JTandMaria
New Member
I am a USC and my wife is Filipino. We were married over a year ago (June , 2008) in the US after dating for 2 years. It is the second marriage for us both and we are both legally divorced. Her first marriage was to her petitioner (K-1 visa) and only lasted 1 year due to unreasonable expectations on his part. While married to her former husband she applied for an Adjustment of Status (I-485). My wife had received no updates on this petition until recently. After we married, we also filed an I-485 for our marriage, thinking this was the right thing to do. We have and continue to try our best to comply with all laws we are aware of regarding our situation.
We received denial letters each dated July 10, 2009, for each of these applications. The denials were due to her divorce from her petioner and that our I-485 was not legitimate because I did not file the original petition. At this point I assume she is "out of status" and will have to leave the country soon and we are preparing for this eventuality. I will then have to file another I-130 petition so she can return. We are unsure of what to do and expect. We have been told many things by many different people including lawyers and USCIS staff. One USCIS staff member suggested that I refile an I-130 ASAP and that she should not have to leave the country at all. (I have been told by a lawyer that he is "dead worng") Two attorney's have suggested that her "unlawfull presence" would not begin to accumulate until the date of the denial (June 10, 2009). I would liek to beleive this, but a USCIS staffer insisted that it would be retroactive to the date of her first I-485 (Feb. 8, 2005), which makes no sense to me at all. This is obviously very important to know, because if she does return to the Phillippines she may not be allowed to return if she stayed longer then she is supposed to. We have also been told by USCIS that she can have no more than 90 days of unlawful presence here before she will be barred from reentry for several years. A lawyer we consulted has said that the time is 180 days. Are there any absolutes in immigration or is everything subject to interpretation and someones whim? How long does she have until she has to leave the country, 30, 90 or 180 days and when did her "unlawful presence" really begin to accumulate? Also how do we notify USCIS that she has departed voluntarily to avoid being placed in proceedings? If she has left and is placed in proceedings what do we do then?
We would of course like to avoid the step voluntary deperature for obvious reasons if at all possible, but I do not see a clear path to this. Any helpful suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
We received denial letters each dated July 10, 2009, for each of these applications. The denials were due to her divorce from her petioner and that our I-485 was not legitimate because I did not file the original petition. At this point I assume she is "out of status" and will have to leave the country soon and we are preparing for this eventuality. I will then have to file another I-130 petition so she can return. We are unsure of what to do and expect. We have been told many things by many different people including lawyers and USCIS staff. One USCIS staff member suggested that I refile an I-130 ASAP and that she should not have to leave the country at all. (I have been told by a lawyer that he is "dead worng") Two attorney's have suggested that her "unlawfull presence" would not begin to accumulate until the date of the denial (June 10, 2009). I would liek to beleive this, but a USCIS staffer insisted that it would be retroactive to the date of her first I-485 (Feb. 8, 2005), which makes no sense to me at all. This is obviously very important to know, because if she does return to the Phillippines she may not be allowed to return if she stayed longer then she is supposed to. We have also been told by USCIS that she can have no more than 90 days of unlawful presence here before she will be barred from reentry for several years. A lawyer we consulted has said that the time is 180 days. Are there any absolutes in immigration or is everything subject to interpretation and someones whim? How long does she have until she has to leave the country, 30, 90 or 180 days and when did her "unlawful presence" really begin to accumulate? Also how do we notify USCIS that she has departed voluntarily to avoid being placed in proceedings? If she has left and is placed in proceedings what do we do then?
We would of course like to avoid the step voluntary deperature for obvious reasons if at all possible, but I do not see a clear path to this. Any helpful suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
