A curveball....

H

husaisa

Registered Users (C)
Dear all,
The facts first.

#1) I have a GC and would soon be completing 5 years and applying for a passport.

#2) I got married to a Canadian citizen in India AFTER getting the GC.
She applied for a a student visa in Toronto and got it a couple of months after marriage. She is a student here now and living with me.

#3) At the time of her visa application, she was not sure if marriage in India was recognized by the US hence hastiy put her status down as Single on the visa application

#4) I have since filled my taxes as Married, on every form etc, my marital status has been the Married. I have made no efforts at all to hide my marital status - nor have I or her have been untruthful to the Government or otherwise (except that checkbox on the School Application page)

#5) I am applying for my passport soon and will be applying for her GC soon after. I am a big supporter of being upfront to the INS, hence will be putting in my original date of marriage etc.

My question is -
(A) What would you rate my and my wife's chances of getting through without a problem?
(B) Is there anything that can be done now?

Any input/insight will be great.
Thanks
Sal
 
husaisa said:
Dear all,
The facts first.

#1) I have a GC and would soon be completing 5 years and applying for a passport.

#2) I got married to a Canadian citizen in India AFTER getting the GC.
She applied for a a student visa in Toronto and got it a couple of months after marriage. She is a student here now and living with me.

#3) At the time of her visa application, she was not sure if marriage in India was recognized by the US hence hastiy put her status down as Single on the visa application

#4) I have since filled my taxes as Married, on every form etc, my marital status has been the Married. I have made no efforts at all to hide my marital status - nor have I or her have been untruthful to the Government or otherwise (except that checkbox on the School Application page)

#5) I am applying for my passport soon and will be applying for her GC soon after. I am a big supporter of being upfront to the INS, hence will be putting in my original date of marriage etc.

My question is -
(A) What would you rate my and my wife's chances of getting through without a problem?
(B) Is there anything that can be done now?

Any input/insight will be great.
Thanks
Sal
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell from your post, you yourself are in the clear regarding this issue and you should have no problems with your citizenship application.
You have not misrepresented any information on any immigration/visa applications that you yourself filed in the past.

If anyone should be worried, it is your wife, at the time when, after you get your citizenship, she applies for a GC based on her marriage to you. Of course, she could (and probably should) argue that she made an honest mistake on that student visa application. However, there may be questions raise at that point. If she did disclose that she was married to a GC holder at the time of her student visa application, it probably would have jeopardized her chances of getting a student visa because of the nonimmigrant intent requirement of the F-1 visa. So USCIS might not believe that she made an honest mistake. Still, it seems to me that you both should get through all right, although a lawer's help is advisable in your wife's case.
 
Anyone with any more info...

Thanks Baikal!!
Your response is much appreciated. I would like to get others to wiegh in on the matter.And recommendation for decent lawyers in NY/NJ would also be appreciated.
 
hey buddy...
get a lawyer asap....90% of the io's are really nice people who understand situations...but if you are not lucky to have one of those in ur interiview,your wife's visa is going to be rejected and subjected to immeadiate removal...as this case interprets that your wife has lied on a federal application to gain entry to the united states....
The case is very much against you as of now...dont take chances...same time there are not a lot of cases where the wife of a citizen gets denied..but get professional help....
 
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Query -- do you think that during his interview they will ask him how is wife is on a student visa? If they don't, his own application will probably be smooth, right?

It is when it comes to his wife's GC filing and USC application that there will be issues. Correct?
 
Shribuy said:
Query -- do you think that during his interview they will ask him how is wife is on a student visa? If they don't, his own application will probably be smooth, right?

It is when it comes to his wife's GC filing and USC application that there will be issues. Correct?
Click to expand...
This is definitely complicated,his case could be jeapordised too.If he has stated that he is single on the n400 application and the io @ the time of the n400 interview asks question about his marital status or goes through the tax returns...
 
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again,he says that he is applying for a passport so i guess he is a citizen...if he is a citizen i dont see any issue for him as of now...
coz practically ,they wont go behind him for now...again it all depends on his luck.
 
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He's not yet a citizen. "have a GC and would soon be completing 5 years and applying for a passport." He means that he will do N-400 and then apply.

So...? During his N-400 interview, will his wife's application for an F-1 even come up?
 
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yeah,i mean there is a high chance of the io asking him for tax returns...that has happened to a lot of ppl...
now if he lies on the application that he is single and hands over the tax returns which states that he is married...its pretty obvious...


ok i am sorry..he said he is going to put the date of marriage on the application...
so its not going to be a issue for him...coz he hasnt done anything wrong...but while applying for his wife he needs to hire a lawyer..
 
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Right. That's what I thought.

B/c in his situation -- he puts the date of the marriage and he filed tax returns as married. So far so good.

Now, he also needs to put his wife's status. So, he'll say F-1. But I don't think he needs to put in when his wife entered the country. That's the only hole I see where he could be in trouble. IF he puts the date his wife entered the country, it could raise a flag since the IO will know F-1s are hard when the person is married to a GC. BUT there is NO where on the form (I think) that you need to declare when your spouse entered the country.

So, all in all, his application should be fine.

His wife though is a different case since she's the one who mis-stated the facts. It could be viewed as a mistake or as providing false info to enter the country. But by then she'll be the wife of a citizen, so *maybe* she gets off...

Husaisa - you should get a lawyer for your wife.
 
Shribuy said:
Right. That's what I thought.

B/c in his situation -- he puts the date of the marriage and he filed tax returns as married. So far so good.

Now, he also needs to put his wife's status. So, he'll say F-1. But I don't think he needs to put in when his wife entered the country. That's the only hole I see where he could be in trouble. IF he puts the date his wife entered the country, it could raise a flag since the IO will know F-1s are hard when the person is married to a GC. BUT there is NO where on the form (I think) that you need to declare when your spouse entered the country.

So, all in all, his application should be fine.

His wife though is a different case since she's the one who mis-stated the facts. It could be viewed as a mistake or as providing false info to enter the country. But by then she'll be the wife of a citizen, so *maybe* she gets off...

Husaisa - you should get a lawyer for your wife.
Click to expand...
exactly,i dont think he is going to have any issue,its his wife and most probably the io wouldnt bother to go through all those at the time of his interview....coz as it is they are loaded with work and understaffed..so they just want to make sure the applicant has everythig right.
 
Personally I think you'll be in more hot water if you try something like this now, rather than just dealing with the existing (smaller?) problem if it comes up during your wife's GC interview.
 
My take - you have not lied. So your citizenship process is clear. Your wife not getting caught now, does not mean she will not be caught during green card process or during citizenship process. Lying for immigration benefits is a serious issue and can permanently bar applicants from immigration benefits.

If I was an IO, I would never buy stating "single status" to get a non-immigrant visa as an "honest mistake". It is a clear case of fraud. Her outcome will depend on the IO she gets.
 
Thanks all for wieghing in on this. The thing is I should have seen this error a while back and done something about it. But well.... It is what it is - and I am aware of the incredulity associated with the "honest mistake" statement. So on to further questions -
#1) I am going to hire a lawyer - what should my expectation be? If a lawyer accompanies my wife for her interview, would this not send off alert signals to the IO?

#2) The marital status does not appear on her student visa paper (attached to the passport). But there is a place in the college application form where marital status has to checked off. I wonder if the IO would have information about which marital status she stated when applying for her student visa.

#3)I was gaming the port of entry situation. Me and my wife have taken several trips to go back home as well as vacationing. I think now that she has basically been lucky never to be asked whether she is married. I wonder what the reaction would have been if she was to reveal her marriage to a GC as opposed to travelling with me after I get my citizenship and then , if asked, revealing her marriage to a USC? (I am contemplating travel plans home to go alone and travel with her only when I am a USC. Comments??)
On another note, this whole cooperation on the Message board has completely blown me away.... 6 years in NYC and you begin to not believe in human qualities. Thanks guys!!
Sal
 
husaisa said:
Thanks all for wieghing in on this. The thing is I should have seen this error a while back and done something about it. But well.... It is what it is - and I am aware of the incredulity associated with the "honest mistake" statement. So on to further questions -
#1) I am going to hire a lawyer - what should my expectation be? If a lawyer accompanies my wife for her interview, would this not send off alert signals to the IO?

there are tons and tons of ppl who hire a lawyer for n400,trust me u wont be the only one...
#2) The marital status does not appear on her student visa paper (attached to the passport). But there is a place in the college application form where marital status has to checked off. I wonder if the IO would have information about which marital status she stated when applying for her student visa.

they are not going to check her school application...but are u sure her visa doc does not have her marital status?
oops btw,they are going to go through her student visa application at the time of u sponsoring her...they do that for sure.
>>my opinion dont lie,before that make sure u talk to a liar sorry lawyer :)...


#3)I was gaming the port of entry situation. Me and my wife have taken several trips to go back home as well as vacationing. I think now that she has basically been lucky never to be asked whether she is married. I wonder what the reaction would have been if she was to reveal her marriage to a GC as opposed to travelling with me after I get my citizenship and then , if asked, revealing her marriage to a USC? (I am contemplating travel plans home to go alone and travel with her only when I am a USC. Comments??)
On another note, this whole cooperation on the Message board has completely blown me away.... 6 years in NYC and you begin to not believe in human qualities. Thanks guys!!

i dont think they ever ask of marital status while travelling,never happened to me...
Sal
Click to expand...
 
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husaisa:

Did you ever get married in the US (forget your actual marriage in your
home country)? If you did, did that happen before you filed for your first
tax return claiming to be "married and filing seperately"?

If yes to both, then you need just to provide US marriage certificate while
applying for your wife's GC or your wife's N400 application.

Good luck
howdy_howdy
//
 
husaisa said:
#2) The marital status does not appear on her student visa paper (attached to the passport). But there is a place in the college application form where marital status has to checked off. I wonder if the IO would have information about which marital status she stated when applying for her student visa.
Click to expand...

You can be absolutely certain USCIS will have a copy of your wife's F-1 application when they process her I-130/I-485.

Idle curiosity on my part, but does your wife file US tax returns, and if so, what marital status does she claim? If she claims "single" she is undermining her claim of making the original honest mistake, and if she claims "married" she has already opened the door to USCIS eventually finding out.

I urge you to seek professional advice before you embark upon some course of action that may significantly impact you & your wife's future immigration benefits.
 
Boatlod,
I have always filed my taxes as Married - even before she got her student visa in Canada (This was becasue being Canadian, she was staying with me while researching schools and all)
Sal
 
The question is not what you filed. The question is what she filed... did she file jointly with you or married filing separately or single?
 
mairrage & tax returns

"If he has stated that he is single on the n400 application and the io @ the time of the n400 interview asks question about his marital status or goes through the tax returns..."
I checked with my accountant, it's perfectly legitimate to file "married filing jointly" when you are divorced or separated and providing support for your former spouse. in fact it shows good moral character.
 
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