Separation And Conditional Green Card

[JOLLYGIRL1UK 1]

Hi there,

I found this forum very useful ( more useful than the lawyer we hired) when I was going through the first stages of the visa process. There are some very well informed long-standing memebers of this forum, and I'm hopingto attract some to this post for some much needed information!

The visa application was very sucessful, however our marriage from the very start went badly. I won't go into personal detail because it is personal and not really the fodder for complete strangers. However, I will just say that my husband turned out to have quite debilitating emotional and mental problems of which I was not awear of the extent of untill we got married nad started living together. I don't want to turn this into a he sadi/ she said blame fest. But that is an important factor in why the marriage ended. It was not my idea to end it, although, it was for the best as he turned out to be abusive ( not physically). Anyhow, I did not want to end it, but he made up his mind and decided to send me back home to the UK. I didn't object to this as I was emotionally frazzled by this point and welcomed the idea of being with my family for support. I also did not want to run the risk of being reported to immigration and them being told that we were no longer together and having me deported. As he started to get, and continued to be, quite malicious after hes decided it was over.

Anyhow,I have a few question. Firstly I'll give you a bit of background to help with the potential answers:

Basically, we were in a long-distance relationship for 6 years ( as of this November ). We met each other in a chat room,and chatted constantly online, on the phone and skype ( this went on for two years ). We then finally met, and he proposed, and we were engaged for 4 of those 6 years. During that time we spent numerous vacations together both in the U.K and U.S.A and also met and spent time with each others family ( I have evidence for all of this including flight records, hotel bills and lots of photos). We were very happy together and hated being apart.

We got married on October 31st 2011 after applying for and subsequently having approved a K1 fiancé visa.

We adjusted status in time, and everything went very smoothly. They did not request an interview with us as our case was deemed genuine and straight-forward.

However, the marriage was problematic from the start and in March I went home for 5 weeks to give us both some space to try to work things out ( a trial separation if you will). I was not in possession of an EAD or Green Card at this time. so I applied for advanced parole to travel outside of the country.

I received my conditional two year green card on August 20Th 2012 without any problems.

However, the marriage had already failed by that point, and my husband had already expressed that he wanted to end the marriage and that he wanted me to go back to the U.K.

So, on August 27Th I left the U.S.A and returned home to the U.K where I have stayed ever since ( almost 4 months).

Questions:

•

I would like to know if by leaving the country, in possession of a green card, am I breaking the law in any way? Will it been deemed fraudulent? Should I have stayed in the U.S.A and filed for divorce from there?

•

Should I have a permanent residence in the U.S.A? Would me living outside of the U.S be seen as abandonment ? If I wanted to re-enter the U.S. before the divorce is final, will I have problems? Could I just come back to the U.S for a vacation before too much time has elapsed to eliminate the suspicion of abandonment?

•

Would it be wise to file for a re-entry permit now?

•

Should I firstly get a divorce?

•

Due to the nature of my husband he did not want to arrange any medical insurance for me, he did not put that he was married on the tax return that he filed whilst we were living together and we did not co-mingle our finances ( apart from money that I sent to his account from my U.K bank account via PayPal). With this in mind, do I stand any chance of proving that the marriage was in good faith? I have other evidence such as vacation photos together, pay slips and ( potential)W2 saying that I am married and stating the address we shared. Gym membership with our shared address, two rental agreements and a letter from the landlady stating that we lived there as a married couple, wedding photos and certificate, holiday cards and letters from family to both of us and affidavits from my family and people that knew us as a couple. Basically, is this enough and do I stand a chance with this limited amount of evidence?

After everything that has happened, I know that being out of that relationship was the best thing for me. But after everything that I have been through and put into this visa a nd emmigration process, I feel compelled to try and see this through.

That's about it......

Thank you again for your help. I'll keep my fingers crossed for some good or at least helpful news!

Lara x

P.S I am a British citizen btw

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Lara,

after being out of the US, you received your conditional Green Card on August 20, 2012.

But since your marriage had already failed at that time, you left again 7 days later, on August 27, 2012, and have been out of the US ever since.

In addition, your husband did file as single on his latest income tax return, and it's likely that he will do the same a few weeks from now.

Alrighty then . . . you have not really established residency in the United States. You did not break any law when leaving, and you may have no problem returning, but you'll have a strong uphill battle removing conditions, one of them the tax return.

I don't know what your plans are, but you need to get your divorce going tomorrow morning, as your RoC petition cannot be adjudicated until your divorce is final. If you want to remain in the United States, you'll have to really get busy and collect proof and join a church so that you can pray every day for help from the Almighty. If I were the I.O. looking at your case, I'd ask you why you would not want to return home.

Hope you forgive me for being frank. No need to whisper you nice things into your ear when the fist waits around the corner. Better be prepared.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

1. I would like to know if by leaving the country, in possession of a green card, am I breaking the law in any way? Will it been deemed fraudulent? No. It's like you're on holiday
   
2. Should I have stayed in the U.S.A and filed for divorce from there? That's up to you. If you plan on retaining your GC then you should return and file divorce in the US, otherwise it will show you reside in the UK in order to file divorce there... that is if he hasn't filed in your absence...
   
3. Should I have a permanent residence in the U.S.A? If you plan on keeping your GC yes. You will need to establish residency in the U.S, work and pay taxes like everyone else
   
4. Would me living outside of the U.S be seen as abandonment ? Living, yes. Visiting, no. There is a timeframe of 6 months before your time outside the US can be used against you, unless it's multiple trips outside to show a pattern.
   
5. If I wanted to re-enter the U.S. before the divorce is final, will I have problems? Not really no. But where are you filing divorce from? Do you know whether he's already filed?
   
6. Could I just come back to the U.S for a vacation before too much time has elapsed to eliminate the suspicion of abandonment? Vacation no. To live yes. If you are no longer living in the US, go to your local embassy and hand over the GC. You will be able to get a visitor visa or use the VWP program to "visit"
   
7. Would it be wise to file for a re-entry permit now? No. You need to file from within the US. You still need to file taxes in the US, and maintain residence in the US.
   
8. Should I firstly get a divorce? Up to you.
   
9. Due to the nature of my husband he did not want to arrange any medical insurance for me, he did not put that he was married on the tax return that he filed whilst we were living together and we did not co-mingle our finances ( apart from money that I sent to his account from my U.K bank account via PayPal). With this in mind, do I stand any chance of proving that the marriage was in good faith? I have other evidence such as vacation photos together, pay slips and ( potential)W2 saying that I am married and stating the address we shared. Gym membership with our shared address, two rental agreements and a letter from the landlady stating that we lived there as a married couple, wedding photos and certificate, holiday cards and letters from family to both of us and affidavits from my family and people that knew us as a couple. Basically, is this enough and do I stand a chance with this limited amount of evidence? A chance to what? Stay in the US? If so, return to the US. Your evidence should be okay, but you never REALLY know until you file.

I've numbered your questions and answered in red above.

If you want to live in the US, you need to return there. If you want to just visit, then hand over your GC and get a visitor visa. File for divorce in the US or UK, whatever works for you.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Clarify your goal...

Live and work in the US permanently

or

Live and work in the UK, but have a greencard.

[Villanelle 4,122]

I agree with everything written in red above.

What I do see is a lot of confusion in your original post, esp when you say things like 'Could I just come back to the U.S for a vacation' so Im going to try to break it down for you.

The GC is a permanent residence card. The first one you were issued had conditions on it that you need to get removed 2 years after they were imposed, after that the card is valid for 10 years, every 10 years you renew it. So what is a permanent residence card? Basically it means your primary residence is in the US. Not you live in the UK and come here to visit. You must have a permanent address here and go there to visit. Thats why they say you can travel all you want, whenever you want, but if you leave for more then 6 months at a time, you need a re-entry permit to get back in to show why you were gone for so long. So if you have a permanent residence card and it comes time to renew or remove conditions they will ask how much of the time have you spent here in the US and how much have you spent abroad. If its outrageously high- like 80% of the time you were abroad, youd have a very poor chance of claiming you permanently reside in the US, because its clear you do not. (thats even if your trips were less then 6 months, lets say every 3 months you were in the UK and you flew back the US for 2 weeks and then returned to the UK for 3 months on a constant cycle)

So understanding that, is permanent residency something you want? Are you intending on living in the US or are you just looking for a card to be able to travel freely to the US whenever you feel like it?

If you want to keep your GC then you need to return to the US and you need to establish a residence. A permanent residence that you must live in at least 60-75% of the year. You also need to find out if your husband has filed for divorce in your absence or not, If he hasnt then you need to. You would file for ROC with the divorce. You seem to have enough evidence but as posted above you wont know until you file.

Im not quite sure about what you mean about how he filed his taxes. When you are married the only way to legally file is married filing jointly or married filing separately. You can not file as single. Did you file a tax return? How did you file?

[Jacob Richard 1]

I agree with everything written in red above.

What I do see is a lot of confusion in your original post, esp when you say things like 'Could I just come back to the U.S for a vacation' so Im going to try to break it down for you.

The GC is a permanent residence card. The first one you were issued had conditions on it that you need to get removed 2 years after they were imposed, after that the card is valid for 10 years, every 10 years you renew it. So what is a permanent residence card? Basically it means your primary residence is in the US. Not you live in the UK and come here to visit. You must have a permanent address here and go there to visit. Thats why they say you can travel all you want, whenever you want, but if you leave for more then 6 months at a time, you need a re-entry permit to get back in to show why you were gone for so long. So if you have a permanent residence card and it comes time to renew or remove conditions they will ask how much of the time have you spent here in the US and how much have you spent abroad. If its outrageously high- like 80% of the time you were abroad, youd have a very poor chance of claiming you permanently reside in the US, because its clear you do not. (thats even if your trips were less then 6 months, lets say every 3 months you were in the UK and you flew back the US for 2 weeks and then returned to the UK for 3 months on a constant cycle)

So understanding that, is permanent residency something you want? Are you intending on living in the US or are you just looking for a card to be able to travel freely to the US whenever you feel like it?

If you want to keep your GC then you need to return to the US and you need to establish a residence. A permanent residence that you must live in at least 60-75% of the year. You also need to find out if your husband has filed for divorce in your absence or not, If he hasnt then you need to. You would file for ROC with the divorce. You seem to have enough evidence but as posted above you wont know until you file.

Im not quite sure about what you mean about how he filed his taxes. When you are married the only way to legally file is married filing jointly or married filing separately. You can not file as single. Did you file a tax return? How did you file?

My wife and I have been married for about 1 and half year now and she's never reported her marriage. The marital status on her paychecks is still "single", and she filed tax as "single" too. Some people are that way, they can never go without lies and tricks.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Jacob Richard

[VanessaTony 3,567]

My wife and I have been married for about 1 and half year now and she's never reported her marriage. The marital status on her paychecks is still "single", and she filed tax as "single" too. Some people are that way, they can never go without lies and tricks.

You and your wife are committing tax fraud. She is married and therefore needs to file married. separately or jointly, but married.

**Edit - you are getting divorce though. I hope you at least have been filing as married. Just to protect yourself.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Vanessa&Tony

[Jacob Richard 1]

You and your wife are committing tax fraud. She is married and therefore needs to file married. separately or jointly, but married.

**Edit - you are getting divorce though. I hope you at least have been filing as married. Just to protect yourself.

Last year I didn't work yet so no income. For this year's tax, I wish I could file as "single", I mean I wish I would be divorced by the time I file taxes. Yet, I know I'm going to have to file as "married but filed separately."