How Did She Do This?!

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

I hope VJ's can help me solve a mystery....

Here's the story...

I have a Filipina friend that claims she has been in the states almost 4 years now. She says she came over on a tourist visa with the intention to marry a man she met online. (Other Pinays have stated they believe that she did in fact come to America on a tourist visa.)

When she got here, she married. (story gets stranger) The day of the wedding she discovers that her husband lied about his (full) name. She went ahead and married him anyway.

(nightmare begins) Soon after they married, she discovers that he is a sex offender. Her husband begins to sexually, emotionally and physically abuse her. She is scared and does not know what to do because he has, more or less, made her a prisoner. No car. No money. No escape. (His father lives with them. He is mean and crazy and keeps watch over her while her husband is away at work)

Every time she is able to go outside, her husband is with her. One day they return home to find that his dad burned down the house.

They moved into an apartment. Over time she befriends the complex maintenance man. He becomes aware of her situation and tells her she can escape with him. They escape.

Fast forward to today: She states she never had a green card, filed self petition (recently), did acquire an EAD and drivers license. (she does have a job working at a national chain store in a local mall).

My husband thinks most of her story is a lie. I have spoken to other Pinays that know her and they all say she is telling the truth.

My question: How is she able to stay in the US without any proper documentations and GC and not be deported?

I'm confused...

Edited June 26, 2011 by ~happyndinlove~

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Why would anyone care to waste the time and money to deport her? Unless she is a fugitive from justice, or has done something to run afoul of the law, why would anyone go after just her? There are THOUSANDS upon thousands of illegal immigrants in the US. As long as she is not a burden to the US, I think she will be just fine. Unless someone reports her, of course.

[Darnell 8,478]

she doesn't have a green card, yet, but she did file , including the EAD app, which gets her the EAD card, prior to GC issuance.

Irrespective of future gc pass/fail, the EAD is issued.

events prior to EAD issuance sound plausible.

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

Let's review her facts;

1. Came on tourist visa with intent to marry 4 years ago

2. Got married

3. Escaped marriage

4. Obtained EAD

5. Claims to be self petition and has AOS interview scheduled in July

How is she be able to process the AOS? Doesn't make sense.

P.S. She states divorce is not final.

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

she doesn't have a green card, yet, but she did file , including the EAD app, which gets her the EAD card, prior to GC issuance.

Irrespective of future gc pass/fail, the EAD is issued.

events prior to EAD issuance sound plausible.

Thanks Darnell.

2 questions please...

1) How could she get an EAD with a tourist visa?

2) Once they were married, isn't she require to return to PI to process the CR-1 visa?

According to her, she aquired EAD 3 years ago and didn't apply for anything else...

Edited June 26, 2011 by ~happyndinlove~

[Jojo92122 1,924]

She's here illegally and the system has simply not caught up to her. Lots of illegals spend decades in the US without ever being discovered.

[HeatDeath 430]

When she married a USC, she became eligible to file AOS, regardless of how she entered the US.

When she was abused by her USC husband, she became eligible to self-file her AOS under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Once the VAWA application is approved, the status of the marriage to the USC abuser is no longer relevant.

Sounds like a pretty straight forward application of VAWA to me. This is exactly the sort of situation it was written for.

[JoBri 548]

My question: How is she able to stay in the US without any proper documentations and GC and not be deported?

I'm confused...

Millions of illegal Mexican aliens here could tell you how. Find one and ask sometime. hehe

[Darnell 8,478]

Thanks Darnell.

2 questions please...

1) How could she get an EAD with a tourist visa?

2) Once they were married, isn't she require to return to PI to process the CR-1 visa?

According to her, she aquired EAD 3 years ago and didn't apply for anything else...

1. she filed an Adjustment of Status packet (see the guides)

2. no, not at all. is some loophole for 'marriage intent' at the border, so if she lied and got married anyway, she may not be caught later about it. THEY would then file a big AOS package, which does take much time for processing, sometimes up to 2 years - but the EAD is usually issued within 4 months of applying for this big AOS. Usually.

Yer last bit 'didn't apply for anything else' - that, imo, is where the big hole is - impossible to get the EAD unless filed the BIG AOS package. I'll guess her EAD card is expired, by at least 18 months, perhaps 2 years.

I could, of course, be dead wrong about it all - but that's ok on this type of 'nebulous analysis', yes? (My analysis is nebulous without further hard data, a first blush analysis) She may have gotten in sideways via VAWA as well, where 'just an EAD' is all one has, until the case is adjudicated.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Darnell

[HeatDeath 430]

Thanks Darnell.

2 questions please...

1) How could she get an EAD with a tourist visa?

2) Once they were married, isn't she require to return to PI to process the CR-1 visa?

According to her, she aquired EAD 3 years ago and didn't apply for anything else...

Once you are in the US, on any legal status, marrying a USC allows you to file for AOS, and stay until that AOS application is adjudicated one way or the other.

It is CBP's responsibility, at the PoE, to determine if you have the intent to marry and adjust status, and [if you do] to deny you entry unless you have a fiance visa. But if you get past CBP without directly misrepresenting yourself (which can happen very easily if the CBP officer fails to ask you the relevant questions), you can totally marry in the US and adjust status.

[This is a particularly common situation at Canadian-US land crossing PoEs - thousands of Canadians come in as [nominal] tourists, marry USCs, and adjust status every year. They shouldn't. It's technically cheating, and they run the very real risk of having seemed to misrepresent themselves. But it does happen all the time, and is usually successful. This is why a lot of Canadian lawyers will actually recommend this approach [shame, shame] and why Canadians who go to all the effort of doing this the right way are sometimes looked upon as a little weird by friends and family.]

She got her EAD the same way most of us did, as part of an AOS-EAD-AP application. She just had to file hers in conjunction with a VAWA application, which is probably why it's taking so long to adjudicate.

Nothing about her situation seems obviously illegal, except the first part of sneaking in with a tourist visa. But her subsequent marriage and abuse means that that is long since water under the bridge.

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

so if she lied and got married anyway, she may not be caught later about it.

OK, thanks Darnell. Mystery solved.

I'm gonna ask her if she lied at the border. Haha!

[Tim/Mav 305]

This is a posible way that it happened. I agree your husband is correct and it will come out later, she will have to fraud again and act like she is with her husband still.

See the Link below. It is posible to enter on a Tourist Visa and Marry and stay. However, it was fraud from the beginning.

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

When she married a USC, she became eligible to file AOS, regardless of how she entered the US.

When she was abused by her USC husband, she became eligible to self-file her AOS under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Once the VAWA application is approved, the status of the marriage to the USC abuser is no longer relevant.

Sounds like a pretty straight forward application of VAWA to me. This is exactly the sort of situation it was written for.

Once you are in the US, on any legal status, marrying a USC allows you to file for AOS, and stay until that AOS application is adjudicated one way or the other.

It is CBP's responsibility, at the PoE, to determine if you have the intent to marry and adjust status, and [if you do] to deny you entry unless you have a fiance visa. But if you get past CBP without directly misrepresenting yourself (which can happen very easily if the CBP officer fails to ask you the relevant questions), you can totally marry in the US and adjust status.

[This is a particularly common situation at Canadian-US land crossing PoEs - thousands of Canadians come in as [nominal] tourists, marry USCs, and adjust status every year. They shouldn't. It's technically cheating, and they run the very real risk of having seemed to misrepresent themselves. But it does happen all the time, and is usually successful. This is why a lot of Canadian lawyers will actually recommend this approach [shame, shame] and why Canadians who go to all the effort of doing this the right way are sometimes looked upon as a little weird by friends and family.]

She got her EAD the same way most of us did, as part of an AOS-EAD-AP application. She just had to file hers in conjunction with a VAWA application, which is probably why it's taking so long to adjudicate.

Nothing about her situation seems obviously illegal, except the first part of sneaking in with a tourist visa. But her subsequent marriage and abuse means that that is long since water under the bridge.

OK. Thanks for your response. We think you and Darnell solved the wholes in her story.

[HeatDeath 430]

If she filed the big AOS package in conjunction with a VAWA petition after she escaped from the bad marriage (which is what she would have done if she was receiving even slightly competent advice from an immigration lawyer) she would have gotten an EAD straightaway. If her VAWA-AOS stuff is still being adjudicated, she should technically have been renewing her EAD each year to keep it valid (as she is totally entitled to do during adjudication of a VAWA-AOS application). If she hasn't been, though, it probably doesn't make too much difference:

If her VAWA-AOs is approved, they won't care that she's been working on an expired EAD. If it isn't, she'll be removable, and having worked on an invalid EAD won't make any difference at that point.

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

This is a posible way that it happened. I agree your husband is correct and it will come out later, she will have to fraud again and act like she is with her husband still.

See the Link below. It is posible to enter on a Tourist Visa and Marry and stay. However, it was fraud from the beginning.

The fact that she would've had to lie at the POE solves the mystery.

She's not pretending that she's still with her husband.