How to get One Year Extension system changed

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

As other pointed out - appreciate difference of opinion and also it is useless exercise if "you only want to hear someone repeat what you wanna then you asked in the wrong place".

Feel free to start with Congress. If you are approaching them, please ask them to deport the immigrants whose marriages fail but apparently they are allowed to ROC and AOS. Similar to employment based greencards, the process should be consistent; once you lose the job, you are required to leave the country and have no right to immigration. Further, please add to the request to revoke "marriage based" greencards altogether and change everything to employment based. Let the immigrant come to US of A and prove that there are contributors to economy/society.

Please understand that the burden is on you to prove your legal status (and to make various agencies understand that you are legal resident).

Let's not remove marriage based GCs, shall we? Based on your logic I'd have no right to immigrate here & become a citizen simply because I chose to become a stay-at-home parent... Which surely is someone's choice if they will work outside the home or not. Why on Earth would it be fair not to let me & others who make the same choice live here with our USC spouses & children?

[squareleg 69]

EM_Vandaveer - I would have to browse the Constitution for specifics but I would speculate "Immigration" to be a "privilege" and not a "right". I consider, the same would be the principle in Hungary. I cannot just land there and claim the right to legalize to be citizen of Hungary.

It is my prerogative to express what the process should be. I do not think so that the privilege to grant residency in US of A should be based on marriage and it is perfectly fair to cancel this immigration category.

One has plenty of opportunities to visit and live in US of A - use work visas (H, L etc.), try investment based greencards and be an entrepreneur, just want to visit for travels (use B1/B2), au pair visas (J?), religious visas, medical visas.

[NikLR 13,232]

Breaking up families because spouses can't get along or are no longer in love is stupid. You're punishing the child. Think about it.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Breaking up families because spouses can't get along or are no longer in love is stupid. You're punishing the child. Think about it.

Exactly. not to mention mentally detrimental.

[NikLR 13,232]

Canada does have a 2 year ROC type system as well but it's waived when you have children.

[Jack2107 46]

I can't believe this thread is still going. It's pointless as no change is going to come from this.

Even if every member of VJ signed a petition, nothing would come from it!

We all have our own ideas to change the system that would appeal to us individually.

So why not say lets get rid of family based immigration laws and let everyone have 10 year greencard and citizenship???

Laws and processes are put in place for a reason and moaning about how things work is going to achieve 0

The processes are what they are! Get over it! Every single person going through a CGC has to do the same thing and I'm sure they would prefer not to! But guess what they do because that's the procedure.

I could sit here and moan about the fact I have to redo my drivers test when I've been driving for well over 10 years and when in the USA drove a hire car on my uk licence and they didn't have an issue with it but as soon as I get my greencard they want me to pay and redo my drivers licence test and pay a considerable about for the privilege. So I'm good to drive on US road when a visitor with a uk licence but then when becoming a LPR they don't accept it and won't even swap it for a state licence.

But guess what? That's the procedure and the law.

My husband told me this a few months ago and it's played a very important factor when I dislike a procedure.

" this is America! Stop fighting your opinions even though how right you may be and just go with the flow"

And he was so right.

Your wanting a rant and at the same time wanting to try and play it like it can be changed. You don't like people's opinions, only Those that are voicing similar opinions to yourself.

I think the Mods should lock this thread as its not informative and it's no use to man or beast.

[nipa 1]

I love this. Couldn't agree more. I have always thought that if you get a greencard based on marriage, and the marriage fails then your greencard expires on the final divorce date. And no exceptions and no waivers. That will do away with marriage fraud.

Sorry to derail the conversation but this is beyond ridiculous. Do you know the percentages of valid marriages that fail in the first 2 years? If someone sacrificed and uprooted their entire life to move here and be with his partner, that person should not be punished because that person later becomes an ####### or it doesn't work out. I am so invested in the US now that should my wife and i have problems that eventually ends in a divorce, i would have to leave the massive investment and contribution that i have made and walk away. How fair is that?

People will always find a way to abuse the system but from the stats, it looks like it's a very very small percentage. The majority shouldn't have to suffer. I'm not a fan of the 1 year extension but 3 years is more than enough to verify legitimacy of a marriage and i suspect this is why they're in no hurry to speed it up or change it.

I've had my extension letter for a year and I've had no problems working or travelling. It looks like the O.P's situation is not very common.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

****** One post edited for a personal attack, and another for bad language. Be civil in discussing this emotive topic, please. ******

Edited April 4, 2016 by Penguin_ie

[nipa 1]

I love this. Couldn't agree more. I have always thought that if you get a greencard based on marriage, and the marriage fails then your greencard expires on the final divorce date. And no exceptions and no waivers. That will do away with marriage fraud.

Sorry to derail this conversation but this is beyond ridiculous. Please look up the divorce rate in America. This has nothing to do with green cards. How fair is it for a person to sacrifice, leave their family and home, move to the US to be with their partner and then get kicked back out because the person turned out to be an "ayehole" after 3 years or it just didn't work out?

I for one, am significantly invested in the US. If my wife and I were to have problems and it ended in divorce it would be devastating to abandon the multiple projects i have going on and start all over somewhere. It would be even worse if it was the US citizen's fault or they simply decided they didn't want to be in the relationship anymore and just left.(it happens) Looking at the stats, the percentage of people who get denied are very small anyway, why punish the majority of people because of that?

To get back on topic, i think the O.P's scenario is pretty rare. The majority of people are able to do everything with that letter and my understanding is that your status doesn't change anyway; It's just the ID Card that expires. USCIS is no hurry to change the system because #1 it works and #2 it buys them more time for the "fraudulent marriages" to go bad. It essentially changes the 2 years to 2.5-3 years. That's what's called a win-win for them.

What i do think however, is that they should be proactive in balancing the load across the 2 service centers. It is stupid dumb(my age showing? lol) that the CSC is processing ROCs in under 6 months and it takes the VSC 12 months to do the same. Move some cases, or re-balance the states that apply to the different service centers.

****ooops* sorry about the multiple post. My browser made it look like i had lost the post.

Edited April 4, 2016 by nipa

[squareleg 69]

Sorry to derail the conversation but this is beyond ridiculous. Do you know the percentages of valid marriages that fail in the first 2 years? If someone sacrificed and uprooted their entire life to move here and be with his partner, that person should not be punished because that person later becomes an ####### or it doesn't work out. I am so invested in the US now that should my wife and i have problems that eventually ends in a divorce, i would have to leave the massive investment and contribution that i have made and walk away. How fair is that?

Fair - exactly as fair as someone on employment visa has to walk away. I experience this first hand when Wall Street took the hit in 2008; I had to abandon my employment based greencard application and walk away. I was in the country for 7-years. I took a hit on investments, contributions and on personal front. I never thought that the process is unfair, I had a privilege to that my employer applied for my residency but do not have foul or hard feelings because it did not work out due to market conditions. Life happens....markets swing....

If your investments are massive, then one can apply for entrepreneur residency and continue with business ventures. It's your personal risk hedging strategy either you go back to home country or apply for another type of work-visa/greencard etc. if you do not want to walk away. Similar to life, there are options when it comes to immigration.

People will always find a way to abuse the system but from the stats, it looks like it's a very very small percentage. The majority shouldn't have to suffer. I'm not a fan of the 1 year extension but 3 years is more than enough to verify legitimacy of a marriage and i suspect this is why they're in no hurry to speed it up or change it.

I've had my extension letter for a year and I've had no problems working or travelling. It looks like the O.P's situation is not very common.

[NikLR 13,232]

Employment visas are different than family visas.

That is not the purpose of this thread however. Please keep ON TOPIC!

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

EM_Vandaveer - I would have to browse the Constitution for specifics but I would speculate "Immigration" to be a "privilege" and not a "right". I consider, the same would be the principle in Hungary. I cannot just land there and claim the right to legalize to be citizen of Hungary.

It is my prerogative to express what the process should be. I do not think so that the privilege to grant residency in US of A should be based on marriage and it is perfectly fair to cancel this immigration category.

One has plenty of opportunities to visit and live in US of A - use work visas (H, L etc.), try investment based greencards and be an entrepreneur, just want to visit for travels (use B1/B2), au pair visas (J?), religious visas, medical visas.

Sure you can't just show up in Hungary & become a citizen instantly, that's not how it works here in the US of A, either. But having a Hungarian spouse & residing in Hungary lawfully can eventually lead to citizenship there as it does here.

The point I'm trying to make is what if I don't want to work, travel, invest or be an au pair, simply live with my family? According to your logic I should not be allowed to do so. I will simply disagree with that. That's kind of ridiculous, really. There is a system in place for sponsorship, to ensure immigrants do not become public charges.

Edited April 5, 2016 by EM_Vandaveer