Likelihood of Successful SB-1??

[Johnny99 0]

Please take this at face value.  Thanks so much. I am checking into this for a friend.

 

She is in possession of her 10 year green card, but has been out of the country for more than three years.   She came over in 2010 on a K-3 visa.  When she arrived, her new husband essentially locked her in the house and kept her prisoner.  He enforced her captivity through fear, threats, and intimidation.   It didn't help that she barely spoke English and was too frightened to get help.  After two and a half years of this she finally escaped with the help of a friend in another state.  The police showed up to the husband's house and provided her an escort to a women's shelter.  The next day she flew out to stay at her friend's.   She intended to stay in the U.S. and maintain her immigration status.  She stayed for 8 months but in the end the trauma was too much for her and she went home to her family. She's wanted to return to the U.S. but has had neither the monetary resources nor understanding of her situation to pursue a path forward.  She hasn't filed taxes or maintained any U.S. accounts.  She was completely shut off to the outside world by her husband when she was here so she never was involved in any such documentation to begin with.

 

So, given that all we have is:

Documentation from the police that they provided her an escort to the women's shelter,

Documentation that she stayed at the women's shelter and that they noted abuse in her file,

And her story...

 

Is this hopeless?

 

Thanks for your insight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Unlockable 7,316]

Seems like a difficult try.

 

Three years out of the US means she may have lost her status. Did she get a reentry permit before she left? A reentry permit allows her to remain out of the US for up to 2 years without losing permanent resident status.

 

Also, the SB1 states....

• Are returning to the United States from a temporary visit abroad and, if the stay abroad was protracted, this was caused by reasons beyond your control and for which you were not responsible.

Seems she stayed out of the US for her own reasons and not reasons out of her control. 

 

IDK, she can certainly try but will have to overcome evidence of the above.

 

Hope others can chime in.

[Coco8 1,042]

I think that if she had the 10 year green card, she could have a chance. But I don't know if someone on this board ever did this SB-1 or knows about someone on this situation. 

 

I would focus on providing evidence for each of the points on which they decide. They are (from online):

 

"  The applicant for SB-1 Returning Resident Status must show:

• That they were a lawful permanent resident when they last departed the U.S.,
• That when they departed they intended to return to the U.S. and have maintained this intent throughout the period of stay outside of the U.S.,
• That they are returning from a temporary visit abroad and that the extended stay was caused by reasons beyond their control and for which they were not responsible, and
• That they are eligible for the immigrant visa in all other respects (such as criminal, health, etc. reasons)."

From your story, there is no evidence showing she intended to go back to the U.S. when she traveled home. Basically, for them to approve her request, she should have wanted to go back to the U.S. all the time she was in her country. This is hard to prove if she has no ties to the U.S. Did she learn English? Did she get any property from her husband if she divorced him? If she didn't divorce him, was she a dependent on his tax returns? Did she have a bank account? Some of these things might be hard for the violence situation she was in, that made it impossible for her to have access to the outside world. 

 

Edited June 25, 2017 by Coco8

[Johnny99 0]

Thanks for the responses....

 

Yeah, those are the challenges I see for her attempting the SB-1

 

1) protracted stay for reasons beyond her control:

She definitely wasn't physically unable to return.   The rationale would be that she was psychologically unable to return.  From just a human perspective I can understand that being the case.   That type of situation can really mess someone up in the head.   But that's such a grey area and very difficult to "prove".

 

2) evidence she intended to stay in the U.S.

Did she learn English? ----  Well her English is better than it was

Did she get any property from her husband if she divorced him? ---- She tried to divorce him while she was still in the country, but he wouldn't sign and she is actually still legally married.  She didn't have the resources or understanding to pursue it further.

If she didn't divorce him, was she a dependent on his tax returns? ----  We ran her tax returns.  There is no records of her SSN on filings since she left.  I'm guessing he's "married filing separately"

Did she have a bank account?

No.

 

She just couldn't cope after what happened and really had no understanding of her situation and went back to her family....

 

 

 

[Johnny99 0]

I've read that there are special immigration provisions for domestic violence, but those seem to be primarily cases of escaping domestic violence in your own country.

[Coco8 1,042]

12 minutes ago, Johnny99 said:

Thanks for the responses....

 

Yeah, those are the challenges I see for her attempting the SB-1

 

1) protracted stay for reasons beyond her control:

She definitely wasn't physically unable to return.   The rationale would be that she was psychologically unable to return.  From just a human perspective I can understand that being the case.   That type of situation can really mess someone up in the head.   But that's such a grey area and very difficult to "prove".

 

2) evidence she intended to stay in the U.S.

Did she learn English? ----  Well her English is better than it was

Did she get any property from her husband if she divorced him? ---- She tried to divorce him while she was still in the country, but he wouldn't sign and she is actually still legally married.  She didn't have the resources or understanding to pursue it further.

If she didn't divorce him, was she a dependent on his tax returns? ----  We ran her tax returns.  There is no records of her SSN on filings since she left.  I'm guessing he's "married filing separately"

Did she have a bank account?

No.

 

She just couldn't cope after what happened and really had no understanding of her situation and went back to her family....

 

 

 

 

For (1), did she do any therapy? I am thinking of evidence she could present to support that. 

 

(2) is hard. Did she at least get a return ticket when she left? Did she left anything behind? Does she have family or friends in the U.S.? 

 

Maybe you can call some lawyers with experience. Sometimes they provide some advice over the phone when you make an inquiry. It could give you some ideas about (2). If her husband has property or has bought property/car at any point since they got married, half of it should be hers. I am not sure if she could claim this is a tie to the U.S. or how you would go about to prove what he owns without getting a divorce.

 

 

 

 

[Child of the Sun1 0]

Any update on this?