Ed wrote:
My thought is Fraud. If a sponsor can prove marriage and\or immigration fraud during a divorce proceeding and become successful, wouldn't this make a difference?
I can see how a plain divorce would not even be considered. My main concern is being hauled in to a federal court and ordered to pay support because of the affidavit of support contract. The fact that there are already precedent cases of this is really alarming!
Did your exwife do this to you? Are you paying alimony based on her claiming to have little or no money and that you signed the I-864?
First about my case. My ex-wife tried to get support during the trial for the restraining order. The judge ruled that that issue would be left for the divorce and not what was being judged on then.
The I-864 can be used by the immigrant's attorney as a lever in divorce proceedings. From what I have seen it is seldom successful in that. There is several cases where it has been such as the State of Indiana's Stump decision. Mostly though it is not an issue. Also the Fed as of yet has not enforced the I-864 as far as it's purpose of welfare reembursement to them. Another thing is that the I-864 can be used by hospitals and clinics collection departments for billing medical costs of the immigrant. I have heard of only one incident of that.
Overall the chances of the I-864 being a problem is slim. That condition could change on the future in these economic turbulent times. For now I would put my efforts in solving the more likely problems.
Now the issue in regard to the USCIS and a judge's finding of fraud in a divorce. The VAWA staff in Saint Albans, Vermont will never see this document. The reason is your wife will not submit it nor is she required to. They will make their ruling based on her statement, the statements of her friends and any "evidence" she chooses to submit in her packet to them. They will then make their decision which will very likely be yes to her abuse petition. They will then send this granting of her petition to her local USCIS service center. The service center will then ask her to submit her divorce papers to see if they are legal and that your marriage has been dissolved. With that they will hand her her LPR card. The fact that the ruling of the divorce was based on her fraud will not be an issue to them. Now a annulment may be an issue. Now with all this said I should say I could be wrong on these issues. What I have seen everything I have just written is the MOST likely outcome/case.
Overall I would concentrate on the likely issues and not on the ones that happen on in rare or unusual cases. It is up to you Ed to decide which is which. Usually a good attorney that knows the issues has the better objective feel on what should be concentrated on. It is hard to have a clear head with clear thinking and the right reactions at times like this.
Maxx
