US Citizen Wife wanting divorce after 5 years of marriage. Never filed AOS - I am visa overstay. No valid ID. Help!

[Aussielad 37]

Sorry - I thought people got waivers when AOS was filed and things went south shortly after the interview for example even if that meant not being with your relatives. I know this isn't the same though due to my own stupidity.

Is there a waiver to avoid the 10 year bar?

Not to be rude or anything….but how could you live/be married to someone for 10 years like this and never receive AOS…it's like she had you on a string.

You have missed out on a lot of positive benefits over so many years. By now, you could have been a U.S. citizen and could have been able to have participated in many good things.

I hope you can work out this situation with your wife.

[dwheels76 5,468]

Sorry - I thought people got waivers when AOS was filed and things went south shortly after the interview for example even if that meant not being with your relatives. I know this isn't the same though due to my own stupidity.

Is there a waiver to avoid the 10 year bar?

No there's no waiver to avoid anything. I don't think you are getting any of this. You are out of status. You could actually be picked up anytime and deported. You have no path through this wife for a green card unless she is willing to lie and comply and make you happy.

I just still can't get 10 years you sitting around doing nothing including filing your papers. You could have been a citizen 7 years ago. So this whole situation just seems well off.

[Rc123rc 528]

I'm really sorry to see this. Like most people have mentioned, you have two paths. Work it out and apply later, also doing all the things you should have done 5 years ago, or give it up and prepare for the worse. I have to say, I'm scratching my head on this one. Common sense got flushed down the toilet for the last 5 years and you are unfortunately going to pay the price. I was a little concerned about the afraid to get the ball rolling on the AOS comment. Does that mean you didn't think you had a viable marriage back then? Anyway. I think you have your answers. Good Luck!

[BigDaddy28 228]

She has moved out on May 1st this year though we are still friends and trying to work on our relationship. She has spoken with a divorce lawyer and drawn up some preliminary divorce papers for an uncontested divorce.

We have been together as a couple since 2005 (only couple summers apart). I last came to the US in end of summer 2006 and overstayed. We got married in 2011 so it's been a little over 5 years of marriage and about 10 years of living together with lots of proof of a bona fide marriage (trips, wedding with families, shared cell phone plan for years, own condo together). We met a lawyer for AOS almost 2 years ago. Kept procrastinating out of fear of getting the ball rolling - got into a lot of fights as a result (my fault). Our lawyer now says with her living apart and divorce likely that it wouldn't be good to file now even if there is some chance for reconciliation / some chance of divorce. I have no SSN, no means to support myself, no ID - please help. Can't get a new passport without notice of action according to embassy. Can we still file if there is some chance we may reconcile and withdraw if it doesn't pan out or would that be considered fraud? Does the 5 years of legitimate marriage mean anything? Can I get a waiver? She is planning on leaving me our condo if we divorce which is of considerable value - would that help in proving I won't go on government welfare? Should I apply to finish my degree as an undocumented student (almost completed?) Do I need to find a divorce lawyer that also specializes in immigration law?

Between potentially losing the love of my life, all my friends if I get deported and no work history for years I feel so hopeless. I don't even know what country I would get deported to - I have no close family now in my country of citizenship and have lost status in the country where my passport was issued (and family has moved from there too). None of my closest families who are in a third country now are aware of my situation.

I'm going to be totally honest and out spoken as well, so please do not take my comment as an offense but I'm trying to help you:

- Your immigration is your fault, you should've made sure you filed for adjustment. You had 5 years and than when you are about to divorce, all of the sudden you are so concerned? The officer won't care if you don't have family back home and you have friends here. They don't even care if you have a property here. They have a law to follow and that law says if you don't have a path to adjustment (in your case your marriage) you shouldn't live here.

- Of course this is your choice, but I wouldn't advice you to file right now as your marriage is rocky and your percentage of denial are really high unless the marriage is saved. Even a lawyer can't help you. I would advice you though to instead invest your money in marriage counseling. That could save your marriage and than you can file for adjustment.

- the 5 years of marriage doesn't mean anything to immigration, it's like a 1 day marriage and than annulment. Even though you have a lot of sentiments, immigration is like math 1+1=2. I can't really comment about going to school as undocumented school, and I''m sorry for not helping you out in that area.

- I understand that you chose to stay at home to support your wife emotionally, but thats a big mistake. You should've got your status adjusted and got you a job, you should've started you life in parallel with your wife's in case something happens to her job. I don't want to comment more about that area because I feel you are guilty in that one.

Please do not take my criticism as to break you but my intention is to help.

I pray for you and your wife to fix your marriage. You sound like you have sincere feelings. My advice that I will repeat is marriage counseling.

Good Luck.

[observatorka 197]

There are 2 rules when you move to a foreign country. You don't mess with Immigration and IRS.

Wish you good luck, you need it.

[Cathi 5,782]

Sorry - I thought people got waivers when AOS was filed and things went south shortly after the interview for example even if that meant not being with your relatives. I know this isn't the same though due to my own stupidity.

Is there a waiver to avoid the 10 year bar?

a divorce waiver is only for people who have a 2 year green card and need to remove conditions on their own because of divorce. You haven't even filed your AOS yet. Nope, not an option, no waiver, no anything for you. If it were an option we would have told you so.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

If you patch things up with her THEN you can file.

[zkt101 38]

Let this be a lesson to everyone. If you have a chance to do a job as important as filling for green card, you do it at first opportunity.You have yourself to blame here for not doing it over the last five years. Your best chance of staying in the USA is to reconcile with your wife and make your marriage work again, and then you can file for green card based on marriage. But if things don't work out between you and your wife, and you get divorced, you should be able to obtain a new passport from the Chinese consulate and leave. Hong Kong is a nice place to live, way better than China Mainland, and if you used to live in and have the right of abode in Hong Kong, you do not lose that status.

Edited June 17, 2016 by zkt101

[Mrs. Wild 87]

Sorry - I thought people got waivers when AOS was filed and things went south shortly after the interview for example even if that meant not being with your relatives. I know this isn't the same though due to my own stupidity.

Is there a waiver to avoid the 10 year bar?

I don't know of any waivers that exist for AOS in terms of the 10 year ban. The ban would start when you leave the US. AOS is done while residing in the US and having a legal entry, so there is no ban to begin with when filing for AOS. The waiver(s) you might be thinking of is I-601/601a. But those are for the IR1/CR1 visa issued from the embassy of your country of citizenship. Unfortunately, those waivers are complicated to begin with and your USC spouse would have to prove a hardship if you were barred from the country. Since you two seem to be headed toward divorce, that hardship would be nearly impossible to prove and your waiver would get denied. Again, this is only if you were filing for a spouse visa for legal permanent resident status.

This sounds like a really complicated and unfortunate situation to be in .

By any chance, did you go to high school here? Arrived before your 16th birthday? I don't think this situation would qualify for DACA, seeing it doesn't sound like you were a "childhood arrival". But just checking in case that would be an option for you.

[Georgia16 2,858]

Would not lie at the interview. Would withdraw if we were still not together at that point / divorce has gone through.

Applying now with hope that things may get better would allow for SSN, new passport (no valid one currently) ... but obviously don't want to commit fraud.

You can always go to your embassy (The country you are citizen of) and get a passport (you have to pay of course) But this has nothing to do with you having a GC. I don't hope you think this mean you can get an american passport because you can't get that.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Would not lie at the interview. Would withdraw if we were still not together at that point / divorce has gone through.

Applying now with hope that things may get better would allow for SSN, new passport (no valid one currently) ... but obviously don't want to commit fraud.

You can get a new passport at any time if your country has an embassy in the US. AOS has nothing to do with that. So you should get your passport renewed.

(Sorry, I didn't read the second page before posting and didn't realize the above poster had already mentioned this)

It is very rare to lose your citizenship in your home country and doubt that has happened during the years you've been gone. Mostly it happens if you haven't even spent the majority of your life in your home country. So that won't work as an excuse. You need to renew your passport and most likely (unless you fix the issues with your marriage) you need to prepare to go home.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Maria&Seve

[NeedYourHelp1982 0]

I called my embassy and they said that they won't issue a passport here unless I receive notice of action from USCIS after filing something. I don't know if I am in removal proceedings if they would issue one then or if they would send me on my way without a valid passport.

I was not a citizen of Hong Kong - I was a permanent resident there (lived 14 years of childhood and several summers but have not been there now in 10 years so I think I lost status). My parents have left Hong Kong and I have no family there and I have no immigration ties to their new home. My country of citizenship I haven't been to in almost 18 years.

I am going to beg for marriage counselling and hope for the best for now.

Thanks for all your help.

[Boiler 45,912]

Always amuses me when people try and avoid mentioning their citizenship, why?

Certainly some countries will not issue a passport to somebody illegally present in the US but will issue a travel document to get them home.

[NeedYourHelp1982 0]

Sorry it's India. I'n paranoid about too much identifying information but that's the least of my worries now.

[Boiler 45,912]

Just ask the Embassy for a travel document so you can go home.