Married vrs Unmarried Children of US citizens

[kcash 0]

My dad filed for my sister who is single. She went to the US embasy to get her immigrat vissa and she was turned back because her live in boyfriend has applied for a US visa 4 years ago ad claimed she was his wife. She was pushed back to the marrid children category and asked to present a marriage certificate when her time is due. They will not take her explanation that they are not married and did not know why he claimed so. They do not have a marriiage certificate. Any advice on how she can proceed wth this?

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

So who does the USCIS belive, at one point she did claim to be married. When she wanted the tourist visa she was married, today when she wants the family sponsor visa she is single. So how do you prove you are single, after claiming to be married.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

Did she sign anything stating she was married to the boyfriend, or was it "just" the boyfriend saying that?

if the first, they are not going to believe her. Best to get married and wait her new turn. If the second,she could try to appeal but it will be very difficult- she could get a notarised affadafvit from the boyfriend saying he lied, and a print out from her country's civil registry office (or whoever records marriages there) stating she is single.

[kcash 0]

  On 12/24/2012 at 10:20 PM, LIFE said:

So who does the USCIS belive, at one point she did claim to be married. When she wanted the tourist visa she was married, today when she wants the family sponsor visa she is single. So how do you prove you are single, after claiming to be married.

The issue is she never claimed to be married. Her boyfriend claimed he was married to her but they believed him without asking for proof. When she went for her interview she was asked if she knew him and she said yes he is the father of her child and boyfriend. They then said she will have to move to the married category because the records they have of her shows she was married to him. She told them they were never married but they insisted they have the same address and a kid so she should list her boyfriend as husband and bring a marriage certificate when coming back for the next interview . We are worried because she never married him and she does not want to misrepresent facts to the embassy.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

  On 12/24/2012 at 10:48 PM, kcash said:

The issue is she never claimed to be married. Her boyfriend claimed he was married to her but they believed him without asking for proof. When she went for her interview she was asked if she knew him and she said yes he is the father of her child and boyfriend. They then said she will have to move to the married category because the records they have of her shows she was married to him. She told them they were never married but they insisted they have the same address and a kid so she should list her boyfriend as husband and bring a marriage certificate when coming back for the next interview . We are worried because she never married him and she does not want to misrepresent facts to the embassy.

What is listed on the child BC, did she list herself as married to the father of her child? Who was trying to get the visa inwhich someone claimed thy were married and what type of visa?

[kcash 0]

  On 12/24/2012 at 11:00 PM, LIFE said:

What is listed on the child BC, did she list herself as married to the father of her child? Who was trying to get the visa inwhich someone claimed thy were married and what type of visa?

Her boyfriend applied for a visitor visa and was approved. He ticked married on the form and listed my sisters name as the wife. The child's bc has his name as the father. The marital status of the parents are not listed on the BC.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

  On 12/24/2012 at 11:13 PM, kcash said:

Her boyfriend applied for a visitor visa and was approved. He ticked married on the form and listed my sisters name as the wife. The child's bc has his name as the father. The marital status of the parents are not listed on the BC.

What country is this? Are you sure there is no martial status on the BC?

[aaron2020 11,651]

  On 12/24/2012 at 9:42 PM, kcash said:

My dad filed for my sister who is single. She went to the US embasy to get her immigrat vissa and she was turned back because her live in boyfriend has applied for a US visa 4 years ago ad claimed she was his wife. She was pushed back to the marrid children category and asked to present a marriage certificate when her time is due. They will not take her explanation that they are not married and did not know why he claimed so. They do not have a marriiage certificate. Any advice on how she can proceed wth this?

Here are your sister's choices;

1. Convince the US Embassy that she is single and that her boyfriend lied. Since her boyfriend is a liar, she will have trouble petitioning for him in the future if she gets her LPR status. She comes with her child, and possibly leaving the boyfriend behind forever for lying.

2. Get marry and wait to immigrate with her child and husband.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

  On 12/24/2012 at 10:48 PM, kcash said:

The issue is she never claimed to be married. Her boyfriend claimed he was married to her but they believed him without asking for proof. When she went for her interview she was asked if she knew him and she said yes he is the father of her child and boyfriend. They then said she will have to move to the married category because the records they have of her shows she was married to him. She told them they were never married but they insisted they have the same address and a kid so she should list her boyfriend as husband and bring a marriage certificate when coming back for the next interview . We are worried because she never married him and she does not want to misrepresent facts to the embassy.

The consulate has her in a catch 22. It's almost impossible to prove someone was never married. The only way she could convince them she was never married is if her boyfriend confessed to his lie, which would mean the consulate would slap a P4C on his file. That would dramatically reduce the chances of him ever getting a visa to join his 'wife' and child in the US. If she got married now then that would serve as proof that he previously lied, he'd still get the P4C, and she'd get bumped back to the F3 category. If she greased the right palms and got a retroactive marriage certificate that predated her boyfriend's visa application then he'd be ok, but she'd get slapped with a P4C for lying on her first visa application.

Would her boyfriend be willing to sign a sworn statement admitting that he lied on his visa application, and that they are not and never have been married? Would she be willing to accept that she'll be moving to the US and her child's father might never be joining them here?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

  On 12/25/2012 at 3:36 AM, JimVaPhuong said:

The consulate has her in a catch 22. It's almost impossible to prove someone was never married. The only way she could convince them she was never married is if her boyfriend confessed to his lie, which would mean the consulate would slap a P4C on his file. That would dramatically reduce the chances of him ever getting a visa to join his 'wife' and child in the US. If she got married now then that would serve as proof that he previously lied, he'd still get the P4C, and she'd get bumped back to the F3 category. If she greased the right palms and got a retroactive marriage certificate that predated her boyfriend's visa application then he'd be ok, but she'd get slapped with a P4C for lying on her first visa application.

Would her boyfriend be willing to sign a sworn statement admitting that he lied on his visa application, and that they are not and never have been married? Would she be willing to accept that she'll be moving to the US and her child's father might never be joining them here?

Even if he admits he lied, I find it hard to believe that they'll just believe he lied and that she isn't just lying to get to the US quicker and deny her on that basis anyway...

He obviously lied to show more ties and now she's suffering for it. Or they ARE married and he forgot he wasn't supposed to say that.

[kcash 0]

  On 12/25/2012 at 3:36 AM, JimVaPhuong said:

The consulate has her in a catch 22. It's almost impossible to prove someone was never married. The only way she could convince them she was never married is if her boyfriend confessed to his lie, which would mean the consulate would slap a P4C on his file. That would dramatically reduce the chances of him ever getting a visa to join his 'wife' and child in the US. If she got married now then that would serve as proof that he previously lied, he'd still get the P4C, and she'd get bumped back to the F3 category. If she greased the right palms and got a retroactive marriage certificate that predated her boyfriend's visa application then he'd be ok, but she'd get slapped with a P4C for lying on her first visa application.

Would her boyfriend be willing to sign a sworn statement admitting that he lied on his visa application, and that they are not and never have been married? Would she be willing to accept that she'll be moving to the US and her child's father might never be joining them here?

That is the problem. She did not even know him when my dad filed for her. And he made the application about 3 months into their relationship . His only reason was to prove ties which was stupid. He has been in and out of the USA over 10 times prior to that on business but was afraid his new application was going to be denied because at that time most people he knew who were not married were getting their new applications denied.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Sounds like if the woman and the boyfriend want a life together they may want to forget the US. The US isn't for everyone

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

  On 12/25/2012 at 11:27 AM, kcash said:

That is the problem. She did not even know him when my dad filed for her. And he made the application about 3 months into their relationship . His only reason was to prove ties which was stupid. He has been in and out of the USA over 10 times prior to that on business but was afraid his new application was going to be denied because at that time most people he knew who were not married were getting their new applications denied.

Understood, but the consulate is now insisting on evidence she doesn't have. I listed the only three ways I can think of to get around this; convince the consulate she's not married and never has been, get married now and get bumped to F3 category, or get a fake marriage certificate and get hit with a P6C.

I previously said P4C, which was wrong. P4 is about the public charge requirement. P6 is fraud. Sorry. It's been a while since I read INA 212.

The first of the three options is the best because it's the truth. Unfortunately, her boyfriend already lied about that. I don't know what country is involved here, but many countries recognize common law marriage. The rules vary from one country to another, but it may be sufficient that they have cohabited together for a long period of time, they have a child together (the birth certificate proves it), and he has made a public statement declaring they were married. It's possible that under the laws of that country they may actually be legally married by common law. In that case, the consulate would be well within their rights to demand that the marriage be legally recognized (a marriage certificate), and then bump her to the F3 category.

Otherwise, she has to convince the consulate that the she isn't married to him now, and never has been. That can be very difficult to prove. In some countries they require that all marriages be registered at the national level, and it's possible to get a "certificate of no marriage" (they call this a CENOMAR in the Philippines). In other countries, marriages are registered at the regional or local level, and in some countries they don't have to be registered at all. In those cases it would be virtually impossible to prove she never married.

If you want more specific advice you're going to have to tell us what country is involved here.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

I believe I asked the same question a couple of post back, what country, and what does the child BC say. It was ignored, therefore I walk away with no other advice to give. Both of these questions are critcal to futher advice to be given.

[kcash 0]

  On 12/25/2012 at 4:32 PM, LIFE said:

I believe I asked the same question a couple of post back, what country, and what does the child BC say. It was ignored, therefore I walk away with no other advice to give. Both of these questions are critcal to futher advice to be given.

Sorry I missed that part. Country is Cape Verde. I double checked the BC has no status

Edited December 25, 2012 by kcash