Conditional Green card going thro a divorce and effects of 864 Affidavit of Support

[rpvijay]

Hello All,

I am a US Citizen and got married, she arrived here in US on conditional GC. After few months of marriage, the relationship was not going in right direction and I filed for divorce and spouse's conditional GC expires in May 2018. So far there is no cooperation from her on divorce settlement. Now recently she is asking for spousal support referring to Affidavit of Support 864 which I submitted during application process.

I am wondering how does Affidavit of Support 864 comes into play when a divorce is files when the spouse is on conditional GC. I am reading through all INA sections, everything points to providing support to 125% of US Federal poverty level if spouse has become a lawful permanent green card holder with reference to the Affidavit of Support provided by me when it was applied. Since she is still on conditional GC and we went apart, she may not able to obtain the permanent lawful GC through my application. Even if she applies for waiver, then she has to submit the divorce settlement or if she files under domestic abuse category(there was no abuse or anything), then she is not going through my affidavit of support as she comes under different application category.

Also it is time for the spouse to apply for condition removal in Feb based on 90 day deadline.

Can you please help me how all these things work together what I should do. This will help my family law attorney also

thanks all in advance

[newacct]

Hello All,

I am a US Citizen and got married, she arrived here in US on conditional GC. After few months of marriage, the relationship was not going in right direction and I filed for divorce and spouse's conditional GC expires in May 2018. So far there is no cooperation from her on divorce settlement. Now recently she is asking for spousal support referring to Affidavit of Support 864 which I submitted during application process.

I am wondering how does Affidavit of Support 864 comes into play when a divorce is files when the spouse is on conditional GC. I am reading through all INA sections, everything points to providing support to 125% of US Federal poverty level if spouse has become a lawful permanent green card holder with reference to the Affidavit of Support provided by me when it was applied. Since she is still on conditional GC and we went apart, she may not able to obtain the permanent lawful GC through my application. Even if she applies for waiver, then she has to submit the divorce settlement or if she files under domestic abuse category(there was no abuse or anything), then she is not going through my affidavit of support as she comes under different application category.

Also it is time for the spouse to apply for condition removal in Feb based on 90 day deadline.

Can you please help me how all these things work together what I should do. This will help my family law attorney also

thanks all in advance

Spousal support is a family law issue, not an immigration law issue, so you should ask your divorce lawyer about that. The Affidavit of Support is a binding contract and it may or may not convince a court that you need to pay spousal support. I believe there have been some court cases where courts have used the affidavit as a basis to order support.

Even if she doesn't get spousal support as part of the divorce, she is still, separately, able to sue you for the income you are supposed to provide her under the Affidavit of Support, and multiple courts have consistently ruled that the immigrant has a basis to sue for that. Though she may have to sue in federal court, and that is an expensive process.

She can apply for Removal of Conditions on the basis of divorce even if the divorce is not final; they will wait for it to be final before they can approve it, but she can still file now (and she can file late based on waiver at any time up until she is removed, including when she is put in removal proceedings). She doesn't need to apply on the basis of abuse; divorce is sufficient.

Her applying for Removal of Conditions on her own on the basis of divorce or abuse or whatever, or even if she doesn't apply for Removal of Conditions and stays here without status, neither of those would terminate your obligations under the Affidavit of Support. Only one of the termination conditions explicitly mentioned on the Affidavit of Support can terminate your obligations, e.g. she loses permanent resident status AND leaves the US, or she becomes a citizen, etc.

[rpvijay]

Hello All,

I am a US Citizen and got married, she arrived here in US on conditional GC. After few months of marriage, the relationship was not going in right direction and I filed for divorce and spouse's conditional GC expires in May 2018. So far there is no cooperation from her on divorce settlement. Now recently she is asking for spousal support referring to Affidavit of Support 864 which I submitted during application process.

I am wondering how does Affidavit of Support 864 comes into play when a divorce is files when the spouse is on conditional GC. I am reading through all INA sections, everything points to providing support to 125% of US Federal poverty level if spouse has become a lawful permanent green card holder with reference to the Affidavit of Support provided by me when it was applied. Since she is still on conditional GC and we went apart, she may not able to obtain the permanent lawful GC through my application. Even if she applies for waiver, then she has to submit the divorce settlement or if she files under domestic abuse category(there was no abuse or anything), then she is not going through my affidavit of support as she comes under different application category.

Also it is time for the spouse to apply for condition removal in Feb based on 90 day deadline.

Can you please help me how all these things work together what I should do. This will help my family law attorney also

thanks all in advance

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Here are couple of things where I need help. She is a graduate and what happens if she chooses not to work. Am I obligated to pay her under affidavit of support? Also I heard she already found another guy to marry? Do I need to pay her even if she marrys that guy?

Also Is there anything I can do to protect myself by informing immigration/USCIS since she caused lot of issues within the family and friends since the day one she came here. We from both family and friends wonder that she got married just to get GC, could be fraudulent marriage.

Please help me out here. My intention is pay her what she deserves and settle the issue

[newacct]

Here are couple of things where I need help. She is a graduate and what happens if she chooses not to work. Am I obligated to pay her under affidavit of support? Also I heard she already found another guy to marry? Do I need to pay her even if she marrys that guy?

Yes, your obligations continue even if she chooses not to work, and even if she marries someone else. You could choose not to pay and risk getting sued by her or by the state (if she uses means-tested benefits), but neither of them is likely to sue.

Also Is there anything I can do to protect myself by informing immigration/USCIS since she caused lot of issues within the family and friends since the day one she came here. We from both family and friends wonder that she got married just to get GC, could be fraudulent marriage.

Causing issues with your family doesn't mean the marriage was fraudulent.

Please help me out here. My intention is pay her what she deserves and settle the issue

Maybe you should encourage her to become a citizen as soon as possible, as that will terminate your obligations.

[rpvijay]

Conditional Green card going thro a divorce and effects of 864 Affidavit of Support

Thanks for the reply. I greatly appreciate.

I am wondering how long she can wait before applying for I-751 to become permanent GC. Two Years is expiring in May 2018. Also after applying I751, how much time she has to submit all the documents/evidence for getting permanent GC.

I am just worried whether she can drag by not finalizing the divorce for very long time. I have filed for divorce in Aug 2017 and still its not final?

Is there anything I can report to USCIS with the given condition so USCIS is aware of the situation. Also I think this would help if she files under domestic abuse category