Is my ex-husband doing something illegal? HELP!

I'm concerned about my ex-husband's request to me last Friday. He is apparently applying for permanent residency. We were married less than 2 years and have been divorced 2 1/2 years and he lives part time in Australia and part time here. I guess it could be debated that he entered the marriage in good faith as he lived here with me only a few months off and on, but let's say he did--even so, we never shared any financial stuff of any kind, no shared lease, no joint checking account, and he's not really friends with any of my friends.

He says he filed under the divorce subsection so he could apply on his own. I never even knew he was doing it even when we were still friends (I now rarely talk to him and only see him at conferences for work occasionally). He says he needs fotos of us and he has none. I said I have none either, so he said he would drive up from NYC to the Berkshire mountains where I'm staying for the summer, drive up IMMEDIATELY with a digital camera to snap fotos of us and that the INS said this was fine. Why would they require current fotos of us if we are divorced several years and why would they want fotos at all?

I felt very uneasy. I refused to do it. I told him he could figure it out on his own. Then I called the INS twice and their customer service said it sounded fishy. They referred me to Investigations in Manhattan but you can never get through--you are simply funnelled into a voicemail and the voicemail box is full and you can't leave a message. This has been going on for days and I'm too frustrated.

I searched into the immigration law and what is required to prove the marriage was in good faith. He has very little of that--he can't get affadavits from my friends, he never met my family, he has no shared lease documents as I said, he lived with me only a short time, etc etc etc. So I am thinking either he desperately needs these fotos to prove we WERE in good faith, or else he is truly lying and is saying we're still married. OR else is he telling the truth and the INS wants fotos of us even though we are divorced, but that makes no sense to me at all.

Any help? Anybody know the law? And who can I contact and get THROUGH TO to find out? I would be very very upset if he were lying and I would be willing to file a protest. If he is telling the truth then that's okay but I do not want to be duped or used.

I'm concerned about my ex-husband's request to me last Friday. He is apparently applying for permanent residency. We were married less than 2 years and have been divorced 2 1/2 years and he lives part time in Australia and part time here. I guess it could be debated that he entered the marriage in good faith as he lived here with me only a few months off and on, but let's say he did--even so, we never shared any financial stuff of any kind, no shared lease, no joint checking account, and he's not really friends with any of my friends.

He says he filed under the divorce subsection so he could apply on his own. I never even knew he was doing it even when we were still friends (I now rarely talk to him and only see him at conferences for work occasionally). He says he needs fotos of us and he has none. I said I have none either, so he said he would drive up from NYC to the Berkshire mountains where I'm staying for the summer, drive up IMMEDIATELY with a digital camera to snap fotos of us and that the INS said this was fine. Why would they require current fotos of us if we are divorced several years and why would they want fotos at all?

I felt very uneasy. I refused to do it. I told him he could figure it out on his own. Then I called the INS twice and their customer service said it sounded fishy. They referred me to Investigations in Manhattan but you can never get through--you are simply funnelled into a voicemail and the voicemail box is full and you can't leave a message. This has been going on for days and I'm too frustrated.

I searched into the immigration law and what is required to prove the marriage was in good faith. He has very little of that--he can't get affadavits from my friends, he never met my family, he has no shared lease documents as I said, he lived with me only a short time, etc etc etc. So I am thinking either he desperately needs these fotos to prove we WERE in good faith, or else he is truly lying and is saying we're still married. OR else is he telling the truth and the INS wants fotos of us even though we are divorced, but that makes no sense to me at all.

Any help? Anybody know the law? And who can I contact and get THROUGH TO to find out? I would be very very upset if he were lying and I would be willing to file a protest. If he is telling the truth then that's okay but I do not want to be duped or used.

To file for permanent residency, you guys have to be married when you and he file TOGETHER. If you did not do that while you where married, then something is definatley fishy. If he is trying to apply for a petition for removal of conditions on a Green Card that was applied for while you are married then that is different. He can try to have the conditions removed even if you are divorced.

Others will have more to say about what you can do (ie: send a letter to the INS with his A# on it telling your truthful side of the story). But do not go have some pictures taken with him now - that is fradulant. The idea of submitting pics is to show that you are experiencing life together... If he wants some pics of you guys now, the only use they will be is if he saysd they where taken while you were married... Fraud... It does not sound like he has much of a chance though...

So to help other answer your question better - Did you guys file for a marriage based green card while you were married? Is he just getting ready to file an I-751 (Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residnce)?

Thanx Arqu. I believe I did jointly file with him to get residency while we were married, and I guess post-divorce he filed for removal of conditions, the form I751 you have mentioned. He never told me he was doing this, though. He says he already had an interview, and this is the final request. I just don't believe it and I know something is up. He is not an ethical person, he doesn't mind bending the law as long as it isn't outright obvious.

This guy sounds like a creep girlfriend.

Tell him to bug off.

If you are having second thoughts about this, you are right by listening to your intuition.

If it smell like sh*t, Looks like Sh*t, then it probably is!

Goodluck and keep on living your life.

you shjould start reevaluating even reporting your ex-husband's actuations as this would mean you are accessory to a commit fraud especially on this matter.i would advise you to do the right things right away so as to avoid possible negligence on your part since he is already filing for the removal for the conditional permanency status he acquired because of your marriage.

If he is/has filed his I-751 he is within his rights to do so. He does not need to notify you of this action; although the INS should be receptive to your side of the story. If you have his A#, you can send in a letter stating your side of the story to the Service Center he filed at (based on the state of his residency). Just be truthful. If you think that he married you just to get his GC, include the facts to back up your claim. If you feel the marriage was entered into in 'good faith', you can certainly say that as well. A 'negative' letter on your part will not necessarly mean he wont get his application rejected but it should be taken into consideration. A 'positive' letter on your behalf will help his case. So if you think the marriage was legitamite but you don't want to help him, you may choose to do nothing...

But do not go and have pics taken with him! Its only purpose is to show that you guys were married and the pics would only be useful if they were taken WHILE YOU WERE MARRIED. The only way that he can use them if he says that they were taken a while ago - which is fraud. Don't be a party to that!

A side note, you probably signed an 'Affidavat of Support' when you applied together. You will be on the hook to support him EVEN IF HE GETS RESIDENCY WITH YOUR OBJECTIONS. This 'contract' is very long term and is enforceable even if you are divorced. I don't think there is anything you can do about it! Just a word to the wise of those of you out there who are planning to sign such a document. Be very sure about what you are committing to!!!

By the way, as you proabaly have read on this forum, I am on the other side of the fence. I am going to file my I-751 with lots of evidence that my marriage was indeed legitamte (It Was). My spouse is threatening to send a letter to the INS saying that I only married her to get my GC. We both know that this is very untrue - it is just her way of getting vengence. She has said "I will ruin your life like you have ruined mine". This kind of action is unfair! If it was true, I would agree with her; however, it is not. So all you folks out there: Please just be truthful; don't let emotions get in the way!

Good Luck!

Arqu, I'm curious what bonafides you had to submit (I've researched this a bit now). Unless one of my friends has completely betrayed me and is friends with him without any knowledge on my part, he can't get any affadavits from anybody in my life. And because he's Australian nobody knew us before the marraige (I mean, knew us both). So he'd be getting affadavits from his family, I guess? Is that enough? We had nothing else--no joint leases, joint checking account, children--nothing that was shared. That's another reason I'm perturbed as I figure he must've made up some documentation or else created some exaggerated document or even had a friend or two of his lie for him.

I still am putting together my I-751, but I am putting together the standard type of stuff. Common Mortgage Papers, common loans, utility bill at the same address, common credit cards, picture of us on vacations, trips, life insurance, common heath coverage, common bank accounts, car registration / insurance for seperate cars at the same address and so on... I am also putting together a detailed letter covering all the details of the courtship (lived with her for 3 yrs before we married), the details surrounding the marriage, and then the specifics regarding the impending failure of the marriage, and so on....

I will have a harder time with getting letters from others though.. Everyone we know on a personal level were all close friends of hers before I came into the picture. So it might be hard getting that documentation but I should be able to cover most of the bases.

Your ex would have had to of provided something to show that you guys entered into the marriage based on 'good faith'. I suspect that he might not being 100% upfront with you; it is very doubtful that an INS officer told him to go and take some pics of you guys... He might of told him to go a get some existing pics of you guys... I suspect that your ex is trying to build a case for his I-751 instead of trying to wrap one up...

When did he get his conditional GC? Do you remember that date or perhaps the date you guys went in for your initial interview? He had to file his I-751 before the 2nd yr of that date.

He can be filing based on Extreme Hardship but that road is a long uphill climb to get approved. Maybe you can find out more specifics on your ex's case directly from the INS. Hopefully you know his A#... And even then I have no idea what information you are entitled to. But I suspect that your name and signiture on the original application should entitle you to at least information regarding your ex's status... By the way, you mught want to have a look at the Processing times for the INS field offices... A I-751 takes years to process so it is hard to tell where he might be at in the process...

Thank you Arqu for all your help. My ex has none of those common papers (it was my apartment lease, though I DO recall he asked to be on it at one point! Thank goodness I said no. I now wonder exactly when he was thinking about all this and whether he'd researched it). He may have gotten a phone bill there for a while, but that doesn't say much, and he could've pretended he was living there all that time, when the truth is often he was off in Australia during that time. He only lived in my apartment a few months. In addition, we had no shared joint expenses or signatures of any kind that I can recall.

I am planning to go into the city, m aybe I'll be there Monday, and I will bring his emails (which incriminate him) to the INS Investigations Office, and maybe a copy to the regular office? And with a letter explaining that I am concerned he is not on the up and up. I can't say he didn't enter the marriage in good faith, but he did not put much INTO the marriage, and they will just have to decide whether he deserves permanent residency knowing all the true facts, and not some souped up version.