martha783

I agree. I’ve said the same. Like many Peruvians, she believes her daughter will have more opportunities in the U.S. She’s working and has a friend who has offered childcare free and also lets her live with her.

Home country is Peru. Googling it looked like she may have to prove extreme battery if filing VAWA from outside the country but only emotional/verbal abuse if filing inside — does anyone know if the burden of proof varies?

Yes, I think if she left he would leave her alone. If she came back under VAWA, and claimed her child’s USC for her father being a USC, he would inevitably be involved I am deducing. He could potentially exact his vengeance then with custody fight. But I think that’s less likely that if she stays. He has other children from previous marriages he has completely ignored for years.

No, there's no way legally to stop her from leaving while pregnant. Her rights are intact as long as baby is inside. That changes the minute she's born. He doesn't have her passport at least.

I didn't mean "fleeing while pregnant" was a legal violation. I just meant a family court judge could look poorly upon her or accuse her of "parental alienation" and award him more rights or could see she was leaving for safety and award her custody. The family law/domestic violence cases side is the one I'm familiar with - the immigrations side and VAWA not so much.

Right, it would be abduction if she leaves once the child is born. International child abduction does not apply to unborn children. I know the child would have a legal right to U.S. citizenship are any point in her life, but I'm thinking she couldn't pursue that without also acknowledging his parental rights if she were to return, and it would depend on a family court judge to have mercy on her for fleeing while pregnant.

To complicate matters further, she is in one of the states that will not finalize divorce while you're pregnant and that assume 50/50 custody and married spouse automatically is father. BUT I think if she left, her abuser would give up, and she could probably file VAWA and come back if approved without him messing with her for custody as long as she doesn't ask for child support.

If she leaves, her AOS would be voided but her I-130 would still be pending or are they thrown out together, and she would be starting with a VAWA from 0 from outside the country? I'm trying to understand what status she would have to claim VAWA if she wasn't even here.

Yes, the ability to claim sole custody is exactly why I advised her (from a domestic violence perspective) to just leave. I did not know she could leave with AOS pending and file VAWA and divorce from a distance which is what I'm understanding now? That may tip her in favor of leaving since I know she really doesn't want to give up potential residency/citizenship for her child, but I'm worried she's going to end up stuck with no legal status as a single mom while he fights her for custody as he has threatened to do for vengeance.

Are you referring to the time limit after divorce or another one I don’t know about? She’s 26 weeks pregnant and left him two months ago so she is definitely under pressure to decide quickly whether to leave or stay.

Baby isn’t born yet so she has full rights to leave. Once baby is born she’ll be stuck and potentially without legal immigration status. Not sure if inability to leave with her child impacts VAWA claim.

She knew him less than a month before they married. While her intentions were sincere, and the abuse is real, the records are only text messages and witnesses and no police involvement since he successfully took her phone when she tried to call. She had only been in the U.S. a few months before they met online, and the hurry was “justified” by the need to AOS before her stay expired. I think it looks suspect and am not sure how she proves it was bona fide without his help. I wasn’t sure if a child together is very helpful when she only lived with him 6 months. I have advised her to return to her home country (for support and sole custody) but others are advising the VAWA route. I’m not very familiar with VAWA so I put is appreciated.

This is for a friend. She met and married her U.S. citizen husband within a month while in the U.S. on a valid B1 and filed AOS. She left him 6 months later for domestic abuse (no convictions or legal record). She does not even have her EAD yet, and I-485 interview is probably another 6 months out. She's now pregnant and filing for divorce. She is looking into filling VAWA. I'm wondering if give the very limited relationship history and ability to prove there was no immigration fraud (her ex will not help her) that VAWA may not be approved. Any experience with this? I felt like they had a tenuous position for the interview PRIOR to the divorce given the quick marriage, but I have no idea what the burden of proof is for the legitimacy of the relationship given they are having a child together but will no longer be married. (sorry if this isn't the right place for VAWA question - I couldn't tell if every single VAWA post was supposed to be on the update thread)