Under VAWA Petition Ability to Marry and get Adjustment of Status

[ChuckCaplan 1]

Hello,

My friend (and hopefully my future sister-in-law) is in the USA on a K-1 visa. However, her husband (who did marry her) was abusive and posessive. Sent her to the hospital with a black eye and bruises. So she fled to her relative's place and got hooked up with a lawyer who (charged her an outrageous $18,000 but) filed a petition under the VAWA for her. She has been duitifully paying her $500 monthly installments and has recently gotten a Category C09 work card.

Here's the thing. Her husband filed for divorce and that has finallized, but for some reason she has been told that she can't marry here (by her attorney and her relative) and that she would need to return to the Philippines (even if she gets a green card under the VAWA) before she could marry an American man.

I think this is BS. I have the feeling that her realative and the attorney are cheating her and trying to keep her tied to her realative who is working her 12 hours a day for a pittance. (Basically enough to pay her outrageous lawyer fees and enough to send some money home to her family.) So does anyone know any reason that she can't get married here?

She is in the USA. She entered the US legally because she came on a K-1. She also should be "admissable" because she is not a criminal, and due to her being issued a work permit they should not have a problem with that.

What does the forum think?

[anajnic 87]

Hello,

My friend (and hopefully my future sister-in-law) is in the USA on a K-1 visa. However, her husband (who did marry her) was abusive and posessive. Sent her to the hospital with a black eye and bruises. So she fled to her relative's place and got hooked up with a lawyer who (charged her an outrageous $18,000 but) filed a petition under the VAWA for her. She has been duitifully paying her $500 monthly installments and has recently gotten a Category C09 work card.

Here's the thing. Her husband filed for divorce and that has finallized, but for some reason she has been told that she can't marry here (by her attorney and her relative) and that she would need to return to the Philippines (even if she gets a green card under the VAWA) before she could marry an American man.

I think this is BS. I have the feeling that her realative and the attorney are cheating her and trying to keep her tied to her realative who is working her 12 hours a day for a pittance. (Basically enough to pay her outrageous lawyer fees and enough to send some money home to her family.) So does anyone know any reason that she can't get married here?

She is in the USA. She entered the US legally because she came on a K-1. She also should be "admissable" because she is not a criminal, and due to her being issued a work permit they should not have a problem with that.

What does the forum think?

That attorney is a liar and the relative is a liar..... 180004 is outrageous.. please join vawa 3 forum.. She needs to leave those people and the attorney ddnt get her nothing she is entitled for that category.. She does not need to leave and go nooo where... They are too wicked

[anajnic 87]

That attorney is a liar and the relative is a liar..... 180004 is outrageous.. please join vawa 3 forum.. She needs to leave those people and the attorney ddnt get her nothing she is entitled for that category.. She does not need to leave and go nooo where... They are too wicked

She should not even be thinking about another marriage soo soon either

[Newbie608 103]

She can only adjust status through the person who brought her here. Since she has filed VAWA, she will eventually get a Greencard through that. She should be able to get married after she receive a Greencard though...$18000 is ridiculous!!!!

[Inky 1,110]

Moved from adjustment of status from work student tourist to effects of major family changes on immigration benefits.

OPs friend is not filing for adjustment from a work student or tourist visa but is filing VAWA from a failed fiance(e) visa.

This forum best suits VAWA cases and issues that she is currently having.

[Sandra G. 5,047]

She can get married after receiving the green card without any problem,but if she gets married before the vawa is approved then her lawyer is right because her green card petition will be canceled and she can just adjust her status based in her marriage with her first husband, who petitioned to bring her, or she can self petitioner as she already did,but once she gets married before vawa approval her vawa will be canceled. WOW 18.000 is extremelly exagerated fees.In my opinion if she was battered less than 2 years ago she should not even thinking to get married again because she needs time to heal and finding love in a few months? I do not buy this kind of story.

[ChuckCaplan 1]

Thanks for the information. I felt that the fee was too large and that she is being taken advantage of by her relative.

As for getting married too soon. She is a strong woman and a smart one. She did not let herself stay in the bad situation with her husband very long. The first time that he did that to her she left him because she already found that he was not the man he said that he was when they met. So while I am sure that she still has some worries she did not allow her self to be abused for long so she is ready to move on. She was only with him for a month, I think.

In the Philippines a woman her age is almost considered too old to find a husband so she feels some pressure to find a husband in the next few years because she very much wants to have a nice marriage and a baby. But she was depressed because she was told that she would have to return to the philippines before she could marry another man.

She is not looking for a husband right now, but because of the situation (she is working 7 days a week to pay her attorney fees and have some money to send home) she does not even have the option to meet a nice man, or even to leave the place she is working to have friends.

I suppose it's possible that she misunderstood what her attorney and relative were saying, but more likely I think they were working together to trap her, because her relative obviously wants to keep her working for him because he is paying her very little for a whole lot of hard work. She is very unhappy where she is right now, but she is scared to change her situation because she is afraid of messing up her green card petition.

[anajnic 87]

Thanks for the information. I felt that the fee was too large and that she is being taken advantage of by her relative.

As for getting married too soon. She is a strong woman and a smart one. She did not let herself stay in the bad situation with her husband very long. The first time that he did that to her she left him because she already found that he was not the man he said that he was when they met. So while I am sure that she still has some worries she did not allow her self to be abused for long so she is ready to move on. She was only with him for a month, I think.

In the Philippines a woman her age is almost considered too old to find a husband so she feels some pressure to find a husband in the next few years because she very much wants to have a nice marriage and a baby. But she was depressed because she was told that she would have to return to the philippines before she could marry another man.

She is not looking for a husband right now, but because of the situation (she is working 7 days a week to pay her attorney fees and have some money to send home) she does not even have the option to meet a nice man, or even to leave the place she is working to have friends.

I suppose it's possible that she misunderstood what her attorney and relative were saying, but more likely I think they were working together to trap her, because her relative obviously wants to keep her working for him because he is paying her very little for a whole lot of hard work. She is very unhappy where she is right now, but she is scared to change her situation because she is afraid of messing up her green card petition.

She was with him just a month!!!!!!! Wow..

[believe 46]

Unfortunately, your friend is slowly getting into the vicious circle of abuse - going from one to the other. In addition to the advice others have given i.e. to not re-marry until her AOS is approved, I'll suggest that she leave both her attorney and her relative. As a victim of domestic violence she can stay in a shelter until she gets situated. She also needs counseling in order to heal, learn how to restore her boundaries, and recognize the signs of covert aggression. If you want to help her you can help her by finding her another job, and another place to stay. Her being entangled with this snake of a lawyer and another relative who is using and abusing her is the fire to the frying pan she was in with her husband. This type needs a clean cut.