Please help/advise

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ilvbbb

Registered Users (C)
I was married to a US citizen and got my conditional green card 3 years ago. The marriage was one hell ride, where I was badly abused by my spouse physically, verbally, emotionally, financially...you name it. My spouse used to steal my money and even stole a lot of my important documents including all proof I had of my spouse's citizenship. There used to be lots of threats and scare tactics used against me so that I do not complaint. Cut a long story short, I hired a lawyer and I got my 10 year green card filing a waiver based on extreme cruelty and abuse. I provided a lot of evidence. I did not have an interview for the same. I was told by my lawyer that I can file for citizenship after 3 years as I would be eligible for the same. I filed for my citizenship recently after completing 3 years of being a LPR. I have had no contact with spouse since 2 years and my spouse has disappeared. We have been divorced. Now USCIS sent a Yellow letter asking me to bring proof of US citizenship of my ex spouse. Like I said a lot of my important documents were stolen by my ex spouse just before disappearing which included all proof of my spouse's citizenship. Is there anything I can do to get proof of US citizenship of my ex spouse? I know spouse's Alien number, SSN, and place of citizenship and year. Thats all. I am very sad and any help regarding this will be hugely appreciated. I am worried that my citizenship will be denied as I dont have the required proof.:(
P.S. I have filed for citizenship on my own as I presently do not have money to hire a lawyer. Is there any way I can request naturalization certificate copy or similar proof from USCIS of ex spouse?
 
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The yellow letter is a generically worded letter send out to applicants before the interview. The supporting document requirements on the letter are a guideline as to what may be asked for, not what is a hard requirement to naturalize. As a VAWA based applicant, you likely won't be asked for ex spouse's evidence as a USC since it's obvious you can't obtain it under the circumstances.
 
Thanks very much for the response. I read somewhere that onus lies on applicant to prove that spouse is USC. If they ask for such documents at interview, would they understand that there is no way possibly that I can have any documentation due to spouse's taking away all these things so as to plant hurdles in my path? Unfortunately my spouse was a very mean person. Wouldn't USCIS be able to pull up spouse's immigration status and naturalisation records from their database if I provide name, Alien number etc?
 
If you really want to pull up that information, you need to file FOIA request to pull your green card file. It should have the information you submitted to get GC, and presumably his/her citizenship information. USCIS may not give you someone else's information due to privacy issues, but you can get your file.
 
Thanks @sanjoseaug20 for the quick response. Can you please provide me a link for how to go about doing a FOIA request? Should I request them to send me all the documents that were filed for my conditional GC? I hope this will not further delay or harm my naturalization case.
 
If I were you, I would have waited for 5 years to file. You got your green card on the basis of marriage. Your marriage is no more functional. So using the concessional period of 3 years given to those married and living with a US citizen would not in my opinion be valid grounds for citizenship. In any case I wish you the best, and please do post the full outcome of your case for the benefit of others who might find themselves in the same situation.

On a related note, USCIS did receive information on the proof of your husband being a US citizen before they approved your green card. So the way it seems, I can't bother going through my filing cabinet, so please send the same information once again.
 
Bobsmyth said:
CBP FOIA can take anywhere from 1-3 months, so the delay will be in filing your naturalization.
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Yes, and as brb2 said, it might have been better to file under 5 years. But having filed, you need to complete the process. Assuming you do not get the documents in time for the interview ... you can either request delaying the interview; or wing it and see if they really require this. If they do, you can request them for time to collect this documentation. Most likely they will hold the case for a couple of months while they wait for the documents.
 
Thanks everyone for responding to my query and giving some really helpful suggestions. I will surely keep you updated as to what was the outcome for my case. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
 
ilvbbb said:
I was married to a US citizen and got my conditional green card 3 years ago. The marriage was one hell ride, where I was badly abused by my spouse physically, verbally, emotionally, financially...you name it. My spouse used to steal my money and even stole a lot of my important documents including all proof I had of my spouse's citizenship. There used to be lots of threats and scare tactics used against me so that I do not complaint. Cut a long story short, I hired a lawyer and I got my 10 year green card filing a waiver based on extreme cruelty and abuse. I provided a lot of evidence. I did not have an interview for the same. I was told by my lawyer that I can file for citizenship after 3 years as I would be eligible for the same. I filed for my citizenship recently after completing 3 years of being a LPR. I have had no contact with spouse since 2 years and my spouse has disappeared. We have been divorced. Now USCIS sent a Yellow letter asking me to bring proof of US citizenship of my ex spouse. Like I said a lot of my important documents were stolen by my ex spouse just before disappearing which included all proof of my spouse's citizenship. Is there anything I can do to get proof of US citizenship of my ex spouse? I know spouse's Alien number, SSN, and place of citizenship and year. Thats all. I am very sad and any help regarding this will be hugely appreciated. I am worried that my citizenship will be denied as I dont have the required proof.:(
P.S. I have filed for citizenship on my own as I presently do not have money to hire a lawyer. Is there any way I can request naturalization certificate copy or similar proof from USCIS of ex spouse?
Click to expand...

Your N-400 is placed in your A-file, all the required evidence will be there at the time of your interview. The Officer will review your file before seeing you and confirm all this information and won't ask you about it. You are worrying over nothing. Don't waste any time with a FOIA request and don't give it another thought.
 
Hello everyone. Like promised, I am back to update you all about the outcome of my case. Guys I am a proud American citizen now and I had no hiccups at all in my case! I did file for the FOIA but the system is awfully slow. At the rate it is going it seems it would be another 9-10 months before I get copies of my A file. Luckily at the interview, my whole file was there with all the required evidence. I was asked lot of questions from the N400 form itself and then was the citizenship test which I breezed through. Even I was surprised at how smoothly and quickly my interview went. I do want to appreciate USCIS for approving genuine cases and not making one go through more unnecessary agony as it is one has suffered enough at the hands of the abusive ex-spouse. I hope people who are going through same unfortunate circumstances that I have gone through, read this post and are benefited. Please do not give up hope, and try to collect as much evidence as you can and keep it in a safe place please!!! Keeping it hidden at home is a bad idea cos lot of my stuff was stolen by my ex from there and was a stupid mistake on my part. Keep the faith and yes if you are a VAWA victim or filed a waiver on basis of extreme cruelty and abuse, you are eligible for citizenship in 3 years from getting the green card. Good luck to everyone and God bless.

P.S. a BIG thank you to all the moderators of this forum and others who regularly respond to people's queries. Using your knowledge for public good is great work and your advice to people is worth its weight in gold:)
 
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