Any Solutions to Resolve I-130 Notice of Intent to Deny

[dwheels76 5,468]

18 hours ago, Michellle said:

Thank you for the legal referral.

Marc Ellis is the best in the business.

[SalishSea 17,827]

6 hours ago, MaleAlpha said:

The false misrepresentation was not willful. But that would only seem to apply if your husband truly believed that the only reason they selected "married" was because didn't see a section for girlfriend and would have selected the same option even if it wasn't intended for any benefits (in this case a non-immigrant visa). If that's the case, can your husband show proof that this is how they have always interpreted this line of questioning in the past? for say other non-immigration related applications or forms they filled out like job applications, school applications etc. That way he can show the consistency of his answer regardless of who was asking.

People trying to obtain B visas in high-fraud countries lie in this field ALL THE TIME.  A married person is more likely to be approved for a B visa.  Consulates know this.  We have seen this very scenario repeatedly here on VJ.  People come up with all sorts of reasons for why they lied about marital status on a B visa application.  It often complicates or halts their future immigrant visa plans.

 

"There was no option for gf" is weak and will not work, IMHO.

[pushbrk 12,881]

21 hours ago, Boiler said:

Begs the question what is meant by Girlfriend as opposed to a Girl who is a Friend?

 

Any there is no misrep issue here, as has been said if there was that would be well maybe not easily resolved but a known route exists.

 

The issue here is a missing document, he declared he was married twice and needs to provide the document terminating the first marriage. 

I think I started a little confusion when I responded to two separate cases in one post, but the OP, does not have the girlfriend issue.  The OP's husband lied on a B visa application saying he was married when he was not.  He later married the OP, and in the I-130 filing, indicated this was his one and only marriage.  USCIS (as they always do) looked at his earlier visa application showing a prior marriage, and now wants documentation that marriage was dissolved.  It would be a simple RFE and missing document case, if the marriage or its dissolution existed but it does not.

 

This is a NOID, not an RFE.  That's why I referred to www.marcellislaw.com  

[Cjab 1]

On 9/26/2020 at 8:25 AM, Michellle said:

Hello VJ Family,

 

I am a US citizen waiting to receive a NOA2 for my foreign husband but recently received a NOID from USCIS, so 'm looking for feedback on whether any possible options for resolution might be available concerning my issue.  Let me provide background on the story:

 

My now foreign husband and I first met in 2008 while working together in Iraq as government contractors.  When we met we were both involved in a relationship, he with a live-in girlfriend back in his home country, and me with a boyfriend in another foreign country.  Neither of had any ideal our relationship would become so serious and while we eventually moved on with our lives, we always kept in touch from time to time because we shared a deep bond, and held a hope that one day we'd meet up again as single people who could someday be married; so we kept in touch throughout the years as casual friends.  Fast forward to 2019, we reconnected on a deep an serious level and realized that we still loved each other just as much as we did when we connected back in 2008.  Except now, neither of us was involved in a relationship with anyone else, so we decided to get married.  We did all the necessary background checks to prove to the Ugandan government that both of us were freee to marry in that neither of us were married to anyone else, so our application to marry was accepted after the 20 day waiting period required by the Ugandan Registry. 

 

August 2019 we married and filed the I-130 packet in September 2019, received the NOA1 in October 2019. In May 2020 USCIS issued an RFE asking that we provide proof that my husband had ended a previous marriage.  We responded to the request with a sworn/notarized statement from husband that he has never been married to anyone but me.  The Ugandan Registry also provided a certified/true letter documenting that a search of their records also proved that my husband had never been married, except to me.  September 24, 2020 USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to deny based on the following:

 

1.  they said that when I submitted the I-130 form they asked how many times has the Beneficiary been married and I answered 1 (I thought they were referring to his marriage to me, so this is why I entered 1; and immediately following that question they asked for the date of the marriage, so I listed our wedding date

 

2.  they said that a search of their records shows that my husband had applied for a Tourist Visa to visit the US in 2011 and on the application he indicated his marital status as "married" and he also listed the name of the girlfriend he was living with at the time. 

 

3.  They also said based on this knowledge this makes my marriage to my husband invalid which is grounds for denying the I-130 packet.

 

Prior to all this knowledge from USCIS my husband had already told me when we reconnected back in early 2019 that he had tried to apply for a visa to the US to come and visit me.  When we got the RFE from USCIS in May 2020, my husband also told me that when filling out the form when they asked about his marital status, he selected the option "married" because he didn't see a box for "girlfriend".  Now mind you he and his then girlfriend began living together in 2007, so when my husband was working in Iraq with me in 2008, I knew the girlfriend was living in his home back in Uganda.  I knew about the girlfriend back in 2008 but trusted that my husband was telling me the truth about not being married to her.  He always told me that he and she were NOT married, either legally or by native custom law and that in his country in order to be married to someone you had to do so legally for it to be recognized as a marriage.  

 

So we responded to the RFE showing proof that my husband was never legally or by native custom law married to the girlfriend, and that I am the only person he's ever been married to.  In fact, in 2015 my husband was still overseas working as a contractor, and the girlfriend whom he was still with got fed up with the relationship, and informed by husband that she was seeing someone else and would be leaving my husband for the other man.  So she left my husband in 2015 and married the other man whom she is still married to until this day.

 

So this is the issue I'm looking for possible answers to:  

 

1.  aside from all the certified/sworn documentation we have already provided to USCIS in the RFE, how can we prove to USCIS that my husband and the girlfriend only lived together as boyfriend/girlfriend and that they were never, ever married; that no documentation such as a divorce decree, annulment or termination of that prior relationship exists because it was a simply case of two people living together BUT not legally married.

 

Right now my husband and I are thinking that our only recourse is to get the once girlfriend to sign a sworn statement with the Ugandan Registry office attesting that she and my husband were never married and that she left the relationship and married her now legal husband in 2015.

 

If anyone has any advice in such matters, I would greatly appreciate hearing your feedback.  This matter has us so stressed right now, especially since we have to find a solution within 30 days from 24-September.

 

Thank you.

 

That is a crazy situation.  That will help but you may need a lawyer to help you on what can be done to correct the error he entered in his application without them labeling your husband for fraud during his application. Also with this administration they made it tougher for legal immigration. 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

1 minute ago, Cjab said:

Also with this administration they made it tougher for legal immigration

This has nothing to do with this administration.   The husband lied on his application years ago.......

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

Answer honestly and consistently, according to how the US interprets things, it couldn't be any clearer. I also knew to keep (file) copies/receipts/records of anything one submits to the government, I still have copies of my old K1 visa I filed for an ex around 13 years ago (along with my cancellation fax and confirmation) in pristine condition, which was somewhat useful in filling out the IR-1 for my wife. This helps eliminate any "mistake" that could possibly be made in respect to application/interview consistency.. and that's for the petitioner petitioning a beneficiary from low fraud regions (e.g. Greece, Canada). For high fraud, the petitioner and especially the beneficiary had better dot every i and cross every t, have their ducks in a row especially for explicit criteria. Whether accidental or purposeful, once a beneficiary from a high fraud region demonstrates misrepresentation it's extremely difficult and rare to succeed. I would second others on the advice/use of a lawyer, and a good one.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Burnt Reynolds

[Michellle 9]

Well here's the first step of progress towards this issue:

 

I reached out to lawyer Marc Ellis and he advised that he's RETIRED.  However, he did give me the names of a few lawyers in my area who might be able to help.  Also he pointed out that this issue is clearly "MISREPRESENTATION that should warrant a waiver and not a NOID as it is not grounds to deny our application since we'd already answered the RFE proving that he was not married.

 

Anyway, I'll continue posting our status throughout this issue.

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

18 hours ago, Michellle said:

Well here's the first step of progress towards this issue:

 

I reached out to lawyer Marc Ellis and he advised that he's RETIRED.  However, he did give me the names of a few lawyers in my area who might be able to help.  Also he pointed out that this issue is clearly "MISREPRESENTATION that should warrant a waiver and not a NOID as it is not grounds to deny our application since we'd already answered the RFE proving that he was not married.

 

Anyway, I'll continue posting our status throughout this issue.

How did you prove he wasn't married to the GF somewhere else?   Thanks for the updating.  Please continue to do so.  It will provide information for the future.....🙂

Edited September 29, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[Villanelle 4,122]

I agree with what the attnys told you. However its not that simple. What you have here is a two part issue. The first part is getting them to accept it was misrep. Once they do you can deal with the second part- the waiver aspect. If they dont accept it was misrep then you are pretty much going to be left in an unfixable situation because as others have explained there is really no way to prove there wasnt a prior marriage. You MUST get them to accept he lied and it was a misrep so you can then do a waiver for said misrep.

 

You got an RFE asking for proof of termination of prior marriages. You responded to it with his statement and a statement from the registry. Did he say in his letter that he LIED about saying he was previously married? Im talking a direct statement of I swear I gave you false information and the reasons why? 

 

You then got the NOID and listed 3 things. The first was that it appears you checked off something wrong on the 130 saying he was married before. You need to correct that. Based on that and the second thing listed (him applying for a tourist visa and stating he was married) you end up at number 3 - your marriage is invalid. 

 

So for your NOID response you need to correct what you filled out wrong and address the fact that he lied on his tourist application. While you may feel you answered the RFE properly proving he was not married you did not. If you did you wouldnt have gotten the NOID bringing it up again. I think it can be helpful in these situations to switch your focus from the whole trying to prove he was not married angle and looking at it more like trying to prove he lied and it was misrep. So how does one prove they lied?

 

Well to start you need to write a sworn statement admitting to everything with as much detail as possible. Attach any evidence that supports it was a lie. The registry is helpful but its often not enough. Supporting statements from people who are considered to have GMC (like a priest or Dr or Officer) saying how they know your spouse and know of the relationship with the GF and know they were not married. Proof of your husband having a lease in only his name after the break up with the GF. Anything your husband might have filled out for emergency contact purposes where he left the space for spouse blank. You can find stuff like this with health insurance or gym memberships even. See what you can come up and work it into your letter. Ex- in the letter he can talk about how he lived with GF at X address until they broke up and then moved to Y address and is attaching a copy of the lease showing he lived alone or even better proof that they never lived together if that was the case. You may have to get creative and really dig around for stuff that can help support he lied. If you have any old emails or texts between the two of you where he explained how he lied and said he was married on the tourist application. Or even emails between him and the GF about their breaking up. The lack of wording about needing a divorce between them can be helpful. If he is on good terms with the GF you can also attempt to get a statement from her saying they were not married as well. 

 

Again I believe its more helpful to focus on establishing there was misrep then to view it as trying to prove there never was a marriage. I understand that sounds a bit like mincing words but it does make a difference. USCIS can accept someone lied based on their statements and supporting evidence that it was a lie. For them to accept there was no marriage theoretically you would have to get a statement from every place in the world that could have issued a marriage certificate saying they didnt issue one- which is impossible! Plus proving it wasnt a common law situation or native custom law situation based on where they live/religion. Its just not going to happen. You need to prove it was a lie so you can move on to the waiver. 

 

I would encourage you to use an attny to help respond to the NOID stressing that he lied and that he is eligible for the waiver for the misrep.  

 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

11 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

I think it can be helpful in these situations to switch your focus from the whole trying to prove he was not married angle and looking at it more like trying to prove he lied and it was misrep.

This is exactly how my non-attorney mind sees this situation.  Proving an absolute negative is impossible.   Good explanation......

[Boiler 45,486]

I know I could not have proved it, wonder how it was done.