Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

Dear Immigration attorneys,

here is an interesting question. My wife (a US citizen by birth) and I (a green card holder) decided to apply for my citizenship last year. The interview this March looked like it was a Soviet style Gulag interrogation (my wife did not attend). We submitted all the evidence, bills, rents, tax returns, every thing that we accumulated for the 4 years of our marital union, yet the officer asked for a notarized letter from my spouse that we are indeed living together, a similar letter from myself, and a letter from my law school that I indeed attended my first semester of law school in Fall 2009...All that has to be submitted in 30 days.

To make it short, my wife and I decided not to submit this humiliating evidence, and I lost any interest in the US citizenship altogether.

The question is: should we just do nothing and they will consider the application abandoned, or should we yet write some letter of explanation to the immigration center or to USCIS directly? Least of all we want to invite any further communication with this organization.

Sincerely,

ik


Asked on 4/05/10, 1:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Luba Smal Smal Immigration Law Office

This situation is not so straightforward where giving basic immigration-related information can help to guide you in making a right decision. Especially, if you obtained your green card throught your wife.

Why do you call these additional evidence "humiliating"? As a resident applying for citizenship in 3 years instead of 5 (because of marriage to a US citizen), you are required to prove that you are still married and living together with a US citizen, and that a marriage is bona fide. The request for evidence seems to indicate that the CIS officer asked to see documents pertaining to bona fides of marriage to a US citizen spouse.

If you are seeking a case-specific legal advice (Whether you have to comply with this request?), as in this scenario, you shall consult any qualified immigration attorney in private and off of the public forum.

Note: The above response is provided for legal information purposes only and should not be considered a legal advice; it doesn�t create an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to request a follow-up confidential advice on your specific situation and regarding U.S.A. immigration-related issues, we can offer a paid consultation by telephone or email to clients from all States and globally. Please visit our website http://www.law-visa-usa.com/contact_us.html for more details.

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Answered on 4/10/10, 1:19 pm


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