Integrity Legal

As stated previously on this blog, in most cases where a foreign spouse has entered the United States of American on the CR1 visa the Petitioner and the Beneficiary must jointly file a petition to lift conditions of the Beneficiary’s permanent residence. Unfortunately, there are situations where the Beneficiary is in an abusive relationship and this creates a problem because the Beneficiary does not want to contact the Petitioner in order to have the Petitioner assist with filing the application for a lift of conditions. Luckily, there was a law passed to deal with this problem: the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

The Violence Against Women Act was passed by Congress in 1994. Under its provisions, the abused spouse of a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident is allowed to self-file for a lift of conditions. This allows for the battered or abused spouse to file for a lift of conditions without the assistance, or even the notification, of the abusive spouse. It should be noted that the abuse does not need to be physical, emotionally or psychologically abusive behavior on the part of the US Citizen or Lawful Permanent resident spouse could be used as a legitimate reason to submit a self-filed petition to lift conditions. Those who have been in an abusive relationship and wish to self-file for their lift of conditions should document the behavior they feel is abusive.

It should be noted that these petitions are likely to be heavily scrutinized. The policy reason behind the enforcement of a Conditional Residence period is to be certain that a marriage is bona fide and not a “sham marriage,” or “marriage of convenience” which was entered into for the sole purpose of gaining a US Immigration benefit. In some cases involving a VAWA self-filed petition for a lifting of conditional resident status, suspicions could be raised in the mind of the adjudicating USCIS officer as to the bona fides of the original marriage and the bona fides of the claim to have been the victim of abuse. For this reason, gathering evidence of abuse is critical to a sucessful VAWA petition. In cases involving physical abuse, a police report documenting an incident where the American Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse was abusive could be a strong piece of evidence used to support a self-filed VAWA petition. Also, retaining a licensed attorney with experience in United States Immigration matters may be advisable as VAWA petitions can be highly complex.

Tags: CR1, CR1 Visa, CR1 Visa Lift of Conditions, CR1 Visa Thailand, US Vis Thailand, VAWA, VAWA Lift of Conditions
Posted in CR1 Visa, General Legal Information, Miscellaneous, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand, USCIS | No Comments »

US Visas for Immediate Relatives related by Marriage

For those who wish to bring their family to the United States there are options under United States Immigration Law that allow immediate relatives of American Citizens entry into the United States as well as the possibility of permanent residence. At one time, the most common method of bringing a loved one to the United States was by marriage and petitioning for an immediate relative visa to the USA. The application for an Immediate Relative Visa was the I-130.

Congress then passed legislation creating two visa categories, where before there had been only one, for relatives related by marriage. Currently, there is what is known as a CR-1 visa which stands for Conditional Resident Visa. The conditionality of this visa means that the visa is conditioned upon the marriage lasting for two years. The other type of marriage visa is the IR-1 Visa. This visa is a Immediate Relative visa and there are no conditions implied with this visa.

As the legal situation evolved and the backlog of Immigration petitions increased, it became necessary to provide a more expedited visa for spouses of American Citizens. For this reason, legislation creating the K3 visa was enacted.

As recently as 2 months ago, this author advised clients that the K3 was an efficient and expeditious method of bringing a spouse to the USA in comparison to the CR-1 or IR-1 Visas. However, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has recently cleared a great deal of its backlog of cases and as a result the processing times for the I-129f petition (the Supplemental petition filed in order to obtain a K3 visa, those seeking a K1 visa will recognize this as the application form for that visa category) are nearly the same as the I-130 petition.

A K3 visa has many advantages and tactical uses, but the speed advantage of the K3 visa has recently been diminished by the faster processing time of the I-130 petitions. The I-130 is currently processing quickly, but the backlog could increase again later, although it does not seem likely. At its inception the K3 visa was being issued as a multiple entry non-immigrant visa with a validity of ten years. However, at the time of this writing, the K3 visa is being issued with a validity of two years. CR-1 Visas conditional period lasts for two years while IR-1 Visas, as mentioned previously, are unconditional

Deciding which category of US marriage visa to use is a decision that should be made after thoughtful study and consultation with the loved one who will be immigrating as well as an attorney should a couple find it necessary to retain one.

(Note: The information contained herein is meant for general use only and is not meant as a commentary on specific situations. This writing should not be used as an alternative for personalized legal advice from a competent attorney. No Lawyer-Client relationship is created between the reader and writer of this piece.)

Tags: CR1, I-129f, I-130, IR1, K1, K3, US Marriage Visa Thailand, US Visa Thailand
Posted in US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | 2 Comments »