Request for Evidence - Already submitted?

[amp0101 2]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share an update on our case and ask if anyone has experienced something similar and if so, if they have any advice.

 

My husband was in the US and deported (left voluntarily) before I knew him. We met and married in Lima, Peru where we lived together for approx 8.5 years. Once his 10-yr re-entry bar was finished, we applied for his residency from Peru (August 2021). I (US citizen) returned to the US in January 2022 to re-establish residency here and find a job.

Our Request for Evidence states that he voluntarily departed in 2011 and we married in 2015 - during his removal proceedings? And now we must show that he has lived outside of the US for 2 years after our marriage. But everything we submitted shows this information. We even included the airline ticket of him leaving the US originally and all of our paperwork is from Peru. Including information that they are requesting - including airline tickets, pay records, employer statements, and passport entry and exit stamps. 

We're just a little confused why they might request this again? Has this happened to anyone before? Considering hiring legal services to help us prepare the Evidence documents but maybe in a different way? Is this normal? Strange?

Thanks for your input!

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

You're not the first one who had something like that happen.

 

I would say send everything again with a cover letter explaining what you're sending and how it fits the timeline.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

What I would do is to send a nicely organized package with a cover letter that lists all the documents you sent, and the dates. For example

-employment verification letters from  2015-2017

-leases from xxxx date to xxxx

-bank statements showing activity in xxx (Lima, Quito, etc)

then on your cover letter you’re going to say that the listed documents prove that xxxx lived in Peru for the two years following our civil union.

[pushbrk 12,877]

You have two basically good replies already.  There are two possibilities though.  One is that they do not see or do not understand what you've already provided.  If that's the case, you have the advice you need,

 

The second possibility, is that the have and fully understand what you sent.  In that case, the advice above might not be good ENOUGH.  You get just one chance.

 

A second option for you would be to post the actual wording of the RFE minus personal identifiers, along with a detailed list of what you did submit that you think meets the requirement along with an explanation of WHY you think it should work.  THEN, we can comment, in context, based on better information.

[Family 3,988]

Your husband needs to do an EOIR FOIA for a copy of his file and you will be able to see the date on Immigration Judge’s Order , assuming he did not inform the court / ICE when he left in 2011 and that is the reason RFE states you married in proceedings in 2015. Also assuming he has an order in absentia / no show . 
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/freedom-information-act-foia

Call 1 800 898 7180 ( Immigration Court) and using his A # you will get info on the name/address of court and date of IJ decision ( needed for FOIA) 

 

The I-130 RFE has given you a heads up that potential issues exist between your ban timeline and what is on record. These issues will be important at the Consulate interview, where they may still require an I-212 , if the proceedings were left open after 2011.  
 

For now, respond to the RFE with additional extensive evidence of what they  require . 
 

You will benefit from consulting an attorney but getting the EOIR FOIA is a head start and will save you some money. 
 

 

[amp0101 2]

Thank you all for your responses.

Concerning the EOIR FOIA for a copy of his file - we sent a copy of this file showing the judge's decision of allowing voluntary departure. This was accompanied with a copy of the return plane ticket and passport stamp of return to Peru. All of this ocurred in July 2011. We didn't even meet until January 2013, which was included in the original cover letter. We submitted the I-130 in August of 2021, after consulting an attorney who said the I-212 wasn't necessary because his 10-yr bar was complete.

The RFE wording is as follows:
- USCIS records indicate that you wed the beneficiary after they were placed in removal proceedings, further evidence is required to meet the exceptions to the bar prescribed by INA 204(g).

- USCIS records indicate the beneficiary was entered into removal proceedings on July 15, 2011 and was granted voluntary departure on July 18, 2011. The evidence submitted indicates that you and the beneficiary were subsequently married on November 30, 2015 while he was in removal proceedings. As such, the petition is deniable under INA 204(g), which states that a spousal petition may not be approved if the marriage was entered into while a beneficiary is in removal proceedings UNLESS one of the following exemptions is met: 1. Beneficiary found not to be inadmissible or deportable, 2. Form I-122, I-860, or I-862 is canceled, 3. Proceedings ar eterminated by an immigration Judge or Board of Immigration Appeals, 4. A petition for review is granted, 5. beneficiary has resided outside the US for 2 or more years following the marriage, 6. petitioner establishes a bona fide marriage (if the beneficiary has not resided outside of the US for 2 years).

 

We submitted our Peruvian marriage certificate, copies of photos and visas from trips, affidavits from friends, the bill of sale of our house in Peru, copies of letters sent to both of us at that address, Copy of the Purchase of our condo in Peru, copies of the shared mortgage, copies of our shared credit card accounts, copies of employer statements on letterhead showing that we met there in 2013 and that the beneficiary has been working there since 2013 through date of application, copy of his current national ID card with Peruvian address, copies of passport pages.

I think we'll resubmit these items with a clearer cover letter I guess. We have also requested a Immigration Certificate from Peru which shows his arrivals and departures that maybe is more clear than the passport photos already sent. We are also going to include the car insurance policy that was in his name for more than 2 years after the date of our marriage. 

I also have an appointment with an attorney because honestly none of it makes sense, particularly since we are not applying for an exception to the bar because that clearly ended and all of the documents we sent clearly show an established life in Peru for more than 2 years after the date of marriage.

[Family 3,988]

Thank you for the detailed RFE and info. Clearly there is no issue with the VD ( voluntary departure) grant in 2011 so you will NOT have issues of I-212 but with VD he was NOT considered deported and did NOT have a ban  .  You could have filed for the I-130 then I-601 for his previous ULP / unlawful presence, once you got married in 2015…I am assuming that is the “ ban” he was thinking of…but now that 10 years have passed , that inadmissibility will not be an issue, so he will not need an I-601. 
 

The only issue that remains is to respond to this RFE with particular emphasis on the 2 years after the marriage, which you can list the previously filed evidence and add a few more ( try a letter from a doctor/ clinic he may have gone to, any SUNAT  ( tax ) records,  lots of photos of the 2 of you during the period). 
 

You can also add the statement that proceedings were terminated in 2011 by the IJ ‘s Order granting VD and evidence of executed departure. …but you have included extensive documentation of both the bonafides of the marriage and that he has been in Peru since 2011, in an abundance of caution. 

You can also prepare a sworn statement from you , the USC detailing you lived  in Peru w your spouse during the entire marriage and  additionally ask that USCIS grant a  late filed bonafide marriage exemption , should it chose to ignore the fact that IJ Order of 2011 , terminated proceedings. 
 

This way you have both given them evidence responsive to the RFE as well as challenged it. 
BUT,  you have nothing to worry about, since he has all the important primary evidence that he lives there ( government id, work and life proof)..