Immigration Site

Background: One of my friend got married to USC in 1999 and they applied for GC. She got her conditional GC sometime in 2000 and in 2002, she (along with her husband) submitted form I-751 to remove condition on her green card. Currently she is having problem with the marriage and looks like her husband filled for divorce.

She called USCIS in June and they told her that her case has been transferred to local office.

What is best course of action for her in the given situation? What do they do with the pending petition at local USCIS office? What are they going to ask in case an interview is scheduled?

Can anyone of you shed some light on the scenario.

The jointly filed case will fail if her husband has filed for a divorce. If the husband refuses to attend the interview, the I-751 will be cancelled for lack of prosecution (the petitioners failure to attend the interview). If a divorce has been filed (or if all hope of reconcilliation has been lost) it is important to finalize the divorce as rapidly as possible so that another 751 can be filed based on a good faith marriage that ended in divorce. If there was any abuse or cruelty in the marriage she could file a 751 alone based on extreme cruelty.

BTW, she probably should get any paperwork reviewed by an immigration attorney before she signs it since I have seen people admit to marriage fraud in the divorce paperwork and spend $30K fighting the resulting deportation proceedings.

Thanks for your prompt response.

Couple of more questions:

1) If her husband agrees to join her for interview at local USCIS center even after filling divorce papers, can she still attend & finish the process?

OR

Its totally out of question after filling divorce.

2) You said that she might need to refill I-751 after finishing divorce proceedings.

In that case, what happens to pending I-751 (filled in 2002)? How much time she gets to file second I-751 in case divorce proceeding gets stretched for some reason? Is she allowed to file second I-751 if previous one is still pending or denied? Are they (USCIS) going to order removal proceedings against her right after denying first I-751?

3) They are still married and it lasted for almost 5 years.

Is it enough to proof that marriage was in good faith and not just for GC? What other document/argument/proof you think she should include while presenting her case during the process to strengthen her point.

Hi USNYCUS,
I have read both the postings. I have a close friend is going through the same situation which your freind is going through.
My suggestion is that your friend should wait till she gets a letter from USCIS for the joint interview & on the interview date whether she is joined by her husband or no, she should disclose to USCIS that her divorce has been filed. USCIS officer get a letter signed by her saying that I am withdrawing my joint petition for I-751 & she should nto forget to write there that she will file an individual I-751 asking for the waiver to file a joint I-751. Disclosing the divorce thing to USCIS will help.
Then if by that time still divorce is going on then she can file I-751 individually asking for the waiver to file a joint petition based on Exterme Hardship option, which is off course very difficult to prove, unless she can prove to USCIS that if she has been removed from USA then she will face extreme hardship. This way she will get another waiting period (typically 1 & Half year if she is in NJ) till the time she has been called for the interview at USCIS & hopefully during that time if she gets the divorce then she can file another I-751 individually asking for the waiver to file for a joint petition under the option Entered into marriage in good faith but did not worked out. I think that this could be the best strategy to follow at this time. Please advise her to collect & maintain all the proofs (like JOINT bank accounts, utility bills, phone bills ,car insurance bills, credit card bills, marriage pictures, honeymoon pictures, pictures of the vacation spend together in USA & outside etc.) upto date i.e. till the latest dates. This will help her in proving the good faith marriage.
As I said earlier, getting the green card on basis of Exterme Hardship is very difficult to prove unless she has a baby out of this marriage born here. So she needs to get her divorce at the earliest even if she has to let go few things in the deal. Because that will help her in getting the green card. Off course no one can gurantee her the green card but certinly it helps if she can prove to USCIS that she enetred into the marriage in good faith. My friend & I I myslef had done a lot of research in this thing, and going through an attonrey to do this was very expensive option for us. So my friend is doing it by himslef & waiting to get the divorce yet.
All the best!