriage had never been terminated. This adds a whole new dimension to your "good faith" burden of proof.

It's pretty unusual for a VAWA case to be approved solely on the basis of affidavits. Why didn't you call the police?

thank you....i am just wondering like if someone have gone thru this bigamy situation or not. And what other kind of good faith evidence have to be submitted if i am eligible.

[Harsh_77 718]

How were you married, do you have a marriage certificate - which shows she entered into another marriage not terminated.

You are in difficult situation as you are already out of status, have not filed for AOS, VAWA is kinda difficult and question would be why have u not filed for any police report etc.

[lahsib 0]

How were you married, do you have a marriage certificate - which shows she entered into another marriage not terminated.

You are in difficult situation as you are already out of status, have not filed for AOS, VAWA is kinda difficult and question would be why have u not filed for any police report etc.

i was married in a court and yes i do have a marriage certificate of her previous marriage, and she was the one who filled the appilication in the court...i am not sure but i just found out from a very good friend of her, that she is married again in louisiana and have one more previous marriage in missiippii , which i have to make sure ( i may be wrong in this case). let me share a little bit of what happened.

just to make story short i am mentioning some important things.......me and my cousion had a very bad wreck 1 1\2 months before i marry her while on the way to pick her up for a small get togetheir. my cousion was hospitalized because of her compressed spline and a head injury and i had a injury in my right shoulder.after we get of the hospital she requested to stay with us and help overcome our injury because she told me that she is feeling guilty. i was ok with that because i have kown her from last six months and we liked each other and despite my cousion is a female and that would help her a lot.and she did take care of the whole house while we both were paralysed by that injury and she was very honest emotionally and financially which made me think more seriously about her.and later on we decided to marry.i have told her everything about my immigration status before her marriage and she told me that she has a daughter and she want her back from her biological father after we got married.

after marriage i started having a difficult time with her...after a month, she was arrested for DUI around 8 am for drug.me and her mom went to bail her out ( her mom bail her out)and her mom requested me to take her out of the bank account and take the keys for the truck so that she won't have any access to money and transportation.later that night when i told her those things she started humilating me saying that can't even bail her out and she have done a biggest mistake marrying an illegal, when i defend my self for that she became abusive and even hit me with a flower vase on my shoulder that was injured. i didn't call the cops because she told me that if i take any legal action against her and if she didn't get her daughter custody back because of me she will make sure that i will be deported and she can do anything for that. (later she said sorry and start crying and crying and again emotional drama)

and i was scared because she have all my information and i know she will do that. so for two months after that things were good and bad.and one day she told me that she is taking her daughter to the church and she never came back and she called me and said that she cannot live with me because i am illegal and her daughter family wont let her visit her daughter if she stays with me. later the other day when her daughter aunt came to my house to pick up baby seat i asked her why did they say all those things about me and they were suprised too. because she was telling another story to them.and that day i came to find out she was already married.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

To be honest, your case is a complicated knot of unusual circumstances. USCIS tends not to like complicated cases. If you tell your story to an immigration officer the same way you've told it here, they would probably conclude this was a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" scenario - you marry her so she'll have a better chance of getting custody of her kid, and she'll help you get legal status in the US.

Here is what you're going to have to prove to USCIS:

1. You entered the marriage in good faith, and not primarily to obtain an immigration benefit.

2. You thought the marriage was genuine and legal, and you weren't aware that she was a bigamist.

3. You were abused by her.

You're going to need evidence to prove these things. Evidence of good faith marriage includes things like joint bank accounts, joint tax returns, both of your names on the lease, mortgage, or deed to your home. In other words, stuff that proves you lived like a normal married couple. There's not much you can do to prove that you thought the marriage was legal beyond writing a statement describing when you discovered the previous marriage (or marriages) had not been terminated. Affidavits from people who know you and the circumstances surrounding the marriage would help. You'd better pray none of her previous marriages involved an immigrant in a similar situation to yours. If she played this same game with another immigrant then it won't matter how innocent you are - they'll presume you're guilty because she's guilty.

The abuse is a tough one. The bar is higher for men than it is for women because there's an assumption that men are less susceptible to abuse than women. The strongest evidence comes from reputable people who don't know you personally, and have first hand knowledge of the abuse. In other words, people who have nothing to gain and much to lose if they lie on your behalf. Police reports are very good evidence, especially if the officer saw evidence of physical abuse. Medical reports documenting injuries are also good. Slightly less compelling, but also good evidence, are reports from psychiatrists or psychologists documenting the emotional trauma. Much weaker evidence are affidavits from friends and family. These people often have an interest in seeing you succeed, and may not perceive any risk in lying on your behalf. Statements you make yourself are the weakest evidence.

[lahsib 0]

To be honest, your case is a complicated knot of unusual circumstances. USCIS tends not to like complicated cases. If you tell your story to an immigration officer the same way you've told it here, they would probably conclude this was a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" scenario - you marry her so she'll have a better chance of getting custody of her kid, and she'll help you get legal status in the US.

Here is what you're going to have to prove to USCIS:

1. You entered the marriage in good faith, and not primarily to obtain an immigration benefit.

2. You thought the marriage was genuine and legal, and you weren't aware that she was a bigamist.

3. You were abused by her.

You're going to need evidence to prove these things. Evidence of good faith marriage includes things like joint bank accounts, joint tax returns, both of your names on the lease, mortgage, or deed to your home. In other words, stuff that proves you lived like a normal married couple. There's not much you can do to prove that you thought the marriage was legal beyond writing a statement describing when you discovered the previous marriage (or marriages) had not been terminated. Affidavits from people who know you and the circumstances surrounding the marriage would help. You'd better pray none of her previous marriages involved an immigrant in a similar situation to yours. If she played this same game with another immigrant then it won't matter how innocent you are - they'll presume you're guilty because she's guilty.

The abuse is a tough one. The bar is higher for men than it is for women because there's an assumption that men are less susceptible to abuse than women. The strongest evidence comes from reputable people who don't know you personally, and have first hand knowledge of the abuse. In other words, people who have nothing to gain and much to lose if they lie on your behalf. Police reports are very good evidence, especially if the officer saw evidence of physical abuse. Medical reports documenting injuries are also good. Slightly less compelling, but also good evidence, are reports from psychiatrists or psychologists documenting the emotional trauma. Much weaker evidence are affidavits from friends and family. These people often have an interest in seeing you succeed, and may not perceive any risk in lying on your behalf. Statements you make yourself are the weakest evidence.

any suggestion from you guys....

[Harsh_77 718]

Dude Jim is our resident expert on immigration laws.... his advice is good.