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My friend was brought here when she was 1 year old and is not a legal citizen. She got married 8 years ago and separated after a year. Staying somewhat friends with her "husband" recently shes had her marriage interview with ins and got denied due to lack of evidence of a real marriage.
My question is if she gets divorced with him and remarried can she try again?
First, she did not apply for citizenship, she applied for a greencard based on being married to a US citizen. Citizenship comes later.
Now, to answer your question- it depends- what exactly happened after the interview? Has she been put in removal proceedings? Is the USCIS (it's not INS anymore) taking a case for fraud on her and/ or her husband? If not then technically, she can try again, but trying a second time would be a huge red flag (especially as divorce and re-marriage would happen quickly), and it would be very difficult to get an approval.
Thats wild. My wife had no trouble what so ever getting approved for her GC. Even tho we had photo's and bill's and an affidavit signed and notorized by the lady that married us...we never had to show any of that in her interview. We were nervous wrecks for nothing. And during our first year of being married we were in seperate countries...only getting to see each other every 2 to 3 months for 2 weeks at a time.
Maybe the country of citizenship had something to do with it I don't know. But we did follow every step of the process to the letter. I would highly suggest your friend visit the USCIS website in her next attempt (if there is one) and make sure she/they provide the evidence required.
Thats wild. My wife had no trouble what so ever getting approved for her GC.
But we were of course married and with intent to start living together. This couple has been seperated for 7 years. Not comparable to our case.
OP, I have read and re-read your post numerous times now, and I am afraid it does not make sense to me.
First, you say she is not a legal citizen - does that mean not a citizen as in she does not have a US passport, or does that mean that she is illegally living in the country?
If it is the latter, which it really has to be if the other part is to make any sense, then why on earth did she wait 8 years from the day she was married, to file for a green card?
If in the US illegally, she cannot do much or close to nothing. I know how hard it is even as a legal immigrant, but as an illegal it must be horrendous.
So why did she not try to become legal earlier? Why wait? If this is the first interview that has gone wrong, then why wait so long to file in the first place?
If this is the second interview ... Forget it, the second comes within 2 years to remove the conditional status. It still would not take 8 years.
I'm getting the feeling that there is something very wrong here and you have not been told the whole truth.
The question here is not if she can divorce and re-marry and try again - the question is what is really going on because this does not make any sense.
I agree...weird story and being married and not applied and then applying when you get a divorce and wanting to get married again...
IMo if you get a denial once you will be looked at more the enxt time you try to apply...just common sense and it might not be the best thing to do, applying soon after a denial. JMO.
Please report your "friend' to ICE for deportation or buy her an airline ticket to her country of birth yourself. It is fraud to marry for citizenship and people who knowingly participate are accomplices to this crime.
This thread belongs under "illegal immigration" Mods.......
Since in the OP the person being described has already had an interview with USCIS if there was any wrongdoing then they would already be in deportation proceedings (ICE is a part of the USCIS). No action would be needed from the OP or anyone else. If they are not in deportation proceedings they're not here illegally nor have they committed any offense, there are many ways to be living in the US and not a US Citizen, nor an illegal immigrant.
We also have no real evidence of wrongdoing on the person that the OP is referring to, as he says "his question is..." not his friends question, or they were discussing. Even if he had said anything to cast doubt on this, it is not yet a crime in the US to be thinking of committing an illegal act, it is only a crime for committing an illegal act.
The question asked is valid, after being denied a familial green card by marriage once for lack of evidence of a "real marriage", if someone got married a second time for completely honest reasons, then could they reapply and be successful a second time.
/.../ there are many ways to be living in the US and not a US Citizen, nor an illegal immigrant.
Indeed there are. But the OP states that the person in question has been living in the US since she was 1 year of age. She must then be atleast 18 + 8 years by now (unless she lives in a state that allows marriage at a younger age - which still puts her age above 21 which is the limit if she was brought here on one of her parent's VISA). At her age, she cannot be under a parent's VISA anymore. She therefore needs a VISA of her own (or green card).
The USCIS would most certainly deport her if they find her case fraudulent and/or that she is out of status, but then seeing that we have not been given much info, how can we be certain that that is not on their agenda at this very moment?
We need more info on this. Us guessing won't do the OP any good if he/she wants our help.
We don't need more information. If she entered the country without inspection, then she would have no chance to convert through marriage. Illegal aliens cannot marry citizens and get a GC unless they first return to their home country.
Therefore, we can safely assume that the person in question has a visa, expired or not, and therefore at least an A# if not a SSN. A visa overstay can convert to a LPR without first returning to their home country--in fact they SHOULD--because if she has overstayed her visa by more than 1 year, she'll be facing a 10-year re-entry bar.
Since she has lived in the USA since she was 1 year old, and she is now 8 years into marry-able age, we can also assume that she has a life inside the USA and no where else to go--any more than anyone else who has been inside the USA since childhood would.
So, her best option, to minimize the disruption to her own life and to do her best to comply with the laws of the USA, would indeed be to marry a US citizen or LPR; citizen would be better.
HOWEVER, she should not marry with the intent to only get a LPR. That is immigration fraud, and will most certainly be caught, as her second attempt will send her through the wringer, thanks to all the red flags raised by her first attempt.
So, honestly, her best course of action--unless she has a family/job/home lined up in her home country (and if she does, she should consider returning there)--is to remain in "unlawful" status (if she is on an expired visa), or remain on whatever valid (if it is valid) visa she currently has, until such a time as she can marry permanently for love. After that, she should expect a long, difficult fight to gain her LPR. She'll need to make sure to document every aspect of her life with her spouse and put her name on as many joint documents (lease, car, insurance, etc.) as possible, as well as prepare for some very harsh interrogations when she does reapply.
Indeed there are. But the OP states that the person in question has been living in the US since she was 1 year of age. She must then be atleast 18 + 8 years by now (unless she lives in a state that allows marriage at a younger age - which still puts her age above 21 which is the limit if she was brought here on one of her parent's VISA). At her age, she cannot be under a parent's VISA anymore. She therefore needs a VISA of her own (or green card).
They could be 18 in Missouri (if they have a county Judge's approval it's permitted for under 15's to marry) in reality it's state dependent (more guessing). However I agree, but we do not know whether they do or do not have a current visa. Or indeed what that visa may be, since the courts assume innocent until proven guilty it's not unreasonable for us to take the same position.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweden
The USCIS would most certainly deport her if they find her case fraudulent and/or that she is out of status, but then seeing that we have not been given much info, how can we be certain that that is not on their agenda at this very moment?
It may, only the USCIS knows for sure, and second guessing what they should do is not productive, there may also be very good reasons if they do find that the case is fraudulent that they will not deport (for instance they were originally on an asylee visa).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweden
We need more info on this. Us guessing won't do the OP any good if he/she wants our help.
No, however stating that someone is an illegal immigrant and should be deported without the facts is equally a guess. Which was the only reason I replied to the thread in the first place, there wasn't really enough information in the OP to make any firm statements about the persons next course of action.
They could be 18 in Missouri (if they have a county Judge's approval it's permitted for under 15's to marry) in reality it's state dependent (more guessing). However I agree, but we do not know whether they do or do not have a current visa. Or indeed what that visa may be, since the courts assume innocent until proven guilty it's not unreasonable for us to take the same position.
It may, only the USCIS knows for sure, and second guessing what they should do is not productive, there may also be very good reasons if they do find that the case is fraudulent that they will not deport (for instance they were originally on an asylee visa).
No, however stating that someone is an illegal immigrant and should be deported without the facts is equally a guess. Which was the only reason I replied to the thread in the first place, there wasn't really enough information in the OP to make any firm statements about the persons next course of action.
First, I have not stated that the person is anything. Nor did I bring up deportation - my guess was a reply to what had already been guessed.
And appearantly, yes, you do agree with me. There wasn't enough info in the OP. That's exactly what I said.
I am guessing, as we all are. And from my point of view, we are all basically saying the same things here.
Everyone that has replied has had to make guesses. That does mean that we do not have enough info on this. No one here has been able to definitively answer the question. We cannot give a clear cut answer as to what to do next or how to do it.
We can guess that yes, she can divorce and re-marry. But can we say for sure without knowing her exact status and the circumstances around how they applied for a GC in the frist place?
Let's phrase it like this: Say this person goes to a lawyer and gives him/her ONLY the information we've been given. Does anyone think the lawyer would give a clear cut answer as to what exactly to do next without asking for atleast some more info?
Do we really want the OP to tell his/her friend to do this or that, because some people on C-D guessed this is possible or this is what we're supposed to do.
If we care about the OP's friend and what happens to her, we don't want to mess up her chances of getting approved by guessing and guessing wrong. I'm not asking for more info to be difficult, I'm asking because I do not believe that the OP will get the correct answer without us actually knowing what we're talking about.
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(if they have a county Judge's approval it's permitted for under 15's to marry) in reality it's state dependent (more guessing). However I agree, but we do not know whether they do or do not have a current visa. Or indeed what that visa may be, since the courts assume innocent until proven guilty it's not unreasonable for us to take the same position.
