Asked over 1 year ago - Atlanta, GA
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I have my 10 year green card for 4 months now. My husband and I knew we were having marital issues for sumtime but I always thought we would work things out. He refuses marriage
counselling or to try & has had an affair
which I can't stomach right now & he
says he won't leave her. I want to get
of this marriage but after speaking
with an attorney she said that
immigration can still investigate our
timeline of marriage. I want to handle
things the right way but I am really
afraid. It also does not help that his
family & I never spoke since we have not included them in our lives at all.
This is really hard to go through these struggles on my own. So I want to know what's the best way to handle this so soon after getting my greencard. His family will not help me in any way
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It is true that filing a divorce so soon after receiving the green card can trigger an investigation, mostly because the government wants to make sure that it was not a "sham" marriage so that you could gain a green card/citizenship. I recommend speaking with an immigration attorney about how filing for a divorce could effect your green card and have the immigration attorney work with your family law attorney.
I am very sorry to learn of your husband's conduct and the marital problems you are encountering. If by "10 year green card" you mean that when you succeeded in adjusting status you already had been married for more than two years and will not need to file a "Petition to Remove Condition," then a termination of your marriage almost certainly will not come to the attention of the USCIS until you may seek to petition to become a naturalized citizen.
If/when the USCIS reviews your situation in connection with a future immigration-related filing, it indeed may re-examine the bona fide nature of your marriage which formed the basis for getting a "Green Card." For this reason, you should retain documentary evidence that you and your husband were living together in a bona fide marriage notwithstanding that it eventually became terminated.
There is no substitute for working with a local domestic relations/family/divorce lawyer to get advice about your legal rights connected with termination of your marriage, and with an immigration attorney about immigration-related consequences, documents to obtain/retain and preparation for addressing a government agency (the USCIS) that can be expected to be skeptical about the bona fide nature of your marriage.
[Note: Consistent with Avvo policy, this communication is intended as general information and not specific legal advice, and this communication does not create an attorney-client relationship.]
David N. Soloway
Frazier, Soloway & Poorak, P.C.
1800 Century Place, Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30345 www.fspklaw.com
404-320-7000 * 1-877-232-5352 * dsoloway@fspklaw.com
