Can I Get A Greencard Though We Separate?

M

makinew1

Registered Users (C)
Hello.

I got married with US citized a half year ago and got the 2 years conditioned green card in Aug 07.

I have a very hard time to live with my husband and if possible, I would really want to move out from the apt we're sharing(rent).

He didn't cheat on me but his friendship with his ex-girlfriend has been driving me crazy for a while and I lost my hair by stresses and really want to live separately.

I do not hate him or anything, but I just want to leave from his life quietly. I am wondering if there is any way to get a greencard without living together for 2 years.

I would really appreciate if you could reply me. Thank you in advance.
 
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If you end up divorcing, you can remove the condition yourself but have to prove that you had bona fide marriage intentions when you entered into this marriage. It wouldn't be a good idea to pretend to still have a bona fide marriage when you remove the condition.
 
Getting a GC after a divorce?

Thank you for your reply.

What kind of proof could be able to prove that it was bona fide marriage other than photos? I have been living with him for few months, so I have bills for utilities that has our both names. I have a join bank account with him too.

To remove the condition by myself after divorce, would I need my husband's signature? Or once we divorced, could I do it by myself without any help of my husband? Just because I know he won't help me at all once we divorced.

Thank you again. I really appreciate your help.
 
You'll be able to remove the condition without his signature. You can find instructions about the evidence to provide in subsection "Evidence of the Relationship" of the I-751 instructions. Specifically it says:

Submit copies of documents indicating that the marriage upon which you were granted conditional status was entered in ''good faith'' and was not for the purpose of circumventing immigration laws. Submit copies of as many documents as you wish to establish this fact and to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date, and to demonstrate any circumstances surrounding the end of the relationship, if it has ended.

Then the instructions proceed to cover specific examples.
 
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Since you only live with him a few months and you are thinking in divorce... I dont think CIS will remove the conditions of your card.
 
no non no...
If you are divoced to file the cond. gc removal alone, you will have to show substantial evidence that your husband was abusive to you, like bruises, wounds, phone call convers, recordings etc. 90% of the time thoes that try to file solo after divorce end up in denial.
But if still married and having trouble in paradise, i'm sure they can understand that no marriage is perfect and as long as you file together you will be granted.
So think it over very carefully, is it worth the risk of loosing everything, or can yo work it out with your husband ...... at least for the time being till all is done.
Just an opinion.
 
godisgoodtome said:
no non no...
If you are divoced to file the cond. gc removal alone, you will have to show substantial evidence that your husband was abusive to you, like bruises, wounds, phone call convers, recordings etc. 90% of the time thoes that try to file solo after divorce end up in denial.
But if still married and having trouble in paradise, i'm sure they can understand that no marriage is perfect and as long as you file together you will be granted.
So think it over very carefully, is it worth the risk of loosing everything, or can yo work it out with your husband ...... at least for the time being till all is done.
Just an opinion.
Click to expand...

How did you conjure this? :confused:
 
godisgoodtome said:
no non no...
If you are divoced to file the cond. gc removal alone, you will have to show substantial evidence that your husband was abusive to you, like bruises, wounds, phone call convers, recordings etc. 90% of the time thoes that try to file solo after divorce end up in denial.
But if still married and having trouble in paradise, i'm sure they can understand that no marriage is perfect and as long as you file together you will be granted.
So think it over very carefully, is it worth the risk of loosing everything, or can yo work it out with your husband ...... at least for the time being till all is done.
Just an opinion.
Click to expand...

This is what is called FRAUD. This is the reason why CIS is very strict and harsh about some marraige based GCs.
 
Abuse is not the only reason that marriages break. Irreconcilable differences are the most common grounds for divorce. The OP will need to prove that the marriage was bonafide and not entered into to derive an immigration benefit. No obligation to prove abuse.

godisgoodtome said:
If you are divoced to file the cond. gc removal alone, you will have to show substantial evidence that your husband was abusive to you, like bruises, wounds, phone call convers, recordings etc. 90% of the time thoes that try to file solo after divorce end up in denial.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for responses.

I have never been physically abused by my husband although one time he threw a glass to a wall nearby where I was standing but I didn't take a photo of it or anything. He damaged me verbally but I have never recorded because I never thought I would divorce with him.

I am just confused in here. I can remove the condition by myself if I can proof USCIS that we were in love when we married but decided to divorce which we didn't expect?
If so, should I submit all documents to USCIS to remove the condition after we file the divorce?
 
You remove the condition within the 90 day period before your 2-year anniversary that you became a permanent resident. If you have a good faith marriage at the time then both remove the condition together; if your relationship ended, then you request a waiver that you remove the conditions yourself, and you explain when and why it ended. You need to submit a copy of the divorce decree with the I-751.

EDIT: But see Praetorian's comment below. Any benefit to an earlier I-751 filing?
 
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If you get divorced or your husband dies (and I am not telling you to kill him) you can file the I-751 immediately after whichever event. You do not have to wait until you have been a resident for 1 year and 9 months.
 
austriacus said:
Any benefit to an earlier I-751 filing?
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If that question is open for anyone. Then, I would say that you could technically get your unconditional residency faster... faster than waiting for 21 months... and since you will not be collecting evidence that the marriage was entered in good faith after the divorce it makes sense. :cool:
 
Review the Instructions to Form I-360 and see if the "Battered or Abused Spouse of a USC" applies to you. I believe you'd need evidence of abuse and evidence that you'd suffer extreme hardship if you were removed from this country. Going to the interview yourself, without filing anything that's changing your petition that's currently based on a bona fide marriage with your husband as petitioner, I believe would indeed be a lost cause.

I have the feeling, H-1B is the better/safer way to go for your situation.
 
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it's quite unfortunate this is what you have deal with, but anyways, i know someone who her husband mistreated, and the started having serious problems, on the day of the interview he refused to accompany, but she still went by herself and explained everything that haqs happened to her to the IO, he showed her kindness, by telling her how to file for battered woman,{her husband filed bankruptcy with her name without her permission}

To cut a long story short, she was successful in getting her GC by herself, put everything in God's hands he will see you through, those officer's are there to help us.
 
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This might be useful to read for a battered spouse self-petition.

Apparently, VAWA was amended in 2000 to exclude the "extreme hardship" requirement, but you may want to check on the details of this. Good luck!
 
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6 months seems a bit short to me. if i was you, i would simply live by myself in a separate appartment, but keep your name on the lease in his apt, in utilities etc...keep the joint account, life insurances etc... until the 2 years. after all, it's not that long. just find an arragement with him to live separately, that's all. stay friends, at least for the sake of getting a 10 years GC. go together to a party (NYE is a good idea) and take pictures together. then show up together and just answer the questions. if asked if you live together (very unlikely if you show the docs mentioned above), then simply answer that you have had issues like any other couples, and sometimes you end up sleeping at you girl friend's apt, but you both working on your issues (keep your answer short and elusive). but one important thing: if you take an apt on your own, make sure utilities are NOT under your name (electricity, cable etc..) otherwise, it'll pop out with any background check with your SSN#. all this is a bit borderline, but you gotta do what you gotta do. after all, it's not your fault if your husband's a jerk. and you're taking serious risk of denial if you don't have a serious case lie being mistreated when filing alone, and it's not the case. good luck anyway/
 
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Your best bet is to work it out with your husband. Just work it out somehow. That is probably the easiest way out for you. Ignore what he does with this other woman focus on what you want. It shall all come to pass.

makinew1 said:
Thank you for responses.

I have never been physically abused by my husband although one time he threw a glass to a wall nearby where I was standing but I didn't take a photo of it or anything. He damaged me verbally but I have never recorded because I never thought I would divorce with him.

I am just confused in here. I can remove the condition by myself if I can proof USCIS that we were in love when we married but decided to divorce which we didn't expect?
If so, should I submit all documents to USCIS to remove the condition after we file the divorce?
Click to expand...
 
Makinew1,

I am in the similar situation but not abusive. More like mental torture. I moved out to another state (HI to WA) because of work and money issue. But the plan was for her (USC) to join me after I got settled down at my new place. It took about 9 months for me to get secured with my job, place to stay. When I was ready, my wife wasn't. So I agreed to wait for her to work out her differences. So day turns in to weeks, turns into months, now I have moved away for 2 years and 5 months, we visited each other twice (again due to money and the stupid economy uncertainties) she still not convinced to move over. We filed joined petition last week because that is the best option since we are still working on our issues but we are legally married. We are not in a divorce nor qualify for extreme hardship waiver. So our attorney file petition showing I have my resident address at her place (where I stayed before I moved out) but intended filing address is on my new address. This is important because even though I live in WA, but my “home” is with her. This place in WA is temporary until she moves over and we have a lot of documents (90%) are from this address. Fortunately, she is already contemplating to move over when we file the petition so that is why the WA is our intended filing address.

If she is still not moved to this new place when and if we get called for an interview, we will have to play the "working out our differences" part. This is not sham because every marriage is different. It is unfortunate that things not always work out the way we intended. If the marriage is real at the beginning, there should not be a problem. Plus, it is hard for someone that has lived at a place for so long…. Let a long the beautiful Hawaii, got friends and family there that they will live behind. Not everyone can process changes as quick. Then there is money associates with moving. So it takes time to plan and execute.

I hate to feel like I have been told again and again that doing that is lying. Well, what choice do we have? We are in between options on the petition. We can’t qualify for any of the other options but joint filing. The system is not created to be easy so the best thing is stay under the radar like everything else. USCIS don't have to know all the struggling and heartaches there is out there that each couples are facing. They only have so much time to look into each case and who got time to put in all the details. So present the best picture and hope for the best. If they ask, then it can be explained in detail.

Bottom line is you need to fit the profile and some people here are absolutely correct about your situation. It is not a pretty one but work it would with your husband. But at the same time, keep gathering all the evidence for both cases. Meaning the one you guys do together and the one on what he is doing to the marriage like going back to his ex-girlfriend so when and if you have to file for a divorce, you already have all your ammos to nail the case. If you ended up file jointly and still remain married the time comes to file for removal, you also will have plenty of evidence as a couple.

This is what I learned from my attorney and my situation. So wish me luck and same to you.
 
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