Dear Atty. Lou,
I am a conditional permanent resident here in the US. My wife and I got married in the Philippines in January of 2007. My wife then petitioned me and I arrived here last December 2009. Recently, we have been having serious marital problems and it came to a point that I am concerned for my safety. I fear for my life.
What happened in February 2010 was very traumatic for me and I can no longer live with the person I used to love who constantly abused me verbally, emotionally, sexually and this time physically! She’s becoming very violent from the usual pushing me around on the bed and on the wall to pinching me to throwing breakable house decors on my face and to blocking the doors of the house because she will not allow me to leave the house for me to go to work. She does not want me to see my relatives who also reside in the US. She expects me to follow everything she says and if I disagree, she threatens me with a divorce. She’s blackmailing me since she knows I’m just a conditional permanent resident here.
My question now is about my status. What will happen to me/my status here in US if I or she will file a divorce? What is the best move for me to do (since it’s impossible now to patch things up with my wife)? Please help.
DV Victim
Dear DV Victim,
I sympathize with your situation. It is not unusual that spouses who are petitioned by their spouses are vulnerable to abuses. The immigration matter is always an issue that comes up whenever there is a misunderstanding between the couple.
The immigration law has specific provisions that protect that conditional permanent resident from being removed from the country based on refusal of the petitioning spouse to file the joint removal of conditional resident. On the other hand, there are also provisions that protect the US citizen spouse from abuses from petitioned spouses who use the marriage to circumvent immigration law.
In your particular case, you have described instances of abuse from your US citizen spouse. Since you are on conditional resident status, the filing of divorce will not generally affect your ability to remove your conditions and obtain a permanent resident status. There is a “waiver” of joint filing of the removal of conditions on USCIS Form I-751. This means that you even if your spouse files for divorce, you may still get your permanent green card as long as you show proof that you entered the marriage in good faith. Another ground for the waiver is “extreme cruelty” by your US citizen spouse.
In proving either the good faith marriage or the extreme cruelty in your waiver of joint filing, you should support your petition with supporting documents. Examples of these documents are your detailed declaration, written testimony from witnesses who are aware of your situation, medical records, police reports, counseling records or photographs.
Your case therefore is not as worse as you think it would be if she files a petition for dissolution of your marriage. You are right in saying that your safety should now be your immediate concern. Do what you believe would be appropriate based on the information I have provided.
Atty. Lou
(Lourdes Santos Tancinco Esq .is a partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, a Professional Law Corp. Her office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Suite 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 415 397 0808, email at law@tancinco.com. The content provided in this column is solely for informational purposes only and do not create a lawyer-client relationship. It should not be relied as legal advice. This column does not disclose any confidential or classified information acquired in her capacity as legal counsel. Consult with an attorney before deciding on a course of action. You may submit questions to law@tancinco.com)
