My lawyer need legal advice

[shyaushu]

Here's an update for those of you unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation (a disengenuous marriage).

 

I went to the Immigration Office in Charleston, WV yesterday to get documentation that I had reported my wife's disappearance (abandonment) to them a few days after it occurred. They were really nice and supplied me with a letter (on letter head) that stated I had reported her disappearance to their office on the date I did. I also asked the Immigration Officer for advice regarding what I could do to try and prevent my wife from succeeding in her conditional status removal petition.

 

He (an investigator with the criminal fraud unit) asked the "front office" Immigration Officer about it and she told him my first letter to the office regarding the sham nature of my marriage had been received, and that her file had been requested from the Alabama repository. It arrived in the Charleston office last week, and my letter was filed in it. She advised me to continue to supply any additional inofrmation I felt documented her disingenuous interest in marrying me, and that new information would be added to her file.

 

All of this will not, of course, ensure her petition will be rejected (assuming we are divorced at that time), but it will carry a lot of weight. At a minimum she will have to explain why she abandoned me, why she returned after two months and why she filed a bogus "domestic violence" allegation against me. The e-mails she sent me while she was gone talk about how she wanted a husband who had more money than I had; how I couldn't buy her the "fashionable and expensive clothes" she desired and how she needed money to pay large debts (previously unknown to me!) she had in China. Among the excuses she mentions for leaving me were that she didn't like the food I ordered for her in restaurants! (I'm not joking. And we did not eat in "fast food" places -- we ate in really nice, expensive French, Indian and Italian restaurants).

 

I suppose such documents will raise a number of questions regarding the nature of our marriage.

 

So, the way things are unfolding, I recommend anyone who believes his spouse married him/her for something other than love do the following.

 

1. Stay married. Being married -- even if you are separated at the time of filing -- gives the petitioner maximum leverage. The petition can not go forward without the husband at this point. Persist in a sham separation to "try to resolve things", if necessary.

2. Stay alert for fabricated "domestic violence" allegations. Do everything you can to protect yourself against this, even though it is very problematic. Try to never be together without other witnesses.

3. If you do get divorced (and your spouse now is entitled to file for her/himself), write to the nearest Immigration office and supply them with as much documentation as you can.

 

They cannot independently investigate every marriage, of course, but such information is extremely important to them in making a determination at the removal hearing. Moreover, the deportation of the deceptive spouse results in TERMINATION of the responsibilities under the I-864. This is critical, if the petitioner does not want a con artist to live off his/her income for the rest of their stay here in the US. Once the beneficiary is legally admitted into the US they have a great deal of power, and getting the duped spouse to underwrite the rest of their lives here is not that difficult. Protect yourself!

[Urkidding]

It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row and you also have your head screwed on right!

 

I had a divorce attorney once tell me ¡°There is no friendly divorce, someone always comes out hurting¡±.

 

I wish you all the luck and hope for the best for your future. Based on your writings I am sure that you will be able to carry on without her.

[Guest Byron]

Kudos to you, too, dnoblett. Your posting suggests a refinement to the strategy that may accomplish the unltimate goal with more certainty. That is, getting her the hell out of here and ending the I-184 nightmare.

 

I will confer with my attorney and suggest we move to a "separation". I don't mind paying her for her living expenses for the next 10 months. It would be money well spent.

 

There are lessons here for all, but I leave it up to you to see what they are. At a minimum, it suggests the one ace-in-the-hole the immigration fraud perpetrator has is a bogus "battered spouse" allegation. Holding your ground and forcing her and her lawyer to convince a judge the allegations are credible is the difficult, but only choice.

 

I am certain she and her lawyer came up with this strategy because it can be prolematic for the husband to counter claims of wife beating, even without any evidence whatever (no police report; no "911" call; no telling close friends of the alleged incident; filing the allegation in Magistrate's Court 3-6 months after it allegedly occurred and two days before the hearing on my domestic violence petition, etc.). Our current society has created a certain "guilty until proven innocent" climate for allegations of men supposedly battering their wives. If she said it it is true.

 

In contrast, my wife threatened to kill me and I reported it to the police and got a protective order. Yet my allegations (which are true and supported by evidence) appear to be being treated as not true.

 

I'm all for doing everything pssible to protect woman from any sort of abuse, but that does not include a "carte blanche" to destroy their husbands with an omnipotent weapon -- the allegation.

 

This stuff needs a lot more balance.

 

 

I am by no means an expert on this subject but from what I read from (Tywy_99) post, the best way to handle situations like this it to not be hasty and file for a divorce, the best course of action it to file for a separation. A LPR cannot file to lift conditions separately unless they are divorced, if only separated, they need to file jointly to remove the conditions with a few exceptions, and that is where you get the leverage.

 

Filing if the Couple is Separated

 

More troublesome is if the couple is still married, but separated or otherwise not getting along. With limited exception, as long as the couple is legally married, it is necessary to have a joint petition. Thus, troubled marriages often need either to be reconciled or terminated in order to file the I-751. As explained below, the I-751 can be filed by divorced individuals, and may be approved, as long as there is sufficient evidence that the marriage was genuine when initially entered into. It is more difficult to satisfy the USCIS in such scenarios, however.

 

Joint-Filing Waived in Limited Cases

 

There are two situations in which a person who is still legally married can file the I-751 without the spouse. The first is if the person entered into a marriage in good faith, but has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the petitioning spouse. The second is if termination of permanent resident status and removal from the U.S. would result in extreme hardship to the foreign national. Extreme hardship is a high standard and can be based only upon conditions that arose after the conditional residency was acquired.

http://www.murthy.com/news/n_remcon.html

http://www.divorceinfo.com/trialseparation.htm

 

I am not sure if I interpreted your statement correctly but did you say you don't mind paying her living expenses for 10 months and money well spent? I thought in your previous post you didn't have the money to spend because you just have SS check. I wouldn't give her one penny. My case was opposite from yours but similar in many ways. First my ex had police record of assaulting me. You should not do anything until after her conditional residence expires. In the mean time you should report her to the immigration folks and have them document everything you said about her. They will red flag her file. Without evidence and police record she doesn't have a chance and the ball is in your court for sure. You need an immigration lawyer that also knows divorce law in your state. She is deportable after her green card expires unless she applies to remove the conditions herself because of domestic violence. Then there will be a hearing and it will be your word against hers, and like I said without evidence she doesn't have a chance while you can present police records against her. There are a few wacko Chinese ladies out there and you and I were married to them. I believe they suffered from some organic brain condition that cannot be cured. You have it much easier than I had believe me. Now I have to pay child support when my ex tricked me into adopting her daughter. I lost everything and she got everything of mine including brand new car and equity in home and my retirement money. Unfortunately you cannot tell what's inside someones head until you live with them for a while.

[shyaushu]

I am so sorry for you. Your wife really did fleece you!

 

Things like this are so incredibly sad. Most of us (there are "bad actors" on both sides of this, as we all know) get involved with Chinese women or men for the most innocent and basic of reasons -- to have a good person to share our lives with and to share love.

 

People that exploit that connnection are the human equivalent of sexually transmitted diseases. They manipulate us in our very weakest moments and infect us with, sometimes incurable, diseases.

 

But life's a bitch and then you die. It's always a "buyer beware" world and you are responsible for the choices you make.

 

I certainly wish you and all the others well. I am not as sanguine about my chances and the "red flags" that are certain to torpedo my current wife's chances of ultimately obtaining unconditional permanent resident status. The INS people indicated the stuff I have already filed will definitely not help her, and they encouraged me to send them anything I had. But they could not make any assurances, of course.

 

And unlike you, I do not have a (probably lovable) child to support and no new car to forfeit, although my Social Security check may be up for grabs.

 

Today I am sending INS a copy of the original "ad" on Date.com my wife used to pedal herself, and it is clearly a photo of another woman, and one that is five years her junior at that. Her first e-mail also says "I want to search for a future marriage and leave this hurt place" -- not exactly a resounding endorcement of a love-inspired liaison!

 

She can hopefully get an opportunity to explain all that to the Immigration Judge . . .

 

There are deceptors and thieves everywhere in life, and self-serving, Chinese Internet brides are the least of them. All you love bird hopefuls out there, be careful! Take your time to really get to know the person you plan to marry and make as certain as you can they are completely on the level. Then, if the unthinkable happens, it is just the crap that happens in life.

 

But you have only yourself to blame if you fail to exercise due diligence!

 

 

 

Kudos to you, too, dnoblett. Your posting suggests a refinement to the strategy that may accomplish the unltimate goal with more certainty. That is, getting her the hell out of here and ending the I-184 nightmare.

 

I will confer with my attorney and suggest we move to a "separation". I don't mind paying her for her living expenses for the next 10 months. It would be money well spent.

 

There are lessons here for all, but I leave it up to you to see what they are. At a minimum, it suggests the one ace-in-the-hole the immigration fraud perpetrator has is a bogus "battered spouse" allegation. Holding your ground and forcing her and her lawyer to convince a judge the allegations are credible is the difficult, but only choice.

 

I am certain she and her lawyer came up with this strategy because it can be prolematic for the husband to counter claims of wife beating, even without any evidence whatever (no police report; no "911" call; no telling close friends of the alleged incident; filing the allegation in Magistrate's Court 3-6 months after it allegedly occurred and two days before the hearing on my domestic violence petition, etc.). Our current society has created a certain "guilty until proven innocent" climate for allegations of men supposedly battering their wives. If she said it it is true.

 

In contrast, my wife threatened to kill me and I reported it to the police and got a protective order. Yet my allegations (which are true and supported by evidence) appear to be being treated as not true.

 

I'm all for doing everything pssible to protect woman from any sort of abuse, but that does not include a "carte blanche" to destroy their husbands with an omnipotent weapon -- the allegation.

 

This stuff needs a lot more balance.

 

 

I am by no means an expert on this subject but from what I read from (Tywy_99) post, the best way to handle situations like this it to not be hasty and file for a divorce, the best course of action it to file for a separation. A LPR cannot file to lift conditions separately unless they are divorced, if only separated, they need to file jointly to remove the conditions with a few exceptions, and that is where you get the leverage.

 

Filing if the Couple is Separated

 

More troublesome is if the couple is still married, but separated or otherwise not getting along. With limited exception, as long as the couple is legally married, it is necessary to have a joint petition. Thus, troubled marriages often need either to be reconciled or terminated in order to file the I-751. As explained below, the I-751 can be filed by divorced individuals, and may be approved, as long as there is sufficient evidence that the marriage was genuine when initially entered into. It is more difficult to satisfy the USCIS in such scenarios, however.

 

Joint-Filing Waived in Limited Cases

 

There are two situations in which a person who is still legally married can file the I-751 without the spouse. The first is if the person entered into a marriage in good faith, but has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the petitioning spouse. The second is if termination of permanent resident status and removal from the U.S. would result in extreme hardship to the foreign national. Extreme hardship is a high standard and can be based only upon conditions that arose after the conditional residency was acquired.

http://www.murthy.com/news/n_remcon.html

http://www.divorceinfo.com/trialseparation.htm

 

I am not sure if I interpreted your statement correctly but did you say you don't mind paying her living expenses for 10 months and money well spent? I thought in your previous post you didn't have the money to spend because you just have SS check. I wouldn't give her one penny. My case was opposite from yours but similar in many ways. First my ex had police record of assaulting me. You should not do anything until after her conditional residence expires. In the mean time you should report her to the immigration folks and have them document everything you said about her. They will red flag her file. Without evidence and police record she doesn't have a chance and the ball is in your court for sure. You need an immigration lawyer that also knows divorce law in your state. She is deportable after her green card expires unless she applies to remove the conditions herself because of domestic violence. Then there will be a hearing and it will be your word against hers, and like I said without evidence she doesn't have a chance while you can present police records against her. There are a few wacko Chinese ladies out there and you and I were married to them. I believe they suffered from some organic brain condition that cannot be cured. You have it much easier than I had believe me. Now I have to pay child support when my ex tricked me into adopting her daughter. I lost everything and she got everything of mine including brand new car and equity in home and my retirement money. Unfortunately you cannot tell what's inside someones head until you live with them for a while.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

 

People that exploit that connnection [sic] are the human equivalent of sexually transmitted diseases. They manipulate us in our very weakest moments and infect us with, sometimes incurable, diseases.

 

But life's a bitch and then you die. It's always a "buyer beware" world and you are responsible for the choices you make......

 

....But you have only yourself to blame if you fail to exercise due diligence!

The time it takes to heal is determined by when you stop blaming others for what goes wrong in life and begin taking ownership of your life. A good Captain will take responsibility for his ship when it runs aground rather than blaming it on the drunken helmsman....