Divorce few weeks after filing joint I-751, Help!

[Shauneg 762]

Shauneg, you are just contradicting yourself...remember this statement?

"My now wife filed for her ROC in Aug of 2015, spliti in Nov, divorced in May....notified them and they put her case on hold until she sent the divorce decree."

No one is saying that he has done anything wrong. Just like your situation, you "notified them". That is what we are saying. he should notified and keep it moving and let USCIS take the appropriate action or inaction.

Um where's the contradiction? She notified them after, not anytime before....

UPDATE:

I just went out from the lawyer's office and he said that at this point I am not supposed to do anything, not even notify USCIS that I am in divorce proceedings. Once my divorce is finalized and I have the final divorce decree, I make an info pass appointment and go there with a copy of it.

I will be going to info pass on Monday anyway just to make sure this is the thing they want me to do.

I keep telling you this...

Edited November 4, 2016 by Shauneg

[Deagle 508]

I think a big part of the answer is related to when the divorce will be finalized, if within the 90 days period, then you might have to withdraw your application or just mail a new one with a divorce waiver. Because technically your status changed and you are legally divorced and you can still file. If your divorce will be finalized after the 90 days period, then what you do is you notify USCIS about the divorce by sending the final divorce decree, because you can't file a new application anymore, the 90 days period has ended, and at the time you filed your petition you were legally married.

Someone told me once but I am not sure if it's true, that if you file a joint petition and you get divorced after and get an interview letter for both you and your ex-wife, you can go alone with the divorce decree and tell them that you got divorced after. They will not deny your petition. Does anyone can confirm or deny this?

Edited November 5, 2016 by azzein

[Villanelle 4,122]

Holy heck people calm down here....

Im going to be very clear here about how things ARE. Not how people want them to be, not how they are interpreted, not how they should be- but they way they actually ARE in REALITY. Which is all that matters. And I honestly dont care who said what in the previous 5 pages and who was right or wrong..

Number 1- You have to check off a marital status on the 751. This is either married or divorced. You are either legally married or legally divorced. Thats it. Period. They do not have a middle gray area for separated or divorce pending.

Number 2- You can file a Joint Petition AND be APPROVED even if you are divorced/in the process of divorce/separated/not living together/etc as long as your spouse is in support of the joint application.

IF you submit a joint application and somewhere during the process USCIS becomes aware of the fact that you are in divorce proceedings and/or separating they will OFFER you the option of switching to a waiver option. Depending on how they offer it to you it can be seen as a 'you must switch to a waiver' and not really an option- but it is in fact your option.

The other side of the issue is that IF you do NOT notify them that your joint petition is based on a marriage that is in the process of ending then as others have mentioned it CAN be viewed as a withholding of information. It is a gray area because you are NOT under any obligation to tell them this, however omitting it can be viewed as a willful omission. It can be viewed as a deficit in your moral character.

There have been cases where either due to future attempts at naturalization or other USCIS involvement where they look back into your file- IF THEY SEE that you ROC'd jointly during a divorce and did NOT notify them there was a divorce going on- they CAN and HAVE reopened the ROC under this heading of something like 'new information that they previously did not have at the time the decision was made'.

This can cause a huge snowball of problems for you in the future. Please note the word CAN. Not everyone has problems. If you want to assure you have no problems the best thing to do is to notify them that your joint petition should be evaluated on its merits as it stands presently- which means alerting them to the fact that a divorce has been filed.

You should note when you alert them to this it will most likely mean they will automatically call both you and your spouse for an interview. There is little to no chance they will approve a divorce in progress joint petition with out one. You can expect to get either an RFE asking if you want to switch to a waiver(although it will read more like you have no choice) and or in the interview be asked again if you want to switch/or told you should switch.

The choice is yours how you want to proceed. IF you go to infopass you will be infact notifying them of your change in situation and they will note your file of the divorce proceedings causing the ball to start rolling so to speak. Calling on the phone and asking questions has no such effect. Youd have to put in a service request to make such a change for it to have an impact on your case via phone.

I hope this helps clarify things. Best of luck to you firebird.

Also you DO NOT pay again to switch to a waiver.

[kikat 0]

Just make sure you finalize your divorce soon. Note that some states have cooling off period and it will take a while before your divorce is finalized. Your divorce decree is needed when you file a waiver case. Checking the divorce box means your divorce is finalized already. Best of luck!

[Nairboy 0]

@Firebird - I’m going through a similar situation. When you get a chance could you let the group know how you handled your case?

[EvgeniaM 63]

On 11/3/2016 at 9:17 AM, Anitafeliz said:

You are knowingly commiting immigration fraud simple as that. For something that is not necessary. You can roc on your own.

But lying about being married is lying.

Living in the same house does not constitute as married.

 

On 11/3/2016 at 9:18 AM, IcezMan_IcezLady said:

That's the first paper trail to put you in trouble for lying.

You can try finding different answers but the truth is the same.

Jeez i found this thread as I am in a similar situation. I am kinda shocked at how hostile some members are to @firebird00  there is no marriage fraud here. The couple is still married legally until court finalizes the divorce (in CA it is 6 months). Before the court finalizes the divorce, both persons have a right to revoke the divorce to stay together. 

[Ontarkie 14,234]

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