Got to US under K1 visa, Got married but spouse withdraws case

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

 

and how can she threaten to just send spouse home? thought after the visa approval and marriage, she has a responsibility 

emotionally how can anyone ask a person to live home country and family and then abandon that person?   this is as much a fraud by the USC as we hear about the other side

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

We are only getting one side of the story as always, and from a "third" party, being this friend. We all know one sided stories are usually exaggerated and missing lots of information, usually in an attempt to protect the 'victim's innocence', but without the whole story we don't know what really happened. This 'friend' of the OP could certainly be hiding a lot of information. 

[carmel34 3,635]

9 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

We are only getting one side of the story as always, and from a "third" party, being this friend. We all know one sided stories are usually exaggerated and missing lots of information, usually in an attempt to protect the 'victim's innocence', but without the whole story we don't know what really happened. This 'friend' of the OP could certainly be hiding a lot of information. 

This^^  We don't know all information, so it is difficult to give OP definitive advice, there's so much speculation here without knowing everything that happened.  VAWA requires hard evidence, documentation, like police reports, hospital records, photos of physical harm caused by an abusive spouse.  Fighting and verbal altercations with no evidence or documentation are very anecdotal and difficult to prove.  A good, experienced, and expensive VAWA attorney might be able to file a case but OP your friend has no money so it's unlikely that he would be successful with a VAWA claim.  My advice is for him to file for divorce and try to get some financial settlement that way, then either use the money to hire a good VAWA attorney, or just forget about the failed marriage and return home to the Philippines and start life over without his ex-wife.  A family court judge would be sympathetic to his situation in divorce court so he should be able to get some financial compensation, enough to travel back to his home country where he can be at peace without her.  I'm so sorry this happened to him, but sometimes relationships don't work out.  If he really came to the US for her, out of love, he'll recognize that it's over and return home.  If he thinks he can stay in the US somehow, maybe he really didn't marry her out of love, but only because he wanted the immigration benefits.  The marriage doesn't sound very bona fide to me.  They were not even living together for much of the time.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

52 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

 

and how can she threaten to just send spouse home? thought after the visa approval and marriage, she has a responsibility 

emotionally how can anyone ask a person to live home country and family and then abandon that person?   this is as much a fraud by the USC as we hear about the other side

Emotional responsibility isn’t the same as legal.

 

there are stories all over VJ about USCs who refuse to AOS their spouse, and these are USCs who want to stay married to the spouse. They either just don’t have the finances or don’t see the big deal in AOSing.

 

this is one of the cases that makes more sense, the USC doesn’t want to stay married and doesn’t want responsibility of the I864, it’s just done in a rude way by saying they want them out of the country. But by all means the USC is within their legal right to do so.

 

with that said, there are plenty of people who have bad relationships that get married anyways because they think it’ll help things more.

 

The difference between those people and the OPs friend is that they don’t have to deal with immigration. 

 

Immigration isn't about love or emotional responsibility to USCIS and a lot of people. It’s about legalities, paperwork and red tape.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Ash.1101

[Amadia 711]

My best advice: 

 

Tell your 'friend' to get help from an immigration attorney....one might be willing to work pro-bono.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Amadia

[Mrsjackson 300]

1 hour ago, adil-rafa said:

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

 

and how can she threaten to just send spouse home? thought after the visa approval and marriage, she has a responsibility 

emotionally how can anyone ask a person to live home country and family and then abandon that person?   this is as much a fraud by the USC as we hear about the other side

I believe the difference here is this guy hasn’t even filed AOS. The divorced K1s who file the waiver most likely got divorced long after filing AOS. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. 

[geowrian 22,337]

7 hours ago, R&OC said:

While I agree that no physical violence was used, and I am not familiar with VAWA - how is it allowed to have someone immigrate to the US /Hawaii and then leave them behind without a work permit, access to housing and food/allowance and no means to get back to their home country? Isn't that a classic case of abandonment and abuse of power? 

Abandonment? Probably. Abuse? Also very probable. "Extreme cruelty"? Likely not.

 

Support via the divorce process would presumably address the immediate concerns. But immigration-wise, there's just not a strong VAWA case based on the information presented.

I'm not trying to discourage the option per-se. If one believes there was abuse that qualifies under VAWA, then speaking to an attorney is a good step.

 

3 hours ago, adil-rafa said:

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

I'm not sure what waiver you are referring to, sorry.

A strict requirement of any K visa is that you can only AOS via the original petitioner. That's just the way the law is written. Exceptions are very limited (i.e. VAWA).

 

As for the affidavit of support(s)...

The I-134 is not enforceable. This has been upheld in court cases and even USCIS notes this.

The I-864 only applies once it is executed - which is when the intending immigrant obtains permanent residency. Until then, any sponsor can withdraw their I-864.

 

[AstroCanada 206]

4 hours ago, NikLR said:

1st part - no

 

2nd part - yes

right...he entered under the K-1, so he can only remain in status marrying the person that he was petitioned under.  You can't marry a different USC and adjust.   That would also look so suspicious that it would not work either.

[Daisy.Chain 317]

19 hours ago, Going through said:

Immigration wise there's nothing your "friend" can do, unless eligible for VAWA.

 

 

 No need to assume that OP is untruthful. Websites like VJ can be tricky for those new to them, especially in a second language.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Daisy.Chain

[Cryssiekins 976]

9 hours ago, adil-rafa said:

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

 

and how can she threaten to just send spouse home? thought after the visa approval and marriage, she has a responsibility 

emotionally how can anyone ask a person to live home country and family and then abandon that person?   this is as much a fraud by the USC as we hear about the other side

The divorce waiver is for ROC, which means the immigrant completed AOS.  The waiver for ROC is because sometimes marriages just don’t work out, despite best intentions and efforts.  Someone filing with a divorce waiver still has to show the marriage was entered into in good faith.

[dxec 31]

Good lord I would go back to home country and never marry again. Wouldn't take the chance on getting another crazy like that.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

23 hours ago, adil-rafa said:

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

 

 

You might be thinking about people who come over on CR1/IR1. There is no path to this for K1, as others have said.

similarly for CR/IR the i864 is part of the visa process, so its baked in once the visa is issued. For k1 if still adjusting it is my understanding the affidavit of support can be withdrawn before AOS/green card is finalized (just like a CR/IR petitioner can withdraw the affidavit between i130 and visa issuance).

[payxibka 10,045]

23 hours ago, adil-rafa said:

curious 

why are others allowed to stay and divorce and do the waiver ?

and how can she withdraw the support /  i thought we were obligated / does this mean nothing at all

 

and how can she threaten to just send spouse home? thought after the visa approval and marriage, she has a responsibility 

emotionally how can anyone ask a person to live home country and family and then abandon that person?   this is as much a fraud by the USC as we hear about the other side

Not everyone is on the same footing

[Blunt 167]

On 4/30/2019 at 6:30 AM, BRyant808 said:

She’s not in military but a federal employee.

@BRyant808Don’t go back to  phillipines ..if the marriage failed look into vawa..You were truly abused,disregard all the messages of people telling you to go back to phillipines...go online and search about vawa..you will see that you qualify...even if you Dnt have anything together as joint commingling documents you still qualify all you need is witnesses and do psychological evaluation...but if you feel going back to Philippines is the best option for you then you can go but my advise for you is to fight the battle till the end and be prayerful..disregard negative vibes comment people on here ..they are not God ...I wish you best of luck 

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  Standard in California is support for 1/2 the length of the marriage.  So your friend would get a months worth of support.  That may not even get a ticket home assuming your state has similar guides.   Contact your home countries consulate about help in getting home.  Be more careful with online relationship in the future.