US Citizen spouse withdrawn the petition while LPR wife is out of the country

[Lemon23 400]

Hi Everyone, 

This is a very delicate situation for my friend who is an CR like us. My friend is out of the country and needed to go back to her home country for few months because her dad just passed away. 

Her i-751 is still pending, she just found out that her US citizen spouse withdrawn the petition for her i-751. She got an email from USCIS and I believe a letter soon that her husband withdrawn the petition for her.

She have her expired green card and still valid extension letter from USCIS. She asked me if she can still enter the US given the petition has been withdrawn by his husband, I told her I don't know and will seek some advise from visajourney friends.

Not sure if she can still enter the US because she said there is a note stated on the i-797 extension letter that the extension is not valid if your case is terminated which is true when I checked my extension letter.

I asked her if they have problems because it was shocking that her husband withdrawn the petition for her. She said they have some issues and arguments and dont want to be in detailed because her concern now is if she can enter the US so she can file a divorce and refile her ROC as a waiver.

Can she still enter the US and refile for waiver given the said scenario? Any feedback and comments is highly appreciated.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2017 by Lemon23

[R&OC 371]

Sorry, Lemon23 - I have no actual advise but this is incredibly mean and a very hostile act!

 

I would contact both - a divorce and an immigration lawyer.

 

As a friend, I would try to help her by either contacting the above in her name. She needs to be able to get back to her home and at least be allowed to pack up her belongings. By pulling the I-751, the should at least qualify for spousal support.

[Lemon23 400]

1 minute ago, R&OC said:

Sorry, Lemon23 - I have no actual advise but this is incredibly mean and a very hostile act!

 

I would contact both - a divorce and an immigration lawyer.

 

As a friend, I would try to help her by either contacting the above in her name. She needs to be able to get back to her home and at least be allowed to pack up her belongings. By pulling the I-751, the should at least qualify for spousal support.

I believe she can apply for waiver because i'm one of the witness on their wedding and it's a bonafide marriage. She told me that she will hire a lawyer on her case but she can't do that if the immigration wont allow her to enter the US given the said scenario. So she wants to know if she can still enter the US so she can refile her ROC on her own as a waiver.

 

[R&OC 371]

Well, she can still hire a lawyer. That's independent of her entering the US. And depending on her home country, she could perhaps file for a Tourist visa or have ESTA in place?

[Lemon23 400]

1 minute ago, R&OC said:

Well, she can still hire a lawyer. That's independent of her entering the US. And depending on her home country, she could perhaps file for a Tourist visa or have ESTA in place?

Tourist visa? i dont think its doable because USCIS have her record as CR so I don't think she can enter the US on a tourist visa. I'm not sure how she can hire a lawyer if the immigration wont allow her to enter the US because of withdrawn petition.

[R&OC 371]

A lawyer works on behalf of her. She could even call. If the Greencard has expired, then she should be able to find alternatives. For one, she could contact the local embassy of the country she is in.

 

[Lemon23 400]

6 minutes ago, R&OC said:

A lawyer works on behalf of her. She could even call. If the Greencard has expired, then she should be able to find alternatives. For one, she could contact the local embassy of the country she is in.

 

I believe it would be better if she will go the the US embassy before flying back here so she would know what to do.

[Going through 5,671]

Once a withdrawn is acknowledged by USCIS, I believe they give something like 90 days to vacate the country for conditional residents.  This may be the only reason she would be able to give when attempting to cross back over the border despite the pulled application.  Legally, she still has a right to remain in the US for those 90 days, I would think, even though she has left the country on an approved travel document right now.

 

She can easily prove whether she was in or out of the country when the application was removed unknown to her ---plane tickets, date of travel document issued and receipt notice of the withdrawn petition would verify that.

 

I honestly don't know if she would be able to cross the border 100% for sure.

 

 

[mindthegap 2,590]

The US citizen spouse cannot withdraw the petition.

They can withdraw themselves from the joint aspect of it - meaning a waiver and an interview will be required but they cannot totally withdraw a joint petition. 

The alien can then add a waiver to the existing petition converting it to a solo I-751, and no need to refile from scratch 

 

Don't visit the embassy - get back to the US ASAP - and remember that LPRs have the absolute right to a minimum of a hearing with an immigration judge , should they encounter any issues at the POE.

 

When they are back, go see a divorce lawyer, as divorce paperwork will need to be filed for a divorce waiver, although quite honestly, I reckon this would qualify for an abuse waiver with a competent lawyer behind it..

 

Edited August 15, 2017 by Penguin_ie
bad language

[Lemon23 400]

1 minute ago, Going through said:

Once a withdrawn is acknowledged by USCIS, I believe they give something like 90 days to vacate the country for conditional residents.  This may be the only reason she would be able to give when attempting to cross back over the border despite the pulled application.  Legally, she still has a right to remain in the US for those 90 days, I would think, even though she has left the country on an approved travel document right now.

 

She can easily prove whether she was in or out of the country when the application was removed unknown to her ---plane tickets, date of travel document issued and receipt notice of the withdrawn petition would verify that.

 

I honestly don't know if she would be able to cross the border 100% for sure.

 

 

She got the email yesterday and she is bound to back here next month, so I believe she is still safe if the 90 days period is true.

[Going through 5,671]

OP---can you call USCIS and ask generally on her behalf what the best course of action would be/how to re-enter/if she can re-enter?  Might give a starting point on whether she should try to cross the border.

[Lemon23 400]

3 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

The US citizen spouse cannot withdraw the petition.

They can withdraw themselves from the joint aspect of it - meaning a waiver and an interview will be required but they cannot totally withdraw a joint petition. 

The alien can then add a waiver to the existing petition converting it to a solo I-751, and no need to refile from scratch 

 

Don't visit the embassy - get back to the US ASAP - and remember that LPRs have the absolute right to a minimum of a hearing with an immigration judge , should they encounter any issues at the POE.

 

When they are back, go see a divorce lawyer, as divorce paperwork will need to be filed for a divorce waiver, although quite honestly, I reckon this would qualify for an abuse waiver with a competent lawyer behind it...what a complete ****er ****y thing to do to someone.

 

Thank you @mindthegap yeah, i feel sorry for her that she is going through this problem and I'm helping her as much as I can. I will definitely tell her to go back here ASAP and re-book her flight if she can so she can arrange all of these mess that her husband did to her.

[mindthegap 2,590]

4 minutes ago, Lemon23 said:

She got the email yesterday and she is bound to back here next month, so I believe she is still safe if the 90 days period is true.

What is all this terminated and 90 days stuff? 

 

Her status is not terminated , only the joint aspect of the existing petition is - she just has to add a waiver (divorce, abuse, hardship or whatever) to it

[Going through 5,671]

Without knowing the full story of why he made the decision to withdraw.....he's a real piece of work.  Sounds like this was planned in advance and not one of those emotional at-whim actions.

[Ontarkie 14,221]

~~Moved to Effects of Major Family Changes, from ROC - As this forum is better suited for this type of thread.~~