VAWA, Part 20

[LongFlight 2]

54 minutes ago, lunadelotto said:

Hello, guys, I have filed my vawa and was approved 3 years ago, and based on the 3 years rule, I am now able to apply for citizenship; however I am having a lot of issues filling up the application and I need to do it ASAP before fees go up, DO you know if there is a group for N-400 through VAWA? or anyone here able to help me fill it out?

 

Can we apply for citizenship 3 years after vawa approved or 3 years after we have the green card?

[Villanelle 4,122]

21 hours ago, Dordor1 said:

Hi there. Thank you so much for responding to my post. I do have an attorney that is representing me with my annulment case. I wasn’t able to get through to him yesterday (Friday) so I’ll try Monday morning. My husband and I do not have anything joint, no assets and no debts together. The one joint bank account we had, he closed a month before serving me with annulment papers as it was all his money since I wasn’t working and cancelled my health insurance which I had through him also.
 

I’m now working since I got my EAD and have been saving for school. Did you have to disclose all your bank balances? Do I have to disclose my bank balances? They ask to list all assets and debts. I have no fixed assets, no house nor car nothing. I am afraid to lose all my little savings to this case and my husband.

You have to disclose everything. So does he. Dont try to hide anything, you will get in trouble and there is no reason to hide anything!

 

Every court is different but generally most courts only consider marital assets and debts that were during the marriage. What you do after separating is usually not considered as 'joint'. Lets say you guys separated and he took out a loan for 10k. The 10K loan should not be split between you. That was his loan, he did it after you guys separated, you have nothing to do with it. So you were able to save for school. Thats great! I hope you looked into FASFA and what kind of financial aid you can get (prima facie will make you eligible). I dont believe there is a Judge anywhere that would declare the savings you accumulated after separation should be considered joint marital assets. You can give your attny a paper trail of the money- showing how you deposited every week for the purposes of saving for school. As long as it all makes sense and can be explained you shouldnt have any issue. If you were to tell me that you guys had a joint account and there was a withdrawal from it for 3600$ right before you separated and you currently have a savings account with 3600$ in it- well then yeah the Judge may say you took $ from the marital assets and would determine what happens to the 3600 that is in your sole account. But thats not what happened. You can show where the money came from in your sole savings account and how it has nothing to do with being related to the marriage. 

 

 

[cindy122808 134]

Hello my dear friends I would like to run for your advices once again. I don't know who to talk to about it but I have a question, is a public defender only for people who got arrested? I just need to consult a lawyer on legal matters (not vawa) but I don't have the money to do it.

[Villanelle 4,122]

23 hours ago, Ana FL said:

Question for a friend.

she is gathering everything to file for vawa. Her husband is a permanent resident who will apply for his citizenship in the next 12 months. My friend is very worried that if she files for vawa now, uscis will give her husband problems with his citizenship application. 
she is thinking about waiting for him to get his citizenship first so he doesn’t come back for her. 
Would that be an issue? 
@sandranj

When someone files for VAWA there is no impact on the person they name as the abuser. VAWA determines the petitioner was abused it does not determine the person is an abuser. I know that sounds weird and illogical but there is specific wording that they used intentionally. If the government wants to declare someone 'an abuser' or a criminal they have to go through due process. This means they accuse you of it and then you get a chance to respond and defend yourself. A Judge would then rule. None of that happens with VAWA. USCIS simply determines you were a victim. Thats it. There is no impact to the abuser. It does not show up anywhere in their records. It will not prevent the abuser from naturalizing. She can file her VAWA now and if he becomes a citizen before her approval she can let USCIS know so its reflected in her case. 

[Villanelle 4,122]

3 minutes ago, cindy122808 said:

Hello my dear friends I would like to run for your advices once again. I don't know who to talk to about it but I have a question, is a public defender only for people who got arrested? I just need to consult a lawyer on legal matters (not vawa) but I don't have the money to do it.

Public defender is only for people being accused or charged with something in court.  You can try contacting your local legal aid office. Their website should explain what types of legal services they provide. If its something they dont offer help with you can then go to your state bar association webpage. They should have a feature to search for attnys for the topic you need or provide you with a referral. You can also use google to search for local attnys. What type of legal issue is it? Generally attnys are broken down into a few categories. Theres family law which covers divorce, children, etc. Theres real estate law. Employment law. Medical malpractice. If you are not sure what type you need you will have to explain the issue a bit so we can point you in the right direction. Many attnys have free consults if you cant get help through legal aid.

[Pinkrlion 2,714]

27 minutes ago, LongFlight said:

Can we apply for citizenship 3 years after vawa approved or 3 years after we have the green card?

Green Card

[Villanelle 4,122]

26 minutes ago, LongFlight said:

Can we apply for citizenship 3 years after vawa approved or 3 years after we have the green card?

If your spouse was a USC you can apply 3yrs after the resident since date on your greencard.

[Pinkrlion 2,714]

11 minutes ago, cindy122808 said:

Hello my dear friends I would like to run for your advices once again. I don't know who to talk to about it but I have a question, is a public defender only for people who got arrested? I just need to consult a lawyer on legal matters (not vawa) but I don't have the money to do it.

Most lawyers offer consultations for free.  Public Defenders are something else.  What you need to Google is Free Legal Services in your area.  Checkout the local law schools as they have free law clinics.  

[cindy122808 134]

2 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

Public defender is only for people being accused or charged with something in court.  You can try contacting your local legal aid office. Their website should explain what types of legal services they provide. If its something they dont offer help with you can then go to your state bar association webpage. They should have a feature to search for attnys for the topic you need or provide you with a referral. You can also use google to search for local attnys. What type of legal issue is it? Generally attnys are broken down into a few categories. Theres family law which covers divorce, children, etc. Theres real estate law. Employment law. Medical malpractice. If you are not sure what type you need you will have to explain the issue a bit so we can point you in the right direction. Many attnys have free consults if you cant get help through legal aid.

I need to have someone out of my apartment but the person doesn't want to leave. I am the only person on the lease and my children. I just helped the person because I know how it is but now it is no longer healthy that she stays in my apartment. How do I kick her out legally? Especially when she's not listed on the lease.

[Villanelle 4,122]

1 hour ago, lunadelotto said:

Hello, guys, I have filed my vawa and was approved 3 years ago, and based on the 3 years rule, I am now able to apply for citizenship; however I am having a lot of issues filling up the application and I need to do it ASAP before fees go up, DO you know if there is a group for N-400 through VAWA? or anyone here able to help me fill it out?

 

You need to file on paper. You cant use the online system because it wont accept it under the VAWA 3yr rule. There is nothing special to do on the n400 because you are eligible under the VAWA 3yr rule. There are guides on VJ about how to do the n400 and a subforum for the topic in general. You can make a post in that subforum  if you have a lot of questions that are not related to the VAWA 3yr rule for being eligible. 

[Stillwinning!!!😊 4,570]

35 minutes ago, LongFlight said:

Can we apply for citizenship 3 years after vawa approved or 3 years after we have the green card?

Count down from when you become a permanent resident not when VAWA was approved! So it's 3yrs if your spouse is a USC and 5 if they're greencard holders!😊👍

[Villanelle 4,122]

4 minutes ago, cindy122808 said:

I need to have someone out of my apartment but the person doesn't want to leave. I am the only person on the lease and my children. I just helped the person because I know how it is but now it is no longer healthy that she stays in my apartment. How do I kick her out legally? Especially when she's not listed on the lease.

Thats a complicated situation. It would fall under housing law/tenant law. The laws vary based on where you live but in general even if someone is not on the lease if they live there for a certain period of time they are considered a tenant and are protected by tenant laws so they cant just be thrown out randomly. You may have to go through a formal eviction process. I would suggest googling evict roommate and your county/state and see what information about it comes up. You can also look into involving the landlord since the person is not on the lease- perhaps they can have them removed but you run the risk of the landlord throwing you all out for violating the lease by having a person live there who wasnt suppose to. Also you say 'its no longer healthy' and Im not sure what that means. If its just an uncomfortable situation of not getting along or just very stressful then thats one thing- but if its an issue of safety and you feel you and/or your children are in danger from this person you need to explore getting a restraining order which would remove the person from the home.  

[Villanelle 4,122]

3 hours ago, LongFlight said:

So once I go for interview they will not ask for tax return papers for sure right? This is very important for me. 

If you earned enough money to need to file taxes then you need to file your taxes. The numbers on the taxes are not important. Whats important in the overall immigration process is that if you were required to file that you filed. 

[cindy122808 134]

2 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

Thats a complicated situation. It would fall under housing law/tenant law. The laws vary based on where you live but in general even if someone is not on the lease if they live there for a certain period of time they are considered a tenant and are protected by tenant laws so they cant just be thrown out randomly. You may have to go through a formal eviction process. I would suggest googling evict roommate and your county/state and see what information about it comes up. You can also look into involving the landlord since the person is not on the lease- perhaps they can have them removed but you run the risk of the landlord throwing you all out for violating the lease by having a person live there who wasnt suppose to. Also you say 'its no longer healthy' and Im not sure what that means. If its just an uncomfortable situation of not getting along or just very stressful then thats one thing- but if its an issue of safety and you feel you and/or your children are in danger from this person you need to explore getting a restraining order which would remove the person from the home.  

Thank you for this information.  That's what I am worried that we will all be evicted because I violated the lease for letting her stay. If I get a restraining order can she be on jail or plainly move out?

[cindy122808 134]

@Villanelle Also, I am thinking that if we all get evicted because she lived without letting them (the landlord) know, will I still be paying the remaining months until the contract ends?