Juna

hey everyone.

sorry if this has been asked before. my husband is american and wants us to seperate but not divorce yet or maybe never. problem is i am about 5 months away from sending I-751 forms. he says he wants seperation so we can try and work things out without divorce yet. what do i do with I-751 in this case. can i still file it or should i just leave america. i would like to stay to maybe work things out. i think you can file I-751 after divorce, but i am not divorcing just seperating. should i file as normal. should i file change of address when i move out after we seperate. confused, help

Juna

Rete

I'm sorry I don't have any type of answer for you. But by saying that, I am bumping your post up to the top in the hopes that someone with knowledge will see it and perhaps have answer.

My only thought is if you both entered the marriage legitimately, why don't you complete the I-751 and mail it in when it is time to do so. After all that is the part that you have to prove regardless of if you are still married or not ... the legitimate reasons why you married and stayed married until your divorce.

Rete

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Although you are separating, do you think he will join in an I-751 with you? If so, the I-751 can be done.

Back in the 70's, before the 751 became part of the law, there was a legal fight over the "viability" doctrine for approval of an intial I-130. When the dust finally settled, it was held that a marriage which was bona fide in its inception but was no longer "viable" [e.g. the parties were separated] COULD support an I-130 visa petition.

This carries over to the I-751.

bobzy

I am actually going through this process for a second time -- I had married an out-of-status Chinese student who eventually obtained permanent residency (and cleaned out my bank accounts) before I knew what hit me.

From my after-the-fact conversations with INS agents, all that is needed in most cases is the USC spouse signature on the I-751. Apparently, about 90 percent of the cases are approved without a personal interview - or, at least this was the case a few years ago. In my case, it took me the next two years to eventually find that my signature was forged on the I-751 -- she had been telling me that we were supposed to simply sit and wait to be called for an interview even after she had already submitted the I-751 without my knowledge. (She did all of the paperwork; I didn't know - or care - how the process worked at that time.) It was a very difficult process for me to get access to her INS file, and even my eventual Freedom of Information Act request to see the I-751 - with a forged signature - took months (it is supposed to be a ten day process).

It appears to me (I only know my own experience) that if an agent sees evidence that there is a marriage with two names on the lease or mortgage, two names on the electric bill, and such, then they typically won't see any reason to take the time to question the petition.

If your spouse is merely asking for separation and doesn't appear to be a nasty or vindictive person, then you might try to keep good enough relations to get a signature on the I-751.

Just my own experience, however -- hope it provides some useful insight.