I'm trying to help my girlfriend, Diana, find a lawyer so that she can appeal or re-file her I-751, which was denied. Diana was married to US citizen, who abandoned her a few months after the marriage. I helped her track him down (using public records) and he cooperated in filing the I-751 jointly. Now we realize this might have been an error to file jointly since they were separated (however not divorced).
The original filing resulted in the USCIS sending back a letter asking for evidence that their marriage was bona fide. However, Diana could not produce this kind of evidence as they had been actually together for so little time, so she did not respond to that request and the I-751 was subsequently denied. Between the joint filing of the I-751 and its denial, Diana procured a divorce from her American husband, on the basis that he abandoned her.
Now we are wondering whether Diana should attempt to appeal the original I-751 denial (which she needs to do within the next couple weeks), or if she should re-file altogether, or what else she should do.
The original filing resulted in the USCIS sending back a letter asking for evidence that their marriage was bona fide. However, Diana could not produce this kind of evidence as they had been actually together for so little time, so she did not respond to that request and the I-751 was subsequently denied. Between the joint filing of the I-751 and its denial, Diana procured a divorce from her American husband, on the basis that he abandoned her.
Now we are wondering whether Diana should attempt to appeal the original I-751 denial (which she needs to do within the next couple weeks), or if she should re-file altogether, or what else she should do.