RFE for i-751 Filed January 2018 with Battered Spouse Waiver

[iPhone5s 2]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

not sure how USCIS will view it but a judge didn't 

Pretend i am immigration officer and this is what i ask of you

1,  you say he controlled you financially and yet one of the requirements for a O1 visa is that you have to prove 

Command a high salary or remuneration for their  services.

2.  O1 visa is good for 3 years and you came in 2013 and married in 2016 (if 2 year green card is valid till 2018)

 

I am not sure I understand your point or question.  Are you asking me to explain how my ex husband controlled me financially when I supposedly had a high salary? 

 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

2 hours ago, iPhone5s said:

But again, ROC needs to be approved first for the 3 year eligibility.

Yes, ROC must be approved before naturalization can occur. But you can file while ROC is pending....it may or may not force a faster decision on the I-751.

[iPhone5s 2]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

not sure how USCIS will view it but a judge didn't 

 

Can you elaborate what you mean here?  The family court judge never got to see me and my ex husband again for the return appearance.  The divorce court judge vacated family court’s temporary order of protection.  Which judge are you referring to? 

[implife 318]

10 minutes ago, iPhone5s said:

Can you elaborate what you mean here?  The family court judge never got to see me and my ex husband again for the return appearance.  The divorce court judge vacated family court’s temporary order of protection.  Which judge are you referring to? 

I don't think you need to worry about this. You married in good faith. Your marriage didn't work out. You should be eligible for ROC.

[iPhone5s 2]

13 hours ago, implife said:

I don't think you need to worry about this. You married in good faith. Your marriage didn't work out. You should be eligible for ROC.

Thank you.  

[iPhone5s 2]

Hi,

 

I wanted to provide an update on my case. 

 

Additional evidence submitted early November 2019.  Due to admin issues at my lawyer's office, files reached USCIS 3 days late (2 of the 3 days were weekend days).  USCIS provided no information or update during the next 150 days or so, despite the RFE stating application update to follow within 60 days after submission of additional documents.  

 

I put in a service request after 60 days.  No response or update to the service request. 

 

March 19, 2020, online case status indicates that case was approved as of 3/17/2020, 4 days after the expiration of I-751 extended extension.  Original conditional PR expired September 2018, first I-751 receipt notice extended status for 12 months to September 2019, and second I-751 receipt notice extended status for an additional 6 months to March 2020.  Reached out to my lawyer right away requesting a professional confirmation. However there is no confirmation until actual approval notice is received in the mail.  

 

March 20, 2020, online case status indicates "your new card has been mailed to your address".  Lawyer provided the same response, plus the fact that their offices are working remotely.  They will check on the mail when safe to do so.  Written communications were directed to my lawyer's attention because that was the safe address at time of filing, Jan 2018.  Now I had to try to be as patient as I possibly could, waiting it out... 

 

April 28 2020, received approval notice and new 10 year card from my lawyers office.  USCIS backdated the 10 year card start date to follow the expiration date of second i-751 extension date.  

 

Battered spouse case approved without interview, and apparently during reduced office hours at USCIS due to COVID-19.  Filing to approval, 26 months.  

 

Hope this is helpful to someone, and gives you reassurance if you too are waiting on an update on your case... 

 

Thank you to everyone's support and insight.  

[iPhone5s 2]

BTW, my case was never transferred to a different service center, unlike most other I-751 cases.  As far as I could tell - I was routinely checking my case status online a few times a week - it stayed at the Vermont location for the entire 26 months. 

[Kimkim21 9]

On 5/5/2020 at 11:32 AM, iPhone5s said:

BTW, my case was never transferred to a different service center, unlike most other I-751 cases.  As far as I could tell - I was routinely checking my case status online a few times a week - it stayed at the Vermont location for the entire 26 months. 

Hi congrats on your approval..I'm in the same situation as you were and I would like to know what additional evidence did you sent in plz can you share 

[iPhone5s 2]

 

Hi Kimkim21,

 

Sorry for the delay.  Are you still waiting for your pending case?  I submitted the following documents:

 

- 13 page personal statement detailing the dating relationship, marriage, the abuse, the divorce (filled by him)

- 4 separate police reports

- Letter from crime victims assistance program services (within local police precinct)

- Judgement of divorce 

- Court order from divorce court to frame both parties from harassing each other, which was intended to replace my protection order against him after divorce court dismissed the family court complaint 

- Letters of support from psychologist of 9 months, 2 friends who let me stay with them when I did not feel safe, the leader of a meet up group aimed to support people in abusive relationship, a neighbor who saw how badly I was hurting emotionally

- Emails with the staffer of a local elected official when I thought I was going to become homeless

- Press coverage of a DV rally I organized at NYC city hall

- My volunteer work with my local community board, which shows I have good moral character and civilly engaged

-  My new lease after divorce demonstrating that I no longer reside with him

 

Not all these will apply to you.  And to be honest, while these were additional documents, I am not sure that these more strongly demonstrated the abuse or met what USCIS was asking: proof of "physical violence and injuries".  But perhaps everything together helped make the case. 

 

Good luck! 

 

 

 

 

 

On 7/15/2020 at 7:55 PM, Kimkim21 said:

Hi congrats on your approval..I'm in the same situation as you were and I would like to know what additional evidence did you sent in plz can you share 

 

[Villanelle 4,122]

All abuse waivers are processed by Vermont regardless of where you live. Occasionally they do get transferred or processed at other service centers but their goal is to have them done at Vermont because Vermont has the special unit for abuse.

 

Congrats on your approval! Im not sure if the attny advised you this but since you were approved for ROC under abuse waiver you can apply for citizenship at 3yrs (from resident since date on your card) if your spouse was a USC. Id have to go back and read the dates you posted to be sure but most likely you qualify right now if you filed ROC in 2018!. 

 

When you file n400 you need to do it by mail on paper. The online system will not accept it so you need to send it in. There is also a memo posted occasionally in the VAWA thread you can search for. It explains the policy that allows 751 ROC abuse to naturalize at 3yrs and many people find it helpful to include the memo with their packet. Sometimes they reject the packet incorrectly thinking you are not eligible. 

[iPhone5s 2]

15 hours ago, Villanelle said:

All abuse waivers are processed by Vermont regardless of where you live. Occasionally they do get transferred or processed at other service centers but their goal is to have them done at Vermont because Vermont has the special unit for abuse.

 

Congrats on your approval! Im not sure if the attny advised you this but since you were approved for ROC under abuse waiver you can apply for citizenship at 3yrs (from resident since date on your card) if your spouse was a USC. Id have to go back and read the dates you posted to be sure but most likely you qualify right now if you filed ROC in 2018!. 

 

When you file n400 you need to do it by mail on paper. The online system will not accept it so you need to send it in. There is also a memo posted occasionally in the VAWA thread you can search for. It explains the policy that allows 751 ROC abuse to naturalize at 3yrs and many people find it helpful to include the memo with their packet. Sometimes they reject the packet incorrectly thinking you are not eligible. 

Thank you Villanelle!  26 months is a long process.  The hardest part was to re-live the details of my abusive marriage and to recall them for USCIS, which was not on my own timeline in my process of recovery.  But I think it all made me a stronger person in the end. 

 

I become a conditional resident in September 2016.  I actually had a phone call with my attorney after the i-751 was approved to discuss naturalization process.  She did not suggest the 3 year rule.  I brought it up.  She said since the 5 year mark is so close for me, it may just be easier to go through the regular timeline, especially if we went through the 3 year rule, we will have to once again convince USCIS of my abusive marriage.  

 

She said she would look into it more and get back to me.  She hasn't, and it was in June we had this conversation... 

 

What are your thoughts?  Is it easier to go through the 5-year process for naturalization?  

 

Thank you.  

[Villanelle 4,122]

You absolutely do NOT have to prove abuse again. When they approve a 360 or 751 abuse waiver its decided you were an abuse victim. They don't reevaluate you for abuse. 

 

 

[iPhone5s 2]

On 8/14/2020 at 2:43 PM, Villanelle said:

You absolutely do NOT have to prove abuse again. When they approve a 360 or 751 abuse waiver its decided you were an abuse victim. They don't reevaluate you for abuse. 

 

 

Thank you, Villanelle.  Sounds like I need to do more research on the naturalization process, and possibly on finding a different lawyer... 

[Albertoxxx 3]

 

On 8/13/2020 at 5:37 PM, Villanelle said:

All abuse waivers are processed by Vermont regardless of where you live. Occasionally they do get transferred or processed at other service centers but their goal is to have them done at Vermont because Vermont has the special unit for abuse.

 

Congrats on your approval! Im not sure if the attny advised you this but since you were approved for ROC under abuse waiver you can apply for citizenship at 3yrs (from resident since date on your card) if your spouse was a USC. Id have to go back and read the dates you posted to be sure but most likely you qualify right now if you filed ROC in 2018!. 

 

When you file n400 you need to do it by mail on paper. The online system will not accept it so you need to send it in. There is also a memo posted occasionally in the VAWA thread you can search for. It explains the policy that allows 751 ROC abuse to naturalize at 3yrs and many people find it helpful to include the memo with their packet. Sometimes they reject the packet incorrectly thinking you are not eligible. 

Hello Villanelle, I submitted my ROC early, on March 19th 2020. My GC expires in December 2020. I did it with an abuse waiver, I've seen that a lot of people have been already approved for the ROC on Texas service center, i guess since my case will be handled by Vermont even though I filed it in Texas it will go through Vermont's processing time instead of SRC right

Edited August 27, 2020 by Albertoxxx
Double typing

[Villanelle 4,122]

12 hours ago, Albertoxxx said:

 

Hello Villanelle, I submitted my ROC early, on March 19th 2020. My GC expires in December 2020. I did it with an abuse waiver, I've seen that a lot of people have been already approved for the ROC on Texas service center, i guess since my case will be handled by Vermont even though I filed it in Texas it will go through Vermont's processing time instead of SRC right

As I said their goal is to have abuse waiver 751s  done by VSC. Technically any service center can do them though. If you mailed your package to Texas and got a receipt starting with TSC or SRC your case is at Texas. If they transfer it to VSC you should see a case status notification (or may also get the notice in writing) that your case has been move to another office for processing. Have you gotten any notifications like that? If you did but it didnt specify which service center it most likely went to VSC. I know they have moved some cases from Texas in general to other service centers to balance the workloads. Vermont has also transferred some of their cases to other locations.  So some of the approvals you see may be from people that filed in Texas and then were transferred and approved elsewhere. So while monitoring others timelines can be helpful it can also be misleading.  

 

Abuse waiver ROCs are suppose to be under the same confidentiality provisions as VAWA abuse filings. You may be able to do a service request or use the ask Emma feature on the website but it may not give you any response due to the confidentiality provisions. So if you are concerned or want an update you need to contact your local congressman and have them do an inquiry for you. Check the date on your extension letter - if you are going to need a stamp you will want to start the process to make an appointment for one at least 6 weeks in advance of it expiring. To make the appointment you have to call the 800 number. You may need to get a call back from a T2. They may tell you you cant have an appointment so you may have to try several times. Currently they are only accepting emergency appts for infopass stamping and results have varied. Some people are being told needing a stamp for work or DL renewal is enough and others are being told its not enough. So you want to start trying to request your infopass early so you have time to try again if they reject your request for the appt.