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Hi All,
I am in dire need of some advice here. I have been a conditional permanent resident since July 2004 through marriage. Then in May 2007 I applied to get the conditions removed. After a lenghty waiting period, I received a letter saying that my case had been transfered from TX to the VT service center. Then in Sept 2008 I was asked to go for another biometrics session, even though I had already taken one back in 2007. Finally I was invited for an interview on Dec 2008. I went with my wife and we got separated for the interview. My wife was interviewed first and then me.
Later I received a letter saying that my I751 application has been denied because of "fraudulent marriage". The reason this is bizzare to me is that my marriage was entered into with good faith. The following is a short background to my case:
While waiting for approval of my I-485 application, I applied to 3 diffrent grad schools (2 of them were in-state and one was out of state). Sadly, it was only the out-of state school that granted me admission. I had no choice than to accept the offer from the out-of state school. As a result I "moved" out for school. I made sure to visite home as often as I could, and my wife visited me when she could too. I finished school in May 2007, but unfortuantely again, I couldn't get a job in my original state so I accepted a position in another state - a 3rd state. Since then, my wife and I have been planning to have her move to join me. That has not been possible for a number of reasons, two of which are my two step daughters and my sick mother-in-law. In the meantime though, I visit home regularly.
During this time, my wife has had to spend a lot of time at her mom's residence and less at our own, especially when her mom's health situation worsened. As a result she, has had to receive some mails and even have her paycheck sent to her mom's address. I believe this is what the Immigration Services noted and suspected that my marriage is not genuine. I am sure that the fact that I have'nt "lived" continuously at our address for a while made things worse. The denial letter suggests so. It also refers some minor discrepancies between what my wife told the immigration officer and what I told him during the interview. For instance, my wife told him that since I couldn't be home for her birthday, I sent her some money to buy herself something in addition to the card that I mailed her. But I, on the other hand, told him that I only sent her a card for her birthday. I didn't mention the money part because quite honestly I forgot that I told my wife to use it to get herself some b'day present... Even though I sent her the money the day before her b'day, I don't recall that my intention for sending the money was solely for her birthday. Another discrepancy was about the date that I flew into town for the interview. I don't know what I was thinking when I answered that question, but I said it was the 28th and she said it was 25th (she's correct and I have the airline boarding pass to prove it).
My case is not one of those were the spouse claims fraud and seeks divorce before the I751 is approved. We both like each other and she's standing by me.
Is it normal for an immigration officer to classify a marriage fraudulent under such circumstances?
What is the best way to handle a case like this?
I am planning to obtain the services of an attorney and my wife is currently talking to some friends for their recomendations for good attorneys.
I the meantime, I'm looking to get some help from this forum. Has anyone had such an experience?
Thanks
dolbdolb
I am in dire need of some advice here. I have been a conditional permanent resident since July 2004 through marriage. Then in May 2007 I applied to get the conditions removed. After a lenghty waiting period, I received a letter saying that my case had been transfered from TX to the VT service center. Then in Sept 2008 I was asked to go for another biometrics session, even though I had already taken one back in 2007. Finally I was invited for an interview on Dec 2008. I went with my wife and we got separated for the interview. My wife was interviewed first and then me.
Later I received a letter saying that my I751 application has been denied because of "fraudulent marriage". The reason this is bizzare to me is that my marriage was entered into with good faith. The following is a short background to my case:
While waiting for approval of my I-485 application, I applied to 3 diffrent grad schools (2 of them were in-state and one was out of state). Sadly, it was only the out-of state school that granted me admission. I had no choice than to accept the offer from the out-of state school. As a result I "moved" out for school. I made sure to visite home as often as I could, and my wife visited me when she could too. I finished school in May 2007, but unfortuantely again, I couldn't get a job in my original state so I accepted a position in another state - a 3rd state. Since then, my wife and I have been planning to have her move to join me. That has not been possible for a number of reasons, two of which are my two step daughters and my sick mother-in-law. In the meantime though, I visit home regularly.
During this time, my wife has had to spend a lot of time at her mom's residence and less at our own, especially when her mom's health situation worsened. As a result she, has had to receive some mails and even have her paycheck sent to her mom's address. I believe this is what the Immigration Services noted and suspected that my marriage is not genuine. I am sure that the fact that I have'nt "lived" continuously at our address for a while made things worse. The denial letter suggests so. It also refers some minor discrepancies between what my wife told the immigration officer and what I told him during the interview. For instance, my wife told him that since I couldn't be home for her birthday, I sent her some money to buy herself something in addition to the card that I mailed her. But I, on the other hand, told him that I only sent her a card for her birthday. I didn't mention the money part because quite honestly I forgot that I told my wife to use it to get herself some b'day present... Even though I sent her the money the day before her b'day, I don't recall that my intention for sending the money was solely for her birthday. Another discrepancy was about the date that I flew into town for the interview. I don't know what I was thinking when I answered that question, but I said it was the 28th and she said it was 25th (she's correct and I have the airline boarding pass to prove it).
My case is not one of those were the spouse claims fraud and seeks divorce before the I751 is approved. We both like each other and she's standing by me.
Is it normal for an immigration officer to classify a marriage fraudulent under such circumstances?
What is the best way to handle a case like this?
I am planning to obtain the services of an attorney and my wife is currently talking to some friends for their recomendations for good attorneys.
I the meantime, I'm looking to get some help from this forum. Has anyone had such an experience?
Thanks
dolbdolb
We all know that you are not qualified to jump in now dont we. 
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