Legal Question in Immigration Law in California
Divorce and work permit.
I�m from Ukraine and I�ve been married to a U.S. citizen since December 29th, 2003.Our marriage was so bad that we filed for divorce on July 7th 2004.He even stole my money to make me as a slave.
After I came to California (I have got a baccalaureate degree in accounting in Ukraine),I found a job as an accountant in Camarillo, California, where I have been working since August 5th, 2004. My work permit will expire on June 15th, 2005. The question is whether it would be possible after I would get a divorce from my husband to remain in America and to continue working. I don�t know what kinds of forms and petitions I should file to have the right to stay in the U.S. after divorce and to continue working for the same company in the future.
Is it possible to renew my work permit after June 15th, 2005 by filing an I-140, or would it be better to file I-751, petition for change of conditional status (or perhaps there is some other form or process that I don�t know about)?
If I do file I-751, what kinds of documents would I need to prove that my marriage was entered in good faith?
Should I use the fact that my husband stole my money as a good reason to end our relationship, and if so, must to the INS that he did so?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Divorce and work permit.
You should consider whether you qualify for a self-petition under the Violence Against Women Act or if your employer will sponsor you for a nonimmigrant status.
Re: Divorce and work permit.
It seems you have the qualification for H1-B, nonimmigrant visa, which you should consider. Presently, you have no grounds to remain in US since your marriage has fallen apart. You are under obligation to disclose this information to the INS. Hence, that is the reason why you should consider H-1B application ASAP.
Let me know if I can help. Good luck.
Re: Divorce and work permit.
Hi and Thank you for the message.
The situation that you have described is rather complicated, since most marriage petitions depend on the US citizen spouse and when divorce happenes, the immigration service will require a lot of evidence to be convinced that the marriage was bonafide at inception.
The I-751 petition should normally be filed by both parties in order to remove the conditional status of the green card. When divorce happenes the I-751 has an option to request a waiver based on divorce or abuse during marriage. The applicant will need to prove a lot of things in order to win such waiver,and the US citizen petitioner might be contacted by the immigration service.
There is another option under law called the I-360 self petition that allows the spouse of US citizen that was abused mentally or physically during marriage to petition herself for the green card without the US citizen spouse. These cases tend to be difficult but with careful planning can be won.
Feel free to contact me directly for a free consultation if you wish at 619-819-9204 I speak russian as well.
Jacob
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