How can I divorce my spouse who has been in the US for only 3 months and came here on an IR1 visa from me

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

 

I wish the best for you and your daughter.  

 

Just wanted to point out a few things that get argued about all the time on VJ.

 

A baby is not by itself proof of a bona fide relationship.  Lots of users will have a baby just to get to the US.  

 

There is a balance between granting visas to legitimate couples and preventing fraud.  When the US spouse vouches for the foreign spouse, then the I-864 is the put your money up to vouch for this person to protect US taxpayers.   Ultimately, the petitioner is responsible for protecting herself and taxpayers.  

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

In the US if you fail to pay child support you can't get a passport. Obviously he doesn't have a US passport but the OP might look into her husband's home country's laws about child support. If they have a similar restriction she might be able to force him to pay child support by such an action, especially if he ever wants to return to his home country to see friends and family.

[databit 328]

If you file for child support in the divorce and he doesn't pay it, he can't get a US passport.

[Daisy.Chain 317]

 

3 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

I’m sorry to hear about this. It’s so frustrating and heartbreaking to be taken advantage of and feel like there is nothing you can do about it. And it’s true that unless you have concrete evidence of fraud it’s hard. However.... one thing you can do if he truly disappears out of your lives and shirks his obligations to your child is to put on record that he owes child support. That wlll be an issue for when he tries to naturalize as it will go against good moral character and prevent him naturalizing.  You don’t even need a court order for child support for this (although that would be better anyway for a number of reasons), as the courts hold that it is a moral/ethical obligation rather than a purely legal one.

It's not a certain thing that the lack of child support alone would impede his naturalization, unfortunately.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Daisy.Chain said:

 

It's not a certain thing that the lack of child support alone would impede his naturalization, unfortunately.

Isn’t it? I have heard of a number of cases where it is cited as definitively going agains the GMC requirement. As above, even if he gets through that though he should not be able to get a US passport. All that is secondary though. The fact remains that he has a responsibility towards his child. OP can’t get a court order to make him a good father but she can, and should, get one for child support regardless of other considerations. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Daisy.Chain said:

 

It's not a certain thing that the lack of child support alone would impede his naturalization, unfortunately.

Doesn’t sound like he will have the extenuating circumstances required to overcome the conditional bar, in fact he has exacerbated it by deserting the child which is also on the list :

 

K.  Failure to Support Dependents

An applicant who willfully failed or refused to support his or her dependents during the statutory period cannot establish GMC unless the applicant establishes extenuating circumstances. [33] The GMC determination for failure to support dependents includes consideration of whether the applicant has complied with his or her child support obligations abroad in cases where it is relevant. [34] 

Even if there is no court-ordered child support, the courts have concluded that parents have a moral and legal obligation to provide support for their minor children, and a willful failure to provide such support demonstrates that the individual lacks GMC. [35] 

An applicant who fails to support dependents may lack GMC if he or she:

•Deserts a minor child; [36] 

•Fails to pay any support; [37] or

•Obviously pays an insufficient amount. [38] 

If the applicant has not complied with court-ordered child support and is in arrears, the applicant must identify the length of time of non-payment and the circumstances for the non-payment. An officer should review all court records regarding child support, and non-payment if applicable, in order to determine whether the applicant established GMC. [39] 

Extenuating Circumstances 

If the applicant shows extenuating circumstances, a failure to support dependents should not adversely affect the GMC determination. [40] 

The officer should consider the following circumstances:

•An applicant’s unemployment and financial inability to pay the child support; [41] 

•Cause of the unemployment and financial inability to support dependents;

•Evidence of a good-faith effort to reasonably provide for the support of the child; [42] 

•Whether the nonpayment was due to an honest but mistaken belief that the duty to support a minor child had terminated; [43] and

•Whether the nonpayment was due to a miscalculation of the court-ordered arrears. [44]

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF-Chapter5.html

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Daisy.Chain 317]

5 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Doesn’t sound like he will have the extenuating circumstances required to overcome the conditional bar, in fact he has exacerbated it by deserting the child which is also on the list :

 

K.  Failure to Support Dependents

An applicant who willfully failed or refused to support his or her dependents during the statutory period cannot establish GMC unless the applicant establishes extenuating circumstances. [33] The GMC determination for failure to support dependents includes consideration of whether the applicant has complied with his or her child support obligations abroad in cases where it is relevant. [34] 

Even if there is no court-ordered child support, the courts have concluded that parents have a moral and legal obligation to provide support for their minor children, and a willful failure to provide such support demonstrates that the individual lacks GMC. [35] 

An applicant who fails to support dependents may lack GMC if he or she:

•Deserts a minor child; [36] 

•Fails to pay any support; [37] or

•Obviously pays an insufficient amount. [38] 

If the applicant has not complied with court-ordered child support and is in arrears, the applicant must identify the length of time of non-payment and the circumstances for the non-payment. An officer should review all court records regarding child support, and non-payment if applicable, in order to determine whether the applicant established GMC. [39] 

Extenuating Circumstances 

If the applicant shows extenuating circumstances, a failure to support dependents should not adversely affect the GMC determination. [40] 

The officer should consider the following circumstances:

•An applicant’s unemployment and financial inability to pay the child support; [41] 

•Cause of the unemployment and financial inability to support dependents;

•Evidence of a good-faith effort to reasonably provide for the support of the child; [42] 

•Whether the nonpayment was due to an honest but mistaken belief that the duty to support a minor child had terminated; [43] and

•Whether the nonpayment was due to a miscalculation of the court-ordered arrears. [44]

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF-Chapter5.html

 

I was thinking it likely that the applicant might be able to show these extenuating circumstances, which don't sound extenuating to me:
 

An applicant’s unemployment and financial inability to pay the child support; [41] 

•Cause of the unemployment and financial inability to support dependents;

•Evidence of a good-faith effort to reasonably provide for the support of the child; [42] 

•Whether the nonpayment was due to an honest but mistaken belief that the duty to support a minor child had terminated; [43] and

•Whether the nonpayment was due to a miscalculation of the court-ordered arrears. [44]

An unemployed or underemployed person could argue the first, and a new immigrant might be convincing that he didn't know he had to pay the child support after moving  out.. 

I don't think it's likely, but I also don't think OP should count on his naturalization being denied.  Most recommend divorcing and moving on.

[geowrian 22,337]

Divorce, get whatever support you can, and (optionally) report it to USCIS. It likely won't do anything to him right now, although the marriage situation can certainly come up if he tries to naturalize. Or if he ever tries to petition somebody else.

 

Makes one wonder how "we have a kid together" is actually evidence of a bona fide marriage. It's really sad but that's just life.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 minute ago, Daisy.Chain said:

 

I was thinking it likely that the applicant might be able to show these extenuating circumstances, which don't sound extenuating to me:
 

An applicant’s unemployment and financial inability to pay the child support; [41] 

•Cause of the unemployment and financial inability to support dependents;

•Evidence of a good-faith effort to reasonably provide for the support of the child; [42] 

•Whether the nonpayment was due to an honest but mistaken belief that the duty to support a minor child had terminated; [43] and

•Whether the nonpayment was due to a miscalculation of the court-ordered arrears. [44]

An unemployed or underemployed person could argue the first, and a new immigrant might be convincing that he didn't know he had to pay the child support after moving  out.. 

I don't think it's likely, but I also don't think OP should count on his naturalization being denied.  Most recommend divorcing and moving on.

Even if he somehow manages to argue that, none of that extenuates abandonment of a minor child. And again, irrespective of naturalization issues, he owes child support. She should divorce, get court ordered child support, and then move on. Worst case outcome then is he contributes to the child’s upbringing. 

 

[Ontarkie 14,234]

Without paying child support he will be denied USC. It happens all the time members here have posted about this often. Even if the child is abroad they want proof of child support. 

 

Did I miss the OP saying it was his child? I only saw he state "my daughter". 

 

One thing others did not mention, but file a police report on his disappearance. Then they can make sure he up and left and not managed to end up in a ditch somewhere. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

If he can't naturalize for whatever reason, he will remain a green card holder.  He can travel internationally with his valid foreign passport. 

If he was to naturalize, he would a US passport to travel internationally.  If he is denied a US passport, he can not travel internationally.  

 

As long as he keeps his nose clean and remains a green card holder, he's free to travel internationally and he will not get deported.  Absolutely nothing will happen to him.  The green card holder deadbeat has a valid foreign passport for travel while the US citizen deadbeat can't get a US passport.  

Edited March 22, 2019 by aaron2020

[Apple Bee 272]

8 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Without paying child support he will be denied USC. It happens all the time members here have posted about this often. Even if the child is abroad they want proof of child support. 

 

Did I miss the OP saying it was his child? I only saw he state "my daughter". 

 

One thing others did not mention, but file a police report on his disappearance. Then they can make sure he up and left and not managed to end up in a ditch somewhere. 

She said " I have a daughter with him",  I would take that to mean he's the bio father. 

[Ontarkie 14,234]

7 minutes ago, Apple Bee said:

She said " I have a daughter with him",  I would take that to mean he's the bio father. 

Thank you,

[geowrian 22,337]

16 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

As long as he keeps his nose clean

If it's an consolation at all, somebody who scams a spouse for a green card and abandons their child tends to have a hard time keeping their nose clean.

[Ennyolah 2]

So sad...some people are just heartless,build a life you Don t want , I think annulment is better Don t really know how that works but I think it will save you stress...i pray you find who will love you for u