Need advice...

[pinklady_0 0]

I need some advice for a friend of mine. He entered the US 4 years ago and was legal. In that time he met and fell in love with a women and they married. They started the process for his temporary Green card. Well during this process she started changing on him. Started verbally abusing him and such. He did recieve his work authorization and a SSN. Then they failed the first interview... They were scheduled a second and ended up failing that one too. She started cheating on him from there or at least thats when he learned of it. Now he is in a spot where she moved out and moved in with her boyfriend she was cheating with. My friend tried to do everything he could to get her to come back but she just kept being mean. She goes to his work with her new boyfriend and threaten him if he does not give her money for the trains. He told her he would give her a card for it, but not the money directly. They didnt like this so the boyfriend threatened him and then they waited outside his work for over an hour. He was advised the next time to contact the police. They have been married for two years, but still waiting for the "temporary or conditional green card to go through. Which at this time wouldnt it just be the next one because they were married for over two years? He has since then found someone and they want to marry as they want to start their life together and a family and he wants to move on from his past. He spoke to an attorney and they told him he would have to get the divorce before the appeal came through and then to start the process over again. He is a good man and works hard. I dont want to see him have to leave and not return for 10 years because of her. Anyone have any ideas or advice on this matter? Thanks so much.

[w8inglongtime 29]

I need some advice for a friend of mine. He entered the US 4 years ago and was legal. In that time he met and fell in love with a women and they married. They started the process for his temporary Green card. Well during this process she started changing on him. Started verbally abusing him and such. He did recieve his work authorization and a SSN. Then they failed the first interview... They were scheduled a second and ended up failing that one too. She started cheating on him from there or at least thats when he learned of it. Now he is in a spot where she moved out and moved in with her boyfriend she was cheating with. My friend tried to do everything he could to get her to come back but she just kept being mean. She goes to his work with her new boyfriend and threaten him if he does not give her money for the trains. He told her he would give her a card for it, but not the money directly. They didnt like this so the boyfriend threatened him and then they waited outside his work for over an hour. He was advised the next time to contact the police. They have been married for two years, but still waiting for the "temporary or conditional green card to go through. Which at this time wouldnt it just be the next one because they were married for over two years? He has since then found someone and they want to marry as they want to start their life together and a family and he wants to move on from his past. He spoke to an attorney and they told him he would have to get the divorce before the appeal came through and then to start the process over again. He is a good man and works hard. I dont want to see him have to leave and not return for 10 years because of her. Anyone have any ideas or advice on this matter? Thanks so much.

He's waiting for the temporary card? It's not going to come since they failed both interviews. Did they get a notice to appear for a third interview or a notice of intent to deny? Him getting married again wont make the first case go away. Failing 2 interviews with one woman and showing up for a different one with another woman won't look good to USCIS. He needs to find out what happened to that file first before he sends in another application. His EAD will expire someday and won't be able to renew it if his AOS is denied without him knowing.

[OKflyboy 35]

He could remove conditions as an abused spouse (with enough proof of abuse) after divorce. But since he never got even the conditional residency... not good.

[Anh map 2,098]

Moved from Citizenship forum to Adjustment of Status forum. Question seems to be about AOS.

[pinklady_0 0]

He's waiting for the temporary card? It's not going to come since they failed both interviews. Did they get a notice to appear for a third interview or a notice of intent to deny? Him getting married again wont make the first case go away. Failing 2 interviews with one woman and showing up for a different one with another woman won't look good to USCIS. He needs to find out what happened to that file first before he sends in another application. His EAD will expire someday and won't be able to renew it if his AOS is denied without him knowing.

Well, I know he got his SSN and work authorization, but Im not sure other than that what happened.. He is awaiting for a response to an appeal on the second interview. Might be an appeal to the intent to deny. He cant stay married to this women like this. She is cruel and is starting to use him. The lawyer he has spoken to has stated its best for him to get a divorce. Im not sure other than that.

[pinklady_0 0]

oh. Found out. They got the letter that saying they were denied and so the lawyer told them to appeal... so thats what they are awaiting now. So now the lawyer said since they are waiting for the appeal and he has already been denied to get the divorce and go from there....

[juliava 80]

There are no grounds for an appeal in his case. In other words, after 2 failed AOS interviews he can't keep asking for his immigration benefit based on a marriage that he doesn't want anymore. That doesn't make any sense.

I wish I could tell you what other options might work for him, but I am not in that position. Getting married with another USC and applying for a new AOS right after the first AOS application was denied is a very tough road to choose as it would be full of red flags.

Maybe other users would be able to tell you more about his options.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

He's in a tough spot. The only way an appeal would work is if he could present compelling new evidence that would justify reversing the previous decision. That's going to be pretty difficult considering that his marriage has already collapsed. If he had sufficient evidence of the abuse then he could try to file an I-360 and attempt to adjust status as an abused spouse of a US citizen (VAWA). Unfortunately, one of the requirements for a VAWA petition is that you prove you entered the marriage in good faith, and USCIS has already concluded that he did not. I don't see any way they'd approve a VAWA petition now. If he divorces and tries to file a VAWA petition then he'd also have to prove that the abuse was a primary reason for the divorce. If he remarries then a VAWA petition is out of the question.

If he divorces and remarries then USCIS will have no doubt that the second marriage is a sham for the purpose of evading immigration law. I predict the first AOS interview following the second marriage will be a Stokes interview, followed by a denial and then removal proceedings.

I think your friend's saga is going to end either with him voluntarily leaving the US or being deported. The question is how much money will the attorney have managed to soak out of him before his story is over.

[pinklady_0 0]

Thats what Im worried about. He is a really good guy and she was a biaaacchh to him when things started to go downhill... He is currently talking to a second lawyer but the first seems to have run off and left him and wont return calls so he can get his paperwork from him. Its such a mess and I dont want to see him deported. the first marriage was not a sham, they were in love and wanted to be together, but they didnt know a whole lot about one another, so when they were asked questions they failed aparently, I dont know much about that there, but things got stressed out after the first interview but it wasnt till after the second interview that things got really bad and they seperated. After their two year marriage mark roughly. Which is a tough year for a lot of new couples. Anyway, they are currently seperated. He has not filed anything, but they did appeal the second denial, I have seen the letters and seen his case number you can look up online and its currently under review. However, the lawyer told him that its best for him to get the divorce before the appeal comes back with a verdict and to go from there.... Why would a lawyer tell him to get a divorce and remarry when they go through and look at the first one anyway. The second marriage is most definately not a fake. I have seen them two togther and they cant wait to be together as one. They are even working on starting a family as soon as they get things settled. I dont like seeing bad things happen to good people, he works hard and would be a great resident. If anyone knows or has been through any of this or has any other advice of what we can do I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe Ill convince him to see a third lawyer just in case the first and second are running him around.

As for the abuse part... He has records of all the times that she has verbally abused him by text. as well as people at work that will make statements saying that she has come with her new boyfriend to his job and threatened him a few times. Etc. etc.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thats what Im worried about. He is a really good guy and she was a biaaacchh to him when things started to go downhill... He is currently talking to a second lawyer but the first seems to have run off and left him and wont return calls so he can get his paperwork from him. Its such a mess and I dont want to see him deported. the first marriage was not a sham, they were in love and wanted to be together, but they didnt know a whole lot about one another, so when they were asked questions they failed aparently, I dont know much about that there, but things got stressed out after the first interview but it wasnt till after the second interview that things got really bad and they seperated. After their two year marriage mark roughly. Which is a tough year for a lot of new couples. Anyway, they are currently seperated. He has not filed anything, but they did appeal the second denial, I have seen the letters and seen his case number you can look up online and its currently under review. However, the lawyer told him that its best for him to get the divorce before the appeal comes back with a verdict and to go from there.... Why would a lawyer tell him to get a divorce and remarry when they go through and look at the first one anyway. The second marriage is most definately not a fake. I have seen them two togther and they cant wait to be together as one. They are even working on starting a family as soon as they get things settled. I dont like seeing bad things happen to good people, he works hard and would be a great resident. If anyone knows or has been through any of this or has any other advice of what we can do I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe Ill convince him to see a third lawyer just in case the first and second are running him around.

As for the abuse part... He has records of all the times that she has verbally abused him by text. as well as people at work that will make statements saying that she has come with her new boyfriend to his job and threatened him a few times. Etc. etc.

I'm trying really hard to think of something encouraging to tell you, but frankly, I don't have anything. Failing two interviews is bad. USCIS is convinced the marriage is a sham. If he divorces then the appeal is likely dead. I only know of a couple of cases where an immigrant ultimately got a green card when they divorced after the AOS was filed but before it was approved. Those cases were not in appeal after an initial denial when the divorce took place, and they both involved suing USCIS in a federal court. Also, in both of those cases USCIS didn't question that the immigrant had entered the marriage in good faith. They only stated that the qualifying marital relationship ended before the benefit was adjudicated. In your friend's case, USCIS has already concluded that he didn't enter the marriage in good faith. Divorce now would be the final nail in that coffin.

There's no way that USCIS is going to believe the second marriage is legitimate. Even if he didn't already have the disaster of his first AOS attempt, you need to look at it objectively. How many people do you know who meet someone, marry them, divorce them, meet someone else, and then marry them, all in the span of four years? This relatively short timeline for multiple marriages is very unusual for Americans, except perhaps in Hollywood. It doesn't look less unusual for immigrants. Add to this the fact that USCIS has already concluded his first marriage was a fraud. Well, you can see where that's going...

A VAWA claim requires more than just proof of abuse. It requires proof that the immigrant entered the marriage in good faith. Your friend has already failed to prove this to USCIS.

If your friend's marriage were stable then I'd say he'd had a reasonable chance of fighting and ultimately winning. Without a stable marriage I don't see how he can ever overcome USCIS' presumption that the marriage was a sham from the start. That strike against him is going to make it practically impossible to find any other way to stay in the US.