We were hired to represent a young woman from France who recently received a Request for Evidence (RFE) following the filing of an I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditional Status of her Lawful Permanent Residence.
After she married her United States citizen husband, he file an I-130 petition for her as his spouse. Simultaneously, she filed form I-485, Application to Adjust Status to Lawful Permanent Resident. Following an interview at USCIS, she was accorded Conditional Resident Status. She correctly filed her I-751 before her two year expiration date, however in the interim, the couple had separated and decided to end their relationship. When she came to our office, she did not know how to respond to the RFE since she was no longer living with her husband. We advised her to begin a simple divorce proceeding, which she did. We worked on her package, while we awaited the divorce, collecting numerous documents evidencing their courtship, relationship and ultimate marriage. The amount of paperwork that our client collected was impressive and we were able to fill an entire Fedex Medium Sized Box with our responsive filing. Once we received the final divorce, we added it to the package along with our letter advising USCIS that the couple had filed and obtained a divorce prior to the two year conditional period. We filed this response, without filing a waiver for the divorce because we felt we had ample evidence in her particular case. We were able to submit a very large photo album documenting their relationship, including trips together, dinners, and many other excursions.
We also included a massive number of printed out e-mail and skype correspondences between the couple, ranging from flirtation, to love and eventually fighting and dissolution of their marriage. We submitted the tax returns they filed jointly while married, copies of their bank statements, FPL bills, cell phone bills, and copies of the lease where they rented an apartment together. We also asked friends and family to provide notarized affidavits speaking to how they knew the couple and confirming that they were in a bona fide relationship, even though they were no longer together. Lastly, we were able to obtain a sworn affidavit from her ex-husband, stating that he married her for love and affection and not in any way to circumvent the immigration law.
After sending the enormous package Fedex, we expected an interview date to be forthcoming. To our surprise less than two weeks later, we received notification that her Permanent card was being processed without an interview. Client was extremely please since she was spared having to recount the details of her failed marriage again at an interview before an immigration officer. She will be eligible to apply for citizenship in less than three years!
