Marriage to US Citizen on whitholding of removal

J

jmartinezclark

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

My wife was politically persecuted in Colombia, in Nov. 2005 filed a petition for political asylum in the US, it was denied, and we got witholding of removal. My wife and I have been separated for quite a while now and mantain a very friendly relationship (she hasn't divorced me to help me keep my dependent witholding of removal status), and we have recently agreed to get a divorce. I have a romantic relationship with a US citizen and we have decided to get married once my divorce is finalized.

My questions are,
1) How do I adjust my status from witholding of removal to a permanent resident? will I have to appear again at the immigration court to adjust my status to a permanent resident before I file my I-485 (Petition for Alien Relative)?

2) I have a business proposition in which I will have to travel temporarily to Panama in the next few months. Can I request an Advance Parole/Travel Permit to travel while my I-485 application is in process?

Thank you in advance!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1. Your future wife has to file petition for you to adust your status (I think is I-130) along together with the I-485... then you will be schedule for an interview with your wife in a local office, and then after the interview the officer will approve or deny your case. The whole process takes 6 to 9 months, and then if the officer approves you at the interview you could get your passport stamped with a temporary permanent resident... it will take another month or so to get your GC in the mail.

2. You can try to request an advance parolee (you do not qualify for travel document through your marriage) you will be lucky if CIS approved it... since you have previous withholding... but you can try... my advice would be to wait till you get approve in the interview... of course if everything goes well...

Good luck...
 
Thank you for your answer. One more question in regards to the timing of my divorce and my new marriage. After I get my divorce from my previous wife I will be technically out of status since my witholding of removal is dependent on hers, right? Do I have to get married the same day I get my divorce to avoid being out of status? Can I wait a few days between my divorce and my new marriage?

Thanks!
 
jmartinezclark said:
Thank you for your answer. One more question in regards to the timing of my divorce and my new marriage. After I get my divorce from my previous wife I will be technically out of status since my witholding of removal is dependent on hers, right? Do I have to get married the same day I get my divorce to avoid being out of status? Can I wait a few days between my divorce and my new marriage?

Thanks!
Click to expand...



No this is going more complicated than you think. They are going to presume that the marriage is fraudulent and it will take lot of work to convince them the marriage is real.

Get legal representation.
 
I have to agreed with "thankful"...
Even if your future marriage is real, it will be very hard to prove that is real since you are divorcing your present wife to right-after marry your new one.
Get legal representation...

P.S. Marrying your new wife itself doesnt give you status... the actual filing of the relative petition and the I-485... will give you "pending case status"
 
I have always understood that marrying my new wife does not give me status; it would be completelly nonsense to think it does without filling a proper I-485. I am planning to get legal representation to avoid and/or to fight the scrutiny of my new marriage.

My question is in regards to the timing of my new marriage and the filling of the new I-485. Since I will technically be out of status from the day I divorce until the day I submit my I-485. How much time I have after get a divorce decree and I submit my new I-485 or this is really something I should not be concerned about?
 
jmartinezclark said:
I have always understood that marrying my new wife does not give me status; it would be completelly nonsense to think it does without filling a proper I-485. I am planning to get legal representation to avoid and/or to fight the scrutiny of my new marriage.

My question is in regards to the timing of my new marriage and the filling of the new I-485. Since I will technically be out of status from the day I divorce until the day I submit my I-485. How much time I have after get a divorce decree and I submit my new I-485 or this is really something I should not be concerned about?
Click to expand...

How did you get withholding in the first place? That status does not have derivative benefits, meaning that you cannot get in simply because you are the spouse of a grantee.

Because you will be applying as the spouse of a citizen, having been out of status does not present a problem.
 
My original posting contains the explanation how I got my witholding of removal. In essence, this is the explanation again: My wife was politically persecuted in Colombia, in Nov. 2003 filed a petition for political asylum in the US, it was denied at the interview, and then denied at the hearing with the immigration judge. She had a very strong case, however because she filed her petition for political asylum more than a year after being in the US, the judge told her that she had tow options: 1) appeal the denial of the political asylum or 2) get witholding of removal. She chose to get witholding of removal, subsecuently her son (from a previous marriage) and I got it as well.
 
jmartinezclark said:
My original posting contains the explanation how I got my witholding of removal. In essence, this is the explanation again: My wife was politically persecuted in Colombia, in Nov. 2003 filed a petition for political asylum in the US, it was denied at the interview, and then denied at the hearing with the immigration judge. She had a very strong case, however because she filed her petition for political asylum more than a year after being in the US, the judge told her that she had tow options: 1) appeal the denial of the political asylum or 2) get witholding of removal. She chose to get witholding of removal, subsecuently her son (from a previous marriage) and I got it as well.
Click to expand...

You will not automatically lose your withholding status upon divorce.
 
jmartinezclark said:
My original posting contains the explanation how I got my witholding of removal. In essence, this is the explanation again: My wife was politically persecuted in Colombia, in Nov. 2003 filed a petition for political asylum in the US, it was denied at the interview, and then denied at the hearing with the immigration judge. She had a very strong case, however because she filed her petition for political asylum more than a year after being in the US, the judge told her that she had tow options: 1) appeal the denial of the political asylum or 2) get witholding of removal. She chose to get witholding of removal, subsecuently her son (from a previous marriage) and I got it as well.
Click to expand...


"She chose to get witholding of removal, subsecuently her son (from a previous marriage) and I got it as well.[/QUOTE]"

I am little bit confused with this: who is the person who asked for the asylum? Your mother or your wife?

Never mind, I got it from your original posting.....

The only and best way to know this in my opinion is to start the process. Finalize your divorce, marry your new wife, and file for the adjustment. Otherwise, stay on your status of withholding of removal. As other members said there is not simple answer to your question. good luck
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top