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Abused Spouse
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You got married and started a new family. A day, a week, a month or a year later into your marital relationship, which seemed so alluring and exciting at the start of it, began to disintegrate for multiple reasons. Loss of a job, depression, drug and alcohol abuse or many other reasons lead to constant arguments, threats of physical violence or actual physical abuse. You do not know what to do, where to go and you are afraid to lose your immigration status if you leave the relationship. If it sounds familiar and your can relate, then do not despair and keep on reading. If it does not relate to you directly, but you know that your girlfriend is in this situation, then keep on reading and tell her that she has options.
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The name of the immigration form is I-360 (www.uscis.gov.graphics/formsfree/forms/) and it must be filed with USCIS, Vermont Service Center, 75 Lower Welden Street, St Albans, VT 05479-0001. The cost is $185.00 and it may be filed be self petitioning spouse within two years of the divorce. What that means is that you do not have to be divorced or wait for two years or even have a lawyer to file this petition. You can file it anytime if you suffer from an abusive husband who is an American citizen or a permanent resident (green card holder). It also means that the latest you can file your petition is two years after your divorce. You do not have to initiate divorce proceedings and you do not have to hire a lawyer in most cases. The proof that you need consists of medical records or photographs of abuse (broken bones, black and blue marks) police reports, orders of protection from a criminal or family court where you filed charges against your husband and certificate of your marriage.
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It gets to be more complicated if your husband never actually hit you, or you never filed charges and there is no order of protection. However, the relationship is bad and he made it clear to you that he will not show up at the interview, may be even threatened deportation, or you simply are not sure what he is going to do and do not trust him. You may have become depressed, withdrawn and isolated. You are locked in the bedroom; you can not use the phones or see your friends. You want to leave but do not know where and what will happen to you in your newly adopted country. Perhaps now it is the time to find a good immigration lawyer to help you with the nuances and to file this petition, in which your husband has no voice.
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General allegations of a bad marital relationship may be enough in the Divorce Court but will not necessarily succeed in the Immigration Court where you have to prove extreme mental cruelty if there is no physical abuse. Proof of domination, isolation and signs depression is what is necessary to win the petition and obtain your green card. In many instances, letters from friends and relatives attesting to the events or changes in you behavior they observed is sufficient for a successful claim. Additional proof is necessary to establish that you are a person of good moral character, that you entered into marriage in good faith and that you would suffer prejudice if forced to return to your home country.
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By the way, the fact that your petition is pending is sufficient to stay any deportation proceeding which may have resulted from your husband's failure to show up at the interview or due to the loss of your status for other reasons. For example, you made an unsuccessful claim for political asylum and were refereed to immigration court for deportation and got married to an American citizen or permanent resident during the pendency of such claim but suffered abuse prior to the final marriage interview. File I-360, stay all deportation proceedings and acquire employment authorization and other immigration benefits and rights independent of your abusive husband. Should immigration deny your I-360, then file an appeal and continue to build your life in the United States.
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MORE »
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If you had and passed the first interview, you have had a status of a temporary permanent resident; even, if you never received a green card in a hand. Such a status affords you numerous opportunities to convert it to that of a permanent resident by filing an I-751 as an abused spouse or a divorcee (or a widow, if applicable). The difference between the I-360 and I-751 is that you have to have the status of a temporary permanent resident in order to file it while anyone can file I-360. Additional difference includes a slightly different burden of proof and lack of interview in I-360; not to mention that I-751 leads directly to a permanent green card while winning the I-360 gives you an opportunity to file for such a status within one year of approval of your I-360 petition.
I-751 is an effective tool of getting permanent green card without the presence of your husband, if your marital relationship is on the rocks or resulted in a divorce. You should definitely consult a lawyer to file such an application, which by the way can also be filed as a defense to deportation or removal in the immigration court.
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