Couple wants a divorce shortly after getting to the US

[Orangesapples 1,954]

3 hours ago, LizaH said:

True but you still have to prove the “in good faith” part and in the current immigration climate who knows how nice your case reviewer will be. I doubt she has to anyway as they have been married 5 years.

She doesn't have to prove anything, she has an unconditional green card, so she can just continue life as normal.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Orangesapples

[LizaH 6]

6 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

She doesn't have to prove anything, she has an unconditional green card, so she can just continue life as normal.

I thought I was pretty clear in my original answer that if it’s unconditional you don’t have to do anything. 

[geowrian 22,337]

8 hours ago, LizaH said:

True but you still have to prove the “in good faith” part and in the current immigration climate who knows how nice your case reviewer will be. I doubt she has to anyway as they have been married 5 years.

She has a 10 year card so this is functionally a moot point. But...

 

What about ROC is being impacted by the current immigration climate? Do you have any evidence that more I-751s are being denied or more heavily scrutinized? Evidence of more IJs actually removing LPR status?

I don't follow ROC as much as many other processes as ROC itself has ~97% initial approval rate (of which clerical and administrative denials are likely to make up much of the denials), so less help is often needed. But I have not heard of any changes here.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports and Studies/Immigration Forms Data/All Form Types/Quarterly_All_Forms_FY19Q4.pdf

[LizaH 6]

20 minutes ago, geowrian said:

She has a 10 year card so this is functionally a moot point. But...

 

What about ROC is being impacted by the current immigration climate? Do you have any evidence that more I-751s are being denied or more heavily scrutinized? Evidence of more IJs actually removing LPR status?

I don't follow ROC as much as many other processes as ROC itself has ~97% initial approval rate (of which clerical and administrative denials are likely to make up much of the denials), so less help is often needed. But I have not heard of any changes here.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports and Studies/Immigration Forms Data/All Form Types/Quarterly_All_Forms_FY19Q4.pdf

I haven’t specifically looked at statistics  but personally experienced questions despite being an unconditional LPR. I initially obtained my GC through marriage and got divorced after 8 years of marriage. I applied for citizenship and in my interview in 2017 for naturalization my marriage history was discussed. Basically I think to assess my moral character, intentions etc. I ended up being ok and got my citizenship but the point is they still brought it up. Probably it’s not that big of a deal renewing a GC but for Citizenship they do ask you a lot about yourself. 

[geowrian 22,337]

12 minutes ago, LizaH said:

I haven’t specifically looked at statistics  but personally experienced questions despite being an unconditional LPR. I initially obtained my GC through marriage and got divorced after 8 years of marriage. I applied for citizenship and in my interview in 2017 for naturalization my marriage history was discussed. Basically I think to assess my moral character, intentions etc. I ended up being ok and got my citizenship but the point is they still brought it up. Probably it’s not that big of a deal renewing a GC but for Citizenship they do ask you a lot about yourself. 

Yeah, they do ask about the marriage sometimes even under the 5 year rule. But that's been the case for years and years.

[fromthewater 11]

On 2/10/2020 at 9:17 PM, geowrian said:

 

They can't naturalize under the 3 year rule (unless they remarry a USC and wait 3 years).

 

 

If they remarry a USC, and maintain the GC from 1st marriage, they can still naturalize under 3-year rule?

When you say wait 3 years, you mean 3 years from remarry date or?

[geowrian 22,337]

15 minutes ago, fromthewater said:

If they remarry a USC, and maintain the GC from 1st marriage, they can still naturalize under 3-year rule?

When you say wait 3 years, you mean 3 years from remarry date or?

If they marry a USC after getting a green card, it would be 3 years from the date of that marriage.

It's a pretty niche case where this is useful vs just going by the the 5 year rule given the very slim timeline, but there are cases where it is the fastest and/or beneficial (i.e. due to physical presence or continuous residence breaks over the 5 year period making them ineligible under that rule).

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

On 2/11/2020 at 8:30 PM, geowrian said:

Yeah, they do ask about the marriage sometimes even under the 5 year rule. But that's been the case for years and years.

 

 

On 2/11/2020 at 8:18 PM, LizaH said:

I haven’t specifically looked at statistics  but personally experienced questions despite being an unconditional LPR. I initially obtained my GC through marriage and got divorced after 8 years of marriage. I applied for citizenship and in my interview in 2017 for naturalization my marriage history was discussed. Basically I think to assess my moral character, intentions etc. I ended up being ok and got my citizenship but the point is they still brought it up. Probably it’s not that big of a deal renewing a GC but for Citizenship they do ask you a lot about yourself. 

They can and do ask any questions about how you got your green card initially, regardless of whether it was marriage (and whether or not that ended), employment, etc. as geowrian says this is not new, it has always been the case. They also re-examine other aspects of your green card history, such as your travel history (it’s not common but possible for example that they find you abandoned residence in a past extended  absence even though CBP let you back in).  And yes, they can do all of this back to day 1, no matter how long you’ve had your green card.