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Can I Get My Green Card After Divorce?
This entry was posted on 2/16/2009 12:13 PM and is filed under Law.
BY CHANDLER SHARMA Readers can submit questions for Chandler Sharma as comments below.
If somebody becomes an American citizen half a year ago
from naturalization, can he or she go to another country, live there and then
come back after 10 years?? Will there be any problem maintaining citizenship? Once a person obtains citizenship, they have it
for the rest of their life. In extremely rare instances, people lose their
citizenship, but it would typically be when they were found to have engaged in
fraud to get their citizenship or were not eligible.
I entered the U.S. as a K-1 fiancée
and married my U.S. citizen fiancé within 90 days, applied for adjustment of
status to permanent residence, which was not processed for over two years.
However, before the end of the two-year period, we divorced. What can I do? In the past, the Immigration would
deny the application for adjustment of status since the marriage no longer
exist. However, (at least in the Ninth Circuit) a person in your situation can
still get their Green Card. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals relying on their
decision in Freeman vs. Gonzalez,decided recently that if a marriage to a U.S. citizen was bona fide, the
fact that the citizen spouse dies or there is a divorce before the USCIS makes
a final decision on the application for adjustment of status does not stop it
from being approved.
I am currently on H-1B Visa and my wife is on
H-4 visa. I have heard that she can work in volunteer and non-profit
organizations and also that if they file her H-1B she is exempt from the H1B
quota. Also she can get paid on the volunteer job?
Actual volunteer work for a charity (which means
a job that a US worker would normally not be hired to do) is normally okay on
an H-4. You may want to be sure about the actual duties of the position.
However, if your wife is going to be paid, the position may not be a true
volunteer work. With regard to filing H-1B visa and whether your wife is
exempt, not all charities are exempt from the yearly cap. Charities that are
exempt have to have close ties with a university or a non-profit research
institution. You will need to work with your lawyer on this to be sure that
H-1B cap exemption is available.
I am a graduate student on F-1 visa. I also have
an approved Form I-130-family immigrant petition Can I file for an Employment
Authorization Document (EAD) to get a job?
An approved Form I-130 alone will not let you
file for EAD. You must wait until your priority date is current and then file
your Green Card application together with your EAD application.
My wife's I-130 application which was filed by
her mother has been approved. When the application was filed, she was under 21
and not married. Her mother is a permanent resident and will be becoming a US
Citizen in a couple of months. What happens to the I-130 application now?
It is our opinion that the petition no longer exists. This is because
there is no green card category for married children of permanent residents and
as soon as your wife married, her petition would have become void. If the
marriage had taken place after the parent became a US citizen, the petition
would have survived. The likely case now is that the I-130 will need to be
refiled.
I came to USA in March 1999 on H1B visa. My
Green Card labor was filed by my company in August 2001. In 2005 my company
filed for 7th year extension of H1B. Also in 2006 they filed for 8th year extension
of H1B. In Aug 2006 I quit my job to pursue Full Time MBA from a US Institute
and transferred my visa status to F1. My question is: Can a company file for
transfer of my visa from F1 to H1B after my graduation in May 2008 or I have to
leave the country for 1 year before I can apply for H1B again, since I have
already lived here for over 6 years. Will appreciate your help in answering the
above! The current policy of the CIS is that foreign
workers (called aliens) who “are eligible for the 7th year extension
may be granted an extension of stay regardless of whether they are currently in
the United States or abroad and regardless of whether they currently hold H-1B
status.” The question will be whether you are still eligible. Is your labor
certification application still in process? Is it still valid? Has it been
withdrawn? Did your previous employer substitute another employee for the
position offered you before your departure from the company? The bottom line is
that you can still extend beyond the sixth year even if you are in F-1 status
provided you are eligible to extend.
I came to US on H1B visa as a teacher. Since
July 2003 I am working as a teacher under my sponsor. I got my labor and I-140
approved. I have got my EAD and I am still renewing even if I am not using my
EAD to work. I have been renewing my H-1B visa. My husband, instead, is
using his EAD for work. We are told that since the visa numbers are unavailable
now, we have to wait till it is current. Can I go to India in travel parole?
Will that make my H-1B visa invalid? Which is advisable? To go in travel parole
or to go and stamp my H1 visa? (which I am little doubtful about). Can I change
my employer (I have worked for my employer for 4 years already)? Can I
become a direct employee of the school system I am working? Will that affect my
processing of green card? My husband is in H4 dependant visa. If he travels in
travel parole will that affect us in any way? All attorneys are confusing us
with too many points. Please give me a solution for this.
Yes, you can travel on your Advanced Parole
without going to the consulates to obtain a valid H-1B visa if that is your
choice. However, when you travel and reenter on advance parole and you have a
valid approved H-1B petition, you can apply for extension of your status as
H-1B and the CIS will terminate your parole and admit you in H-1B status. You
can also refile and your H-1B status will be reinstated. You must know too that
even if you reenter on advance parole and continue your H-1B employment, you
will not be considered to have engaged in unauthorized employment.It is important that you know that if you,
as an H-1B holder with a pending green card application, use your EAD to work
for another employer, your H-1B status will be affected. You can change
employer provided your green card application has been pending for 180 days or
more. H-1B workers whose Form I-485 applications have been pending for 180 days
or more can change employers if the job position for the new employment is same
or similar to the one for which they got a labor certificate. Luckily in your
case, the Form I-485 has been pending for six months after your Form I-140 was
approved (to change employers, the Form I-485 must be pending for 6 months or
more after the Form I-140 is approved.
What kind of documents needed to bring maid from India for household work. Is there any age limit for the maid tobe ? Or any qualifications needed. ? How long it takes to bring her in. ? Also let me know your contact no.
A lot of the time, yes, you can get your green card even after divorce depending on your situation. There are many times, spouses of U.S. citizens and green card holders are battered. If they can prove this battery or extreme emotional torture, they can usually get a green card if application is filed within two years of divorce. There are moments where spouses are waiting to remove conditions on the temporary green cards that they were given and if they are able to show that their marriage was in good faith, they can usually win their case if there was a battery, They can also apply for a waiver of the conditions. Immigration judges can take your battery case in removal (deportation) proceedings. There are many scenarios. We have to know your specific situation for us to guide you properly. You may want to email Anitha at Anitha@chandlersharma.com to schedule an appointment so that we may discuss your situation more fully.
Thank you.
Joseph St. Daniel ILuonakhamhe.(For Chandler Sharma) 404-723-8382 Reply to this
7/11/2009 4:46 AM
anthony wrote:
Divorce may however pose doubts and require the divorced spouse seeking to obtain U.S. Citizenship to reassure the USCIS interviewing officer that the marriage was not a sham. A good way to prove that your marriage was genuine is to take copies and originals of documents that show that you and your ex-spouse lived together, had joint bank accounts, and shared important and memorable moments together. Examples of documents include, home title or rent receipts or home lease in both names, joint bank account statements, credit card statements, photographs of both spouses on vacation, birth certificates of children born during the marriage, etc. http://www.casinoszocken.de Reply to this
11/25/2009 5:14 AM
Merlin wrote:
A green card is like a visa only permanent. They are designed to show that you are legally allowed to live and work in that country. You have to apply to get one. But answers may vary. it is a complicated subject.
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Good day! My mom and I arrived here in U.S. through K1 and K2 visa. The first week we got in here, my mom discovered that our petitioner has another fiancee abroad that he knew just 6 months ago. My mom and our petitioner got married anyway but they still fight about her. We submitted an application for conditional permanent status last week. My concern is, what if they got divorced while our application for conditional permanent status is still pending? Reply to this
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that the marriage was not a sham or for fraudulent purposes, divorce does not adversely affect a spouse’s immigration status after the spouse obtains a green card or permanent residence unconditionally and a divorce will not invalidate the green card or cause the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to deny a citizenship application automatically. Reply to this
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