Hayman Egg

Hi all,

My friend was unlucky enough to marry into a scamming russian bride. She is currently living in IL with another Russian woman (long time friend of hers) who oddly enough also came to the US through marriage to an american (now failed, how odd!).

Anyhow, my friend is in the process of divorcing her, she's only been in the US for a few months. She's threatened once before to take all his money, his house, his family etc if he divorces her. He promptly visited his attorney and put such threats on the record.

What happens after the divorce...i gather she would file to remove the condition on her green card.

My friend has been in touch in writing to the USCIS to declare that they have not lived together and share no common assets etc. She has already made arrangements to marry another american (they are already getting photos made up of them together and already writing "love" letters) and
has been touting to her friends that she will stay illegally in the US until she can get married to someone else and file again. (I kept evidence of this)

Can she immediately file for a new I-130/I-129 after the divorce or does she have to complete the formalities of the I-751? If she is denied her 751, can she immediately then get married to another american and remain in the US while a decision is being made?

The fear factor here....affidavit of support. Shall we inform the immigration folks of her intentions? Nasty little creature this russian.

Any thoughts peoples?
Paul.

scrubbedexpat099

She is a Conditional Permanent Resident?

Then she can either wait for the divorce to be fianlised and obtain her 10 year GC then, or file through her new spouse. No need to be out of status.

Bit late to think of the Affadavit of Support now, she may be limited to what she can get in a divorce action but could file for support under the Affadavit.

XYZ123

Well, this seems to be a recurring theme on this site. Old, fat guy marries young, attractive Russian lady 20 years his junior. Never live together, divorce within a few months after she arrives in USA.

Costs incurred in travel, marriage and immigration - $100,000
Legal costs of divorce - $20,000
Loss of assets in divorce - $???
Requirement to Support ex-spouse and kids for 10 years - $???
Willingness to go through the process again - Priceless

Even if she is temporarily in illegal status, so long as she can sooner or later find another American citizen to marry, she will get the Green Card.

If she already has conditional GC, then all she has to do is to file a police report of spousal abuse and she will immediately get the permanent GC without any sponsorship required.

snowbunny

Then why do other men repeat this mistake?!!

scrubbedexpat099

They think with their dicks.

snowbunny

And jam up the immigration works.....

I wonder how many mail-order brides there are per year? Just curious.

scrubbedexpat099

First you would need to define mail order.

Probably most going through Russia, Phillipines, Vietman, China, for men.

Morrocco for women (why the attraction from a female perspective, always wondered?)

snowbunny

Watching _Casablanca_? Dunno.

Hayman Egg

No, the guy is in his 20's, not old and fat.
It seems hard to file for spousal abuse considering he doesn't and hasn't lived in the country since his wife arrived :)

    >> Hi all,
    >> My friend was unlucky enough to marry into a scamming russian bride.
    >> She is currently living in IL with another Russian woman (long time
    >> friend of hers) who oddly enough also came to the US through marriage
    >> to an american (now failed, how odd!).
    >> Anyhow, my friend is in the process of divorcing her, she's only been
    >> in the US for a few months. She's threatened once before to take all
    >> his money, his house, his family etc if he divorces her. He promptly
    >> visited his attorney and put such threats on the record.
    >> What happens after the divorce...i gather she would file to remove the
    >> condition on her green card.
    >> My friend has been in touch in writing to the USCIS to declare that
    >> they have not lived together and share no common assets etc. She has
    >> already made arrangements to marry another american (they are already
    >> getting photos made up of them together and already writing "love"
    >> letters) and
    >> has been touting to her friends that she will stay illegally in the US
    >> until she can get married to someone else and file again. (I kept
    >> evidence of this)
    >> Can she immediately file for a new I-130/I-129 after the divorce or
    >> does she have to complete the formalities of the I-751? If she is
    >> denied her 751, can she immediately then get married to another
    >> american and remain in the US while a decision is being made?
    >> The fear factor here....affidavit of support. Shall we inform the
    >> immigration folks of her intentions? Nasty little creature this
    >> russian.
    >> Any thoughts peoples?
    >> Paul.
    >Well, this seems to be a recurring theme on this site. Old, fat guy
    >marries young, attractive Russian lady 20 years his junior. Never live
    >together, divorce within a few months after she arrives in USA.
    >Costs incurred in travel, marriage and immigration - $100,000
    >Legal costs of divorce - $20,000
    >Loss of assets in divorce - $???
    >Requirement to Support ex-spouse and kids for 10 years - $???
    >Willingness to go through the process again - Priceless
    >Even if she is temporarily in illegal status, so long as she can
    >sooner or later find another American citizen to marry, she will get
    >the Green Card.
    >If she already has conditional GC, then all she has to do is to file a
    >police report of spousal abuse and she will immediately get the
    >permanent GC without any sponsorship required.

scrubbedexpat099

Desertion?

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Some thoughts based upon experience --

First, you are getting ONE side of the story.

Second, much in the way of case law on marriage fraud is where the US Citizen admits to being part of the conspiracy -- they received money or "did a favor." The seminal Supreme Court case of "Lutwak" involved men who immigrated under the Second World War "War Brides Act" legislation -- the ring was discovered and the women turned States Evidence.

Third, the "wronged" spouse is usually the LEAST credible witness of what went on due to perceived prejudice. My attorney friends who practice in Family Law have big problems with "client control" who are out to "get that cheating bastard."

Fourth, there usually has to be corroborating evidence, and strong stuff at that, to find a marriage fraud. There is a case well-known among the immigration bar from last year -- well known because it is the FOURTH case in a short period to slam a particular immigration judge by NAME [not the generic "immigration judge erred" type language]. The court commented that the repeated "rebukes" had not "escaped our notice." Among other things, that case involved an allegation of marriage fraud in which the ex-husband and one of his friends were witnesses. Wife had SIXTEEN witenesses in her favor. Although most of the case focused on the asylum claim, the court noted the burden of proof was on the GOVERNMENT to show fraud and the IJ systematically discredited all sixteen witness on grounds which she did NOT apply to the government witnesses.

Fifth, and MOST IMPORTANT, other than the I-864, it is NOT HIS PROBLEM. He is a "stranger" to any application by her to USCIS and proceedings before the court. In fact, if you are concerned about the I-864, she should be encouraged to become a US Citizen ASAP.

Good luck.

Hayman Egg

Deserstion seems interesting. I've read nothing about it. Generally, any claim is going to have to be proven.

Spousal abuse....requires a police report or medical report.

It was always my understanding that anyone staying in the US illegally merits an automatic 10 year ban from re-entry.

Wouldn't marriage to another american citizen look suspicious to the uscis? I also know that the friend that she is staying with
paid someone $8000 to marry her. Apparently met the guy in a nursing home, go figure eh. Now there's the old fat american guy
and the young russian woman picture for you.

Anyhow thanks for the feedback. Time to prepare some affidavit's and give the ICE a call.

    >> >Well, this seems to be a recurring theme on this site. Old, fat guy
    >> >marries young, attractive Russian lady 20 years his junior. Never
    >> >live
    >> >together, divorce within a few months after she arrives in USA.
    >> >Costs incurred in travel, marriage and immigration - $100,000
    >> >Legal costs of divorce - $20,000
    >> >Loss of assets in divorce - $???
    >> >Requirement to Support ex-spouse and kids for 10 years - $???
    >> >Willingness to go through the process again - Priceless
    >> >Even if she is temporarily in illegal status, so long as she can
    >> >sooner or later find another American citizen to marry, she will get
    >> >the Green Card.
    >> >If she already has conditional GC, then all she has to do is to file
    >> >a
    >> >police report of spousal abuse and she will immediately get the
    >> >permanent GC without any sponsorship required.
    >Desertion?

scrubbedexpat099

Is that not something you should leave in the hands of your "friend"?

A waste of a phone call mind you.

snowbunny

Why always the revenge?

How many people turn in others for every possible infraction of the law?

Hell hath no fury like.....

Look -- there are a million ways a husband or wife can screw you over. They can give you an STD, they can leave you bankrupt, they can ruin your career.... and really, most of the above isn't illegal.

Adding the immigration angle just adds *one* more way you are vulnerable to your spouse's possible misbehaviour.

In any case of outrageous misbehaviour like this you:

1) get a divorce lawyer.
2) file a divorce.
3) have nothing to do with the other party.
4) let them deal with immigration.

I don't think that even annulling a marriage will release you from your I-864 obligations. We all make mistakes, some of them huge.

Persecuting your wife will actually make you look pretty nasty in divorce court. Having nothing to do with her is the better course of action.

Your acting responsibly and in a mature manner will get you a lot farther than looking for 'justice' or 'revenge.'

XYZ123

I totally agree with this. Your friend should seek legal advice in order to minimize his financial liability. Going after revenge on a spouse (or anyone else for that matter) is very dangerous. All it really takes is to trample on the toes of one wrong person who knows how to raise your level of psychological stress. The consequences can be unpredictable.