After only dating for three months, my son married a young lady from Peru in 2004. They "had" to get married by a certain date or she had to return to Peru. I believe she was here under a worker's visa. I had doubts about the sincerity of her feelings, but she seemed genuine and gained our trust. She did seem to be a bit anal about making sure to get pictures with date stamps of all family and meaning events.

There was a lot of "red tape", but she eventually received a green card after they had been married for several months. Then things began to change drastically. Their marriage is no longer the picture of happiness and she is obsessed with making lots of money & and getting her dad a visa to come for a "visit." She made a token effort to kill herself by trying to stick her fingers in an electrical socket to force my son to take on second job. She is emotionally unstable.

My son has told me she has shoplifted but has never been caught. Last year she insisted they change accountants at tax time, found one who somehow listed her dad as a dependent living with them in the United States and had them file a joint account under that status. More recently, she charged an airline ticket using my debit card account number which my son has left in his Orbitz account and said it was an accident. She did not have my permission.

She has also claimed domestic abuse and spent time in a safe house, which she asked my son to take her to. During that time, she called him on the phone incessantly and would show up at their home unannounced. She only stayed for two weeks and came back home. She has called me berating me and interrogating me about my son's actions and I finally told her I was going to file a restraining order if she didn't stop harassing & upsetting me.

My son is not a saint. He has a history of substance abuse and has had two relapses since their marriage, but he doesn't deserve the miserable life he has with this woman. She has told him she wants a divorce, but he will have to be the one to leave. I have told him not to go anywhere.

Is there anything we can do? Any and all advice is appreciated.

I don't believe she can be deported, she's a citizen now.

The only thing he can do is divorce her and file a restraining order.

She's on a green card, she's not a citizen, there is a difference. A green card is simply permission to live in the US. It is normally revokable after divorcing your sponsor, but with claims of abuse she will most likely be able to retain the green card and sponsor her family to come to the US herself.

Sounds like she knows what she is doing and researched all the steps to get the green card (getting date stamped photos of meeting his family before the wedding, presumably lots of photos from the wedding) and of course she seems to know how to keep the green card after a divorce.

There isn't anything you can do, he should get a divorce and go through normal spliting up of assets and just move on. He got used, sorry.

Actually, ICE (Used to be INS) is quite interested in perceived fraud when it comes to Green Cards and US Citizenship. They have taken an active position in detaining and deporting. Note the following:

Feds target marriage fraud

Tuesday, 17 October 2006

WASHINGTON - Enter a bogus marriage to help an immigrant stay in the United States and you could get paid thousands of dollars. If a new effort by federal agents works out, you could also wind up in prison.

Facing what authorities say is a surge in fraud, U.S. Immigration ...

Click here to read the article: 9/11 Security Solutions, LLC - Feds target marriage fraud

Feel free to report her.

P.S. My wife is an immigrant, here legally, and yes, we went through ALL of the hoops and she agrees with me. Been married 30 years.

This relates more to marriages where the green card applicant is paying a US citizen to marry them. In this case they both seemingly agreed to get married, she is now the one acting like she wants to move on without him and unfortunately is using loopholes she probably knows all about to her advantage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lowtax4eva

This relates more to marriages where the green card applicant is paying a US citizen to marry them. In this case they both seemingly agreed to get married, she is now the one acting like she wants to move on without him and unfortunately is using loopholes she probably knows all about to her advantage.

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I can appreciate that the emphasis of the article is on those who have attempted to deceive, but I can assure you that it doesn't stop there as far as the local ICE agents are concerned.

One can visit the official Homeland Security and ICE websites to better understand how dramatically things have changed recently in the U.S.

Immigration, legal and otherwise has become a very hot topic and has received a lot of attention and funding.


I note that you are in Montreal Canada, and we are talking about current American policy and enforcement.

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Yes, I am in Canada but having worked for Canada Customs and Immigration for 6 years at an airport I had daily dealings with US customs and Immigration and I know the laws.

As I said in my first post, a green card is usually revokable upon divorce from the sponsor, however claims of abuse are taken seriously and if they believe her they will not revoke the green card and allow her to become a citizen without a sponsor.

Abused Spouses: How Divorce May Affect Your Green Card Chances by Heather L. Poole

I know you mean well, but I notice that your post says "I HAD daily dealings with "... I take that to imply that your status has changed. So has the enforcement of the immigration laws. Besides, we all know that there are many laws on the books that are enforced unevenly. If anyone wants to base their future in the U.S. on old information, so be it. :-)

Sorry, going to have to disagree again, where are you getting your information? Are you just guessing based on the article saying they are cracking down on fraud marriages? Again, since she has a green card, USCIS did not view this marriage as a fraud. Also you have not posted anything from US Immigration to back up your claim she will be deported for sure, your simply trying to imply that I have no idea what I'm talking about because I'm not from the US.

The information I am quoting is currently still on the USCIS website, if the law had been repealed it would have been removed, although the article below is longer and more wordy than the summary I posted before, it is right from the source. At this point (with documented claims of abuse) she does have the right to apply to remain in the US without the sponsor, the application might be denied but will be considered as I have said from the beginning.

How Do I Apply for Immigration Benefits as a Battered Spouse or Child?

I may not live in the US or currently be working for Canada Customs but I do know the laws and where to look up any changes to them.

Best regards,
Craig

Edited for clarity Aug 2, 12 pm

I think we are saying basically the same thing. There is no "sure thing" when it comes to a particular enforcement by ICE. I don't believe I've stated that she was guaranteed to be deported.

Your comment: "she does have the right to apply to remain in the US without the sponsor, the application might be denied but will be considered"

Reflects my experience.

Getting back to the original post:

"Last year she insisted they change accountants at tax time, found one who somehow listed her dad as a dependent living with them in the United States and had them file a joint account under that status.

More recently, she charged an airline ticket using my debit card account number which my son has left in his Orbitz account and said it was an accident. She did not have my permission"

Both of these are illegal and can get her expelled from the country.

"She made a token effort to kill herself by trying to stick her fingers in an electrical socket to force my son to take on second job. She is emotionally unstable."

If this can be proved, she stands little likelihood of getting citizenship.


I have been in discussion with ICE on a matter of local concern and base my responses on what is taking place. It's a funny thing in America; it is illegal for an illegal to carry a gun, but they usually just have it taken away from them when it is found out, and are not deported. But when it comes to some of the preceding activities, they are quite interested in knowing about it.

Also, I didn't mean to imply that simply because you don't live in the US, you wouldn't know what the law is. I live in a neighborhood of lawyers, literally, and at parties I hear about the difference in enforcement of the law, case law that modifies the legislated law, interpretation of the "letter" of the law and the "spirit" of the law. It is also possible to be unaware that a particular judge has a particular slant in using a different law to modify the existing law. That's why documenting her behavior is so important.

Ah, well then I wasn't getting it. Cause yes, these are all good reasons for them to doubt the validity of her claim of an abusive relationship.

In the end, like all immigration matters, it's going to come down to a case by case review and will probably take months of back and forth with the USCIS agents asigned to the case that is if, as I'm sure she will, she files under this special provision.