Naturalization and dismissed dissolution of marriage case - very complex situation

[Sunshine108]

Hi all,

I applied for my citizenship after having been married for three years. Previous to this I received my green card, which was based on being a special immigrant (with previous religious workers R1 visa). I have a very complex situation and question.

It turns out that my husband has something called 'Dissociative Identity Disorder' this means that when he gets very stressed another part of him is more dominant, and this part needs to spend time alone.

He filed for divorce without telling me. He then had the case dismissed, and I called up the USCIS helpline to explain the situation to them, and to see if I could go ahead with the interview (no date received yet) or if I could amend the application once the five years have passed (i can apply Sept 1) or if I should cancel this one and file another application in September later this year, when I can apply for my Citizenship by myself (not based on being married for three years).

So I can take the proof of dismissal to the interview, but will this be enough? Do they even check the court database for example? What if he files for this again and then the case gets dismissed again a few weeks before the interview?

Is there any way to amend the application to the 5 year residency instead of the marriage based application, and do this at the interview and then wait till it can be granted, which would be Dec 1 in my case?

Any advise, re the dismissed case, ie when in the process do they check for these things, if at all, and generally how to explain this best to the officer? It is the Sacramento field office, and it says case in line for interview since early February of this year.

I would prefer for my Citizenship to go ahead now. I have not travelled abroad at all during the last 4 1/2 years and everything else in my file is fine, ie we have the joined tax returns, all our rental leases with both of us on it, we live together as a married couple and I have no crime or other things or traffic tickets etc that can show up. We just have the problem with stress and DID (dissociative identity disorder) my husband is having, and this comes up now and then, it has for four years, and it is difficult but we always make it through.

For me what is very important is to get dual citizenship. If I get my Citizenship while married I can be a dual Citizen, otherwise I have to give up my home country's citizenship and I really do not want to do this because I get a disability pension from there.1

The person I spoke to at USCIS said because it is such a unique case, it is up to the person interviewing to make the decision about if they grant the citizenship or not, because of the special circumstances. For example, my husband could decide to file for divorce agin and not tell me, and then again dismiss the case later. They also said i could ask for an appointment with the Field office and ask them, the last thing I do not really want to do because I do not want to 'wake any sleeping dogs', as the expression goes, or maybe I should do it and trust they understand?

The main thing is that I do not want to be a person of not good character, or whatever they call it, and not being able to apply again at a later date, but my situation is truthfully very complex. I am afraid if I explain this to the officer and if he or she does not understand it correctly, they will say I am not saying the truth or something like that.

Again, there are just 4 months until I can apply based on 5 year permanent residency, but because the naturalization process times seems to be longer than 5 months, even 9 months or so, I am worried that by then if my husband decides to file for divorce again and this time goes through with it,

Thanks all, any advise very much appreciated!

[SuperSanta]

The USCIS don't check with civil courts directly and could not for practical reasons, so they depend on your honesty and to provide documentation.

You're required to tell USCIS about the attempted divorce and the withdrawal of the divorce. I'd also STRONGLY recommend you go to the court before your interview and get court certified copies of both the divorce and the withdrawal, since if you don't they will likely ask for it anyway and it will only delay getting an answer further. You must remain married until the day of the oath ceremony. You should bring documentation you live in "marital union" (meaning shared bills, tax returns, child birth certificates, etc), if you don't live together then you may be denied for that reason.

You absolutely can withdraw your case, but I don't believe they'll refund your money, so you're out around $700. Getting denied has the same cost, so there's little reason not to just go ahead, you're out the application/biometrics fees either way. A denial won't stop you reapplying under different criteria in September, but you will have to repay the fees.

USCIS very rarely bans people from reapplying for citizenship. When they do it is because:

- You lied/committed fraud.
- You committed a very serious crime (terrorism, murder, etc).
- You are involved in immigration fraud.

I do not believe you would fail "Good Moral Character" test unless you lie to them (or have a criminal record). If your husband files for divorce again before the oath ceremony you will be automatically denied citizenship however, and need to reapply on the 5 year anniversary. This will only cost you the application fees and wasted time, they won't hold it against you.

PS - If you don't have an interview until after Sept 2017, it is theoretically possible for the interviewer to change your answer to question 1 from B to A. It has happened to other people. But realistically Sept is five months away, most people get an interview 3 - 4 months after applying, and based on your post I'm assuming you applied in January/Feb. You can ask for them to reschedule the interview, but they'll only do so once or twice total (and it is a dangerous game in general).

PPS - It might be worth doing an infopass appointment to find about either: If they'll refund/partially refund you if you withdraw now. Or If they can delay your application interview on purpose until after Sept 2017. It never hurts to ask, even if they say no. If they say yes, then just turn up to the interview and ask to change your answer to question 1 on the N-400.

[Sunshine108]

The USCIS don't check with civil courts directly and could not for practical reasons, so they depend on your honesty and to provide documentation.

If your husband files for divorce again before the oath ceremony you will be automatically denied citizenship however, and need to reapply on the 5 year anniversary.
PS - If you don't have an interview until after Sept 2017, it is theoretically possible for the interviewer to change your answer to question 1 from B to A. It has happened to other people. .

Thank you so much SuperSanta, for your very comprehensive answers to all the questions asked. This is incredibly helpful.

So - it is theoretically possible for the interviewer to change my answer from question 1 from B to A if the interview is after Sept 1st? That is interesting, would they always do this though, why would they not for example, and what issues could there be with them not doing this and denying the application because I asked for this? I applied Dec 22, but it seems the wait times are much longer nowadays then before, and it says they are processing July 9 now in the Sacramento Field office. Some people on this forum said they changed the system, and it caused many delays and they had to switch back to the old system but because of all this there is still a backlog. So theoretically it is possible the interview will only be in September, since September would be 8-9 months after I applied.

I guess if they change question 1 to A, I then still would be required to wait with the Oath ceremony until Dec 1, which is the exact time till the 5 year permanent residency? I know I can send in a new application 90 days before, this would make that Sept 1 approx. - just to be clear and that I understand it right...

When you say that if my husband files for divorce before the oath ceremony that I will be automatically denied citizenship - but what if I don't know if he did? Because of his condition this is theoretically possible. If I don't know and neither me nor they check the court database, and we are living in martial union, I can show the joined tax returns etc. then in a way it should be fine? Dissociative identity Disorder is a very complex thing, and if he files he may not even remember that he did because of the alternate personality not remembering this - it's been a learning curve me me to understand this, but this is how it works...


Thanks!

[newacct]

The requirement is not only to be legally married to a US citizen for the last 3 years, but be "living in marital union" with a US citizen for the last 3 years. This generally requires that you guys be living in the same place and not be legally separated. During this time when he filed divorce, were you still living together?

[Sunshine108]

The requirement is not only to be legally married to a US citizen for the last 3 years, but be "living in marital union" with a US citizen for the last 3 years. This generally requires that you guys be living in the same place and not be legally separated. During this time when he filed divorce, were you still living together?

Yes, we did, he went to stay at a friend for a few days to destress and we kept our old place, and his things were still there, he then fully moved back in again a week later or so. Thanks.

[SuperSanta]

So - it is theoretically possible for the interviewer to change my answer from question 1 from B to A if the interview is after Sept 1st? That is interesting, would they always do this though, why would they not for example, and what issues could there be with them not doing this and denying the application because I asked for this?

Unfortunately like most things to do with USCIS the answer is "it is up to the interviewer." I only know this is possible because other forum posters had it happened to them. They applied under the 3 year rule, but were also eligible under the 5 year rule, and the USCIS officer in the interview changed them from the 3 year to the 5 year because it required less documentation/scrutiny.

You would have to be fully eligible under the 5 year rule, meaning no long trips outside of the US for that period and a clean criminal record for all 5 years (instead of only 3 years).

So theoretically it is possible the interview will only be in September, since September would be 8-9 months after I applied.

Google "US Citizenship Tracker" for the site **** **** . People post how long they had to wait before an interview, just select your field office via the filter. On average most people get theirs done in 3-5 months unless you get stuck in background check (e.g. share a name with a terrorist). In general few women get caught in the background check.

So without USCIS intervention it is unlikely to take until Sept (May, June, or July are more likely). So I'd look at doing an Infopass as soon as they have an available appointment and talk to them about your options.

I guess if they change question 1 to A, I then still would be required to wait with the Oath ceremony until Dec 1, which is the exact time till the 5 year permanent residency?

That is correct. They're legally able to process you 90 days early but not give you citizenship until after 5 years.

I know I can send in a new application 90 days before, this would make that Sept 1 approx. - just to be clear and that I understand it right...

Right. They'll auto-reject applications filed before that (unless you're applying under the 3 year rule, then it is 90 days before that date).

When you say that if my husband files for divorce before the oath ceremony that I will be automatically denied citizenship - but what if I don't know if he did?

This might be a question for a lawyer. You're asked on the day of the Oath to swear that no change of status has occurred between the interview and that day, and to report any that did occur. If one occurred without your knowledge, I genuinely have no idea what position that would place you in (assuming you ever got caught), worst case scenario they could revoke your citizenship. Realistically nobody is looking. I'd definitely let as few people know as possible, because the most likely way you'd be caught is if you're reported.

It might be worth considering bringing a doctor's diagnosis with your husband's permission if you have a paper one. I have no idea if USCIS will look at that, but you can never have too much supporting documentation.

To be honest if you don't care about the money, I wouldn't lose sleep over any of this. The worst case scenario in all of this is the loss of the application fee.

[newacct]

So - it is theoretically possible for the interviewer to change my answer from question 1 from B to A if the interview is after Sept 1st?

I don't think so. You need to be eligible at the time you apply, and you were not eligible under the 5-year rule at the time you applied.

[Sunshine108]

That is correct. They're legally able to process you 90 days early but not give you citizenship until after 5 years.

SuperSanta, thank you again.

One of the other repliers (newacct) responded to my question of: "So - it is theoretically possible for the interviewer to change my answer from question 1 from B to A if the interview is after Sept 1st?"

He or she said:

I don't think so. You need to be eligible at the time you apply, and you were not eligible under the 5-year rule at the time you applied.

What do you think about that? From your experience or what you heard, and as you said before already much of this is up to the interviewer :-)

Thank you all so incredibly much for your replies so far.

[SuperSanta]

What do you think about that? From your experience or what you heard, and as you said before already much of this is up to the interviewer :-)

If I am wrong, I apologise. All I know is that some people who went in under "3 year" were changed to "5 year." The other poster may be correct that you need to meet the requirements at the time of application for both 3 and 5 year rules in order to change it, if that is the case then you'll have no choice but to reapply.

I'd definitely make an infopass appointment and put these questions to USCIS. They might be willing to refund you and let you reapply in Sept.