Hello all
I married a US Citizen in November of 2018 after moving in together for about 8 months. We submitted my adjustment of status package in May of 2019 and were approved in August of 2019. We then submitted the I-751 in August of 2021. Unfortunately, the pandemic crushed our marriage. I discovered infidelity in March of 2022. He moved out of our apartment and moved in with the new person. I decided to file for divorce in April of 2022. The divorce was finalized in April of 2023. Now I am getting an RFE that I plan to respond with the evidence we had during the course of our marriage. To this date, I have not notified USCIS of the divorce.
Can I respond to this RFE with an amended I-751 with the divorce waiver? The RFE mainly requires additional proof to substantiate the marriage. Unfortunately, we were only able to rent a room which covered utilities. My ex husband worked for a cable company so he had an employee discount and I could not be added to the bill. He got laid off in December of 2020 anyway. We originally submitted affidavits from both of our family members but unfortunately were not notarized, so USCIS almost invalidated them. I obviously do not have any communication with my ex husband/his family/friends anymore. We did not have credit cards but used a bank account until my ex closed it in March of 2022. We took a few domestic trips and we were there for each other during birthdays, concerts, funerals, etc.
I am ready for the high possibility of an interview and to prove the facts, as triggering as it may be to have to open that wound again. Should I retain the services of an attorney? My initial hope was to bring up the divorce at the time of naturalization since I didn't expect the RFE to come in, but it didn't turn out that way.