From the USCIS Adjudicator's Field Manual Chapter 25.1 (h)(2) regarding I-751 at:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&CH=afm
(2) Good Faith, Not at Fault .
Despite the best intentions, marriages do not always work out, and sometimes even bona fide marriages fall apart in less than 2 years. IMFA was not meant to be a tool to be used against unlucky or unlikely marriages; it was meant to be a tool against fraud. Accordingly, IMFA provides for a waiver if the alien can establish that he or she entered the marriage in good faith and he or she was not at fault in failing to meet the IMFA requirements. Things to consider when adjudicating this type of waiver include :
· Weight is not given to who filed the divorce. (Initially, the statute required that the alien had to be the moving party in the proceedings to terminate the marriage (i.e., that the alien had terminated the marriage for “good cause”). This occasionally resulted in what became known as “the race to the courthouse.” Since the issue was meant to center on whether the alien had good faith when immigrating, not on whose attorney could file for divorce faster, this requirement was dropped.)
· It does not matter if the conditional resident’s spouse entered the marriage in good faith, only the intent of the conditional resident him or herself is relevant. Interviewing the conditional resident’s former spouse (either in response to a call-in letter, a field examination or a referral to Investigations) may provide relevant and valuable information on the alien’s intent, or it may only result in a spiteful diatribe. Adjudicators should always be aware of the source and motivation of information provi ded. Also, when interviewing a former spouse, always be extremely careful not to divulge any information (such as the alien’s current location) which could result in the alien being subjected to abuse or battering.
· In determining good faith, it is usually helpful to look at the actions of the parties following immigration to the U.S. The same clues which can be useful in an ongoing marriage (e.g., did they establish joint bank account, were health insurance issues coordinated, etc.) are valuable indications of a fraudulent marriage. Perhaps assets which were commingled at the beginning of the marriage would have just been divided at the end. Reviewing the property settlement, which usually accompanies the divorce decr ee, may provide valuable information.
· The statute requires that the alien establish that he or she “was not at fault in failing to meet the requirements” for filing a joint petition for removal of conditions. This should not be read as requiring that the alien’s divorce decree finds his or her spouse to have been at fault, nor does it require that the divorce was obtained on a no-fault basis. You still might determine that the alien was wholly or partly responsible for not meeting the joint petitioning requirements. Likewise, a divorce decree s tating that the alien was “at fault” (with regards to the breakup of the marriage) does not preclude you from independently determining that he or she was not at fault, at least with regard to the requirements of the immigration law.
As the adjudicator, you must make your own determination on this issue. While the language of the divorce decree may provide useful information on the reasons why the marriage was terminated (and therefore why a joint petition was not possible), and may even significantly increase the alien’s burden of proof, the decision on whether to grant the waiver belongs to the Service, not to the divorce court judge. Remember that in the worst marriage fraud cases, the parties to the fraud would agree in advance that the alien would file for divorce and that the petitioning spouse would accept fault for the breakdown of the marriage.
· The statute uses the phrase “has been terminated” when talking about the marriage. As such, an alien whose conditional resident status is approaching the 2-year anniversary of the grant of such status, but who is unable to file a joint petition to remove the conditions because divorce or annulment proceedings have commenced, may not apply for a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on the “good faith” exception. If an alien’s conditional resident status is terminated because he or she could not timely file a Form I-751 , and he or she is placed in removal proceedings, then he or she may request a continuance from the immigration judge to allow for the finalization of the divorce or annulment proceedings. It is noted that the conditional resident whose status has been terminated should be issued a temporary I-551 during the pendency of his or her case before the immigration judge (see Genco Opinion 96-12) .
