Derivative Asylee Naturalization question

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akmh123

Registered Users (C)
Hello everyone,

I have my Naturalization Interview in 2 weeks and I am panicking. This is my story:
My husband got approved for political asylum in May 1999 and I became a derivative asylee (AS7). One year later, in May 2000, we both applied for the Residency. In October 2001 we got divorced and in May 2005 I recieved my Permanent Resident Card with a "resident since" date of May 2004. In February of 2009 I sent my Naturalization applicaion. I've already done the fingerprints and my Naturalization interview is in two weeks.

Last night I read on the USCIS site that, as a derivative asylee, I should have reamained married to my now ex-husband until the Residency got approved. I am freaking out about the possibility that at my Naturalization interview the immigration officer asks questions about this situation and I end up with a revoked Permanent Residency. What are the chances of Immigration approving my LPR if I did not qualify for it. Should I worry about this, or have peace of mind. I barely slept last night thinkig about it and probably won't sleep until I get some kind of clarification.

PLEAASE HELP ME!!!


Thank you in advance. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
akmh123 said:
Hello everyone,

I have my Naturalization Interview in 2 weeks and I am panicking. This is my story:
My husband got approved for political asylum in May 1999 and I became a derivative asylee (AS7). One year later, in May 2000, we both applied for the Residency. In October 2001 we got divorced and in May 2005 I recieved my Permanent Resident Card with a "resident since" date of May 2004. In February of 2009 I sent my Naturalization applicaion. I've already done the fingerprints and my Naturalization interview is in two weeks.

Last night I read on the USCIS site that, as a derivative asylee, I should have reamained married to my now ex-husband until the Residency got approved. I am freaking out about the possibility that at my Naturalization interview the immigration officer asks questions about this situation and I end up with a revoked Permanent Residency. What are the chances of Immigration approving my LPR if I did not qualify for it. Should I worry about this, or have peace of mind. I barely slept last night thinkig about it and probably won't sleep until I get some kind of clarification.

PLEAASE HELP ME!!!


Thank you in advance. :)
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I suggest that you consult a good immigration attorney before going to the interview. This COULD be serious.
 
Unlike refugee derivatives, asylum derivatives must remain married to the principal until adjustment of status.

However, the asylum program allows derivatives who no longer meet the definition of a spouse of principal to apply on their own by filing I-589.

Check with an experienced lawyer to determine if you must reapply for permanent residency via I-589. As for your naturalization, USCIS will most likely catch that you divorced before you adjusted status and therefore do not qualify as your permanent residency status was obtained when the initial condition (marriage) was no longer met. Note, even if you are denied naturalization and permanent residency is annuled, you still remain an asylee until an immigration judge decides otherwise.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=3a82ef4c766fd010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD
 
akmh123 said:
Hello everyone,

I have my Naturalization Interview in 2 weeks and I am panicking. This is my story:
My husband got approved for political asylum in May 1999 and I became a derivative asylee (AS7). One year later, in May 2000, we both applied for the Residency. In October 2001 we got divorced and in May 2005 I recieved my Permanent Resident Card with a "resident since" date of May 2004. In February of 2009 I sent my Naturalization applicaion. I've already done the fingerprints and my Naturalization interview is in two weeks.

Last night I read on the USCIS site that, as a derivative asylee, I should have reamained married to my now ex-husband until the Residency got approved. I am freaking out about the possibility that at my Naturalization interview the immigration officer asks questions about this situation and I end up with a revoked Permanent Residency. What are the chances of Immigration approving my LPR if I did not qualify for it. Should I worry about this, or have peace of mind. I barely slept last night thinkig about it and probably won't sleep until I get some kind of clarification.

PLEAASE HELP ME!!!


Thank you in advance. :)
Click to expand...

I would not panic since the following scenario is likely:

As both thankful and Bobsmyth noted (and as you noted) you were probably not eligible to gain permanent residency. Your green card might be taken away through a court proceeding, but you can regain it by applying for asylum nunc pro tunc as noted on the USCIS web site. I am assumining that it is that easy, although it is best to do this through an immigration attorney.
 
But I don't understand how USCIS did not catch this before approving my residency. And why are they sending me to a naturalization interview if Ithey're going to take my LPR status. Shoudn't they have sent a letter or something saying my Residency was going to be annulled? Why waste time sending me to the interview? I don't get it.
 
akmh123 said:
But I don't understand how USCIS did not catch this before approving my residency. And why are they sending me to a naturalization interview if Ithey're going to take my LPR status. Shoudn't they have sent a letter or something saying my Residency was going to be annulled? Why waste time sending me to the interview? I don't get it.
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You indicate that you submitted your I-485 application in 2001 (when you were still married). However, at the time of adjudication (in 2005) they approved your application based on the eligibility criteria/evidence you submitted in 2001. I partially blame them for this error because they should have interviewed you before approving your case and determined that you were no longer eligible for permanent residency and needed asylum in your own right but I am sure they were trying to get out of the backlog and failed to do so. You should bring an immigration attorney well versed in these matters to your naturalization interview however, I believe your chances of being granted citizenship are slim.
 
akmh123 said:
But I don't understand how USCIS did not catch this before approving my residency. And why are they sending me to a naturalization interview if Ithey're going to take my LPR status. Shoudn't they have sent a letter or something saying my Residency was going to be annulled? Why waste time sending me to the interview? I don't get it.
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Did you have an interview before your LPR status was approved or did you received any letter from USCIS requesting to know if you are still married? They could only know what you did or didn't tell them.
As for naturalization interview, it is to verify your eligibility for naturalization, not to revoke your LPR status. However, the naturalization process may trigger them to notice that your LPR status was obtained after divorce and file to remove your LPR status afterwards.
 
At the time there was a lag time of at least five years between when an I-485 was filed and when it was approved. The reason for this was a cap on the number of people who could become permanent residents on the basis of asylum.

When the USCIS adjudicated an I-485 five years after filing, they (typically) did not ask the applicant to update his/her information. The vast majority of asylum based I-485s were and are approved remotely by a Service Center. So there is no interview.

So problems like these arise from time to time. The USCIS shares the blame for the situation the OP finds herself in. But I do not expect the USCIS to accept blame. The OP needs an attorney by her side.
 
akmh123 said:
And why are they sending me to a naturalization interview if Ithey're going to take my LPR status. Shoudn't they have sent a letter or something saying my Residency was going to be annulled? Why waste time sending me to the interview? I don't get it.
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They sent you a request for a naturalization interview because you applied for naturalization!!!

At this point nobody at the USCIS has looked at your N-400 with sufficent care to have noticed the problem. It is up to the interviewing officer to vet you.
 
thankful said:
At the time there was a lag time of at least five years between when an I-485 was filed and when it was approved. The reason for this was a cap on the number of people who could become permanent residents on the basis of asylum.

When the USCIS adjudicated an I-485 five years after filing, they (typically) did not ask the applicant to update his/her information. The vast majority of asylum based I-485s were and are approved remotely by a Service Center. So there is no interview.

So problems like these arise from time to time. The USCIS shares the blame for the situation the OP finds herself in. But I do not expect the USCIS to accept blame. The OP needs an attorney by her side.
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I would agree. I know this is beyond the scope of this forum, but I wonder if there is a legal statute that may preclude USCIS from revoking OP's LPR status based on USCIS' failure to verify eligibility at the time of adjudication.
 
vdostoi1 said:
I would agree. I know this is beyond the scope of this forum, but I wonder if there is a legal statute that may preclude USCIS from revoking OP's LPR status based on USCIS' failure to verify eligibility at the time of adjudication.
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No legal statute. But it is possible on equitable grounds. This is really the province of legal professionals.
 
I want to sincerely thank you all for asnwering my question. I just came back from talking to the immigration lawyer that helped me fill out my N-400 and she told me that as long as I applied for the residency while I was still married that it should't be a problem. Especially because we had a kid together at the time of the application. She also asked me if I had an interview before the residency aproval and when I told her no she said "don't worry about it". She said that she could come with me to the interview in case I felt more comfortable that way.
I gotta admit that I am still nervous about the interview but I am more at ease now that I have spoken to a lawyer who deals with immigration on a daily basis.
PS: I agree with thankful about the fact that it will be also a matter of how difficult the immigration officer wans to be. Maybe if the lawyer is sitting next to me they'll behave themselves. Do you guys think I sohuld bring the lawyer to the inetrview?

thank you again guys.... you rock! :)
 
The law requires that on the date you were granted adjustment you were still the spouse of the principal applicant granted asylum. Because you were divorced on the date of adjustment (date of application is not relevant) you were technically not eligible for that green card.

This is a highly unusual situation. I have no idea how they will react to this. I wish you good luck.
 
thankful said:
The law requires that on the date you were granted adjustment you were still the spouse of the principal applicant granted asylum. Because you were divorced on the date of adjustment (date of application is not relevant) you were technically not eligible for that green card.

This is a highly unusual situation. I have no idea how they will react to this. I wish you good luck.
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I have to agree with thankful. I do not believe that your attorney is correct. I am also a derivative asylee of (my mother was the principal applicant). I was not allowed to adjust status because when I filed my adjustment application, I still met the definition of a child. However, by the time it was being adjudicated, I was in my mid-20s and I had to file I-589 to be granted asylum in my own right (since I no longer met the definition of a child) to avoid the exact same situation you are facing. Keep us posted.
 
But they still issued the card to me. I'll take her with me to the interview and see what happens. Since they didn't deny anything so far maybe i'll be lucky enough to get an Immigration Officer that is not THAT familiar with derivative asylees requirements. I'll definetely keep you posted on it.
 
akmh123 said:
But they still issued the card to me. I'll take her with me to the interview and see what happens. Since they didn't deny anything so far maybe i'll be lucky enough to get an Immigration Officer that is not THAT familiar with derivative asylees requirements. I'll definetely keep you posted on it.
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Keep us posted. This is a very interesting situation.
 
I'm kinda puzzled...when you say that you were not allowed to adjust status, does that mean INS notified you or denied your application or you just went ahead and filed for your own I-589? Because mine seem to be the only case I read in this forum (and believe me I've searched the forums) where INS granted them the Residency. Normally they got denied and were asked to doe the I-589 on their own.
What do you reckon happened here? My lawyer told me that it could be because we have an US Citizen child, or maybe because they knew that the marriage was not fraudulent.
 
Whoever saw your file and approved your interview must have added 2 + 2 which leads me to believe that maybe your lawyer is partially right by saying that you only needed to comply with the requirement at the time of application. Anyhow, we will see, because USCIS is like the twilight zone. Good luck.- :)

akmh123 said:
I'm kinda puzzled...when you say that you were not allowed to adjust status, does that mean INS notified you or denied your application or you just went ahead and filed for your own I-589? Because mine seem to be the only case I read in this forum (and believe me I've searched the forums) where INS granted them the Residency. Normally they got denied and were asked to doe the I-589 on their own.
What do you reckon happened here? My lawyer told me that it could be because we have an US Citizen child, or maybe because they knew that the marriage was not fraudulent.
Click to expand...
 
akmh123 said:
I'm kinda puzzled...when you say that you were not allowed to adjust status, does that mean INS notified you or denied your application or you just went ahead and filed for your own I-589? Because mine seem to be the only case I read in this forum (and believe me I've searched the forums) where INS granted them the Residency. Normally they got denied and were asked to doe the I-589 on their own.
What do you reckon happened here? My lawyer told me that it could be because we have an US Citizen child, or maybe because they knew that the marriage was not fraudulent.
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I actually knew about the law myself and I went ahead and filed the I-589.
 
akmh123 said:
What do you reckon happened here? My lawyer told me that it could be because we have an US Citizen child, or maybe because they knew that the marriage was not fraudulent.
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Marriage fraud is not the issue. So having a child is beside the point. The issue is that the law clearly requires that as of the date of asylee adjustment you must be legally married to the main asylee applicant. Look at your green card. It has an adjustment code of AS7. This means that you adjusted as the spouse of an asylee.

If I were the interviewing officer, I would pretend that I did not notice this problem. Hopefully the person you see is as nice as I am. :)
 
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