I751 Waiver Petition DENIED :(

[sunshine16x 5]

Today I received a letter stating that my I-751 petition has been denied and my residence status terminated.

The reason being because I was unable to provide a divorce decree, I am still waiting for the final judgement to be signed by a judge.

The letter states I will have a court hearing with an Immigration Judge and I am to turn in my GC to my local office.

Tomorrow morning I will discuss this with an immigration lawyer and review my options.

As for my new job that I started one week ago, will they be informed that I am out of status or do I have to tell them?

Are they going to fire me or am I supposed to quit?

What should I do while I wait for a court hearing??

[Hypnos 6,576]

Since your LPR status has been terminated, you now no longer have employment authorisation and cannot legally work in the US. Once you have the divorce decree you should be able to resurrect your denied I-751 in front of the immigration judge.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Hypnos

[Newbie608 103]

I am so sorry to hear about what happened. I agree with the above response. Also, I think it depends on the type of job you have. I know some jobs use E-verify every now and then to make sure that employees work authorizations are up to date.( I work in the healthcare field and a co-worker was asked to stop working until he could present EA documents- His 10yrs GC expired and his citizenship applicating was pending). He had to go in and get a stamp in order to continue working. I don't think USCIS will notify your employer but like I said, some employers do like to check. I also think that if you continue to work, you would be doing so illegally since your residency has been terminated but again that's a decision you would have to make. Don't worry too much. At least you have the option of presenting your case to an immigration judge and by that time you should already have your Divirce decree in hand. Goodluck to you and please keep us updated...

[tuckin14 58]

I got some information from USCIS that I wouldn't swear is accurate, but it is that you are now a TEMPORARY legal resident, and you have work authorization. No one will tell your employer although they might periodically check, especially if your GC had an expiration date.

I was also told (again, not swearing this is true) that they accept a divorce filing as the equivalent of a divorce decree.

And finally, that if you re-file before getting the Notice To Appear, your new filing will be considered, although you'll have to pay the $590 all over again.

[Corredor 10]

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you wait to file until you had your divorce decree on hand?

[Newbie608 103]

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you wait to file until you had your divorce decree on hand?

Maybe her GC was about to expire?? I filed months after mine was finalized and I'm still a nervous wreck about the whole process My GC expires next week as well..

[Newbie608 103]

I got some information from USCIS that I wouldn't swear is accurate, but it is that you are now a TEMPORARY legal resident, and you have work authorization. No one will tell your employer although they might periodically check, especially if your GC had an expiration date.I was also told (again, not swearing this is true) that they accept a divorce filing as the equivalent of a divorce decree.And finally, that if you re-file before getting the Notice To Appear, your new filing will be considered, although you'll have to pay the $590 all over again.

I was also thinking about whether or not re-filing is possible at this time. OP could research more on that and get on it ASAP..

[mananto 36]

Actually, I was in the same situation as you some time back. Once they deny you for lack of a divorce decree, you can refile after you get the divorce decree. Even though your status is terminated, it is not really terminated if that makes any sense. But in terms of the I-751 you filed, yes it is. You will get it back once you refile. I had received a similar letter so no worried. About your job, do not quit and nobody will tell your employer. E-verify rules state that if you went through E-Verify at any one time with your current job, they cannot re-check and it is against the law. Ofcourse companies with government contracts can re-verify every three months but even so, it takes a while for you to drop off as unauthorized. You will be ok just refile. Been there done that.

[sunshine16x 5]

Thank you to everyone for your replies and words of encouragement. I met with a lawyer today, whom I've consulted with during this whole process and I was told that I'm not able to refile before my court hearing. She says I have to wait for the Notice to Appear and I have to bring everything I submitted with my original I751 plus the divorce decree, to the hearing. I have requested to expedite my final divorce judgement so we'll see how fast I can get it. To those wondering, I put off filing for divorce because I didn't want to accept that my marriage was over even though we had been separated for awhile. But then my GC expiration crept up on me and I didn't have a choice but to file for divorce or I would be lying if I had filed a joint petition. Unfortunately in California divorce takes at least 6 months maybe more when children are involved, in my case I have one with my ex-husband. I will be consulting with another lawyer this week to get a second opinion, I'll make sure to keep you all updated.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

A hearing is a chance to show divorce decree. And with a child, you approval is a must.

[mananto 36]

Since your LPR status has been terminated, you now no longer have employment authorisation and cannot legally work in the US. Once you have the divorce decree you should be able to resurrect your denied I-751 in front of the immigration judge.

This was incorrect advise. The I-751 is just resurrected by sending in the package again to USCIS WITH the divorce decree. You were way off if you were not being intentional.

[Hypnos 6,576]

No, it wasn't. You cannot just keep re-filing I-751s if you get denied. There is meant to be a system in place to automatically deny new I-751s you file if you've already had one denied; it sounds like they failed to catch it in your case.

The proper course of action is exactly as I described.

[mananto 36]

No, it wasn't. You cannot just keep re-filing I-751s if you get denied. There is meant to be a system in place to automatically deny new I-751s you file if you've already had one denied; it sounds like they failed to catch it in your case.

The proper course of action is exactly as I described.

Hypnos...I am sorry but you are dead wrong! Well apparently she did not follow your advise but followed what I was saying...that you simply have to refile..... See link...

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/259288-i-751-waiver-filers-timeline/?p=7585216

[TBoneTX 45,283]

A hijack post has been split from this thread and made into its own thread, in this forum. The new thread's title is: "Enough to Submit for I-751 Waiver? [split topic]."

VJ Moderation

[neodragon0l 6]

There are two remedies - 1) appeal or 2) re-file. With refile, you do not have to wait for a judge because there are more examiners than judges. OP can refile since there are no deportation proceedings. She is simply out of status for a small period of time. Arguably, she met the 751 timeline (before 2 years) by the first filing. She did not have the paperwork required, which is outside her control. I wonder if someone has tried to include that the decree was filed (form given by the courts) as part of the RFE. Appeals are good if you don't have any additional information to add. The attorney will help comb through your information to make sure you didn't miss anything. All in all, it is now the burden of the USCIS to show that the relationship was not entered in good faith. If I learned anything about this process, there are more than one ways to achieve the same result. It is all about money, timing, and buckets full of patience.

Edited May 11, 2015 by neodragon0l