Skip to main content

I-751 (Remove Conditions) while separated or divorced, the financial considerations

There is a lot of information online on the immigration status implications of transitioning from a conditional to 10 year green card if you are divorced or separated and your sponsor spouse is not supporting you. There is a lot less info on how that can play out financially.

The sponsor spouse signed an I-864 affidavit of support where they promised the Government to support their new spouse at 125% of the federal poverty line. The purpose of this requirement is to put the risk of the immigrant beneficiary needing financial support on the sponsor and away from the public.

What many people don't realize is that the promise can be enforced directly by the beneficiary against the sponsoring spouse via a lawsuit. So, if after separation or divorce, the immigrant spouse is earning very little money or not working and the sponsor is not offering financial support, the immigrant beneficiary can sue their ex to compel financial payments to support them while they get back on their feet. This is separate and apart from any state alimony or child support laws. Also, the immigrant spouse can do this without money to hire a lawyer, because the I-864 has a fee shifting provision. Lawyers take these cases on a contingency because if legal action turns out to be necessary, the sponsor is ultimately responsible for paying attorneys fees.

Some takeaways:

  1. Sponsors--Make sure you completely understand this obligation before agreeing to sponsor anyone. The I-864 is an ironclad contract and a serious commitment and responsibility. Also, if you already signed one and are separating from your spouse, it pays to be civil and not try to use your spouse's immigration status as a weapon. It could backfire. I would also suggest you bring this up with your divorce lawyer so as to factor this in to any divorce negotiation/agreement.
  2. Immigrant beneficiaries-- If you are not working and your sponsor spouse is not supporting you financially, you have a powerful tool to force them to support you while you get back on your feet financially. This is not an area where you need to or should tolerate bullying. Consult a lawyer on this that is familiar with I-864 enforcement actions. Typically, they will evaluate these cases for free and take the case on a contingency if they decide to represent you. There are not many lawyers well versed on these cases so depending on where you live, you should consider hiring an out of state attorney.

If anyone has any questions on this, I'm happy to share what I know.

submitted by /u/JoeGentileESQ
[link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/pem5oz/i751_remove_conditions_while_separated_or/
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

NVC Case FE Review note

Hi everyone, my family and I are under the F3 category and we just received a notice from NVC that our documents have been approved and that we are Documentarily Qualified. My only concern is this message that we received today in addition to the acceptance: ​ " [Name of petitioner] does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants for this case. The consular officer will make a decision regarding this requirement at the time of the interview. For more information, please visit https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p . To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 for a joint sponsor may be submitted." ​ We already have a petitioner and a household sponsor (the household sponsor's income is above the required level), but still unsure why we received this. Has anyone else received this message? All of our documents say "Approved" on NVC. Does this mean we have to find another sponsor? Can we show the consular officer our ...
Read more

DS-260 Have you ever attended any educational institutions at a secondary level or above?

Ok so I’m not sure what to put down here, I have a high school diploma and currently attending college! So for the occupation part for a previous question I put down the school I go to and address, however I am uncertain what to put down here, I put my high school start and end date but do I also include the college? Because it says highest level of education COMPLETED but also in the drop down menu there is an option that says UNIVERSITY,NO DEGREE which if I do choose then I will have to fill out the school information and then a start date and an end date which I still do not know this is the only question I’m struggling will and have looked into it but no straightforward answer! I hope you guys can help submitted by /u/AlarmingUmpire3 [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/j2eni9/ds260_have_you_ever_attended_any_educational/
Read more

Form G-325A, Biographic Information (for Deferred Action) -

Uscis.gov - USCIS October 25, 2023 at 07:21AM Form G-325A, Biographic Information (for Deferred Action) Edition Date: 10/25/23. Starting Nov. 13, we will only accept the 10/25/23 edition. Until then, you can also use the 08/30/22 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions. from RSS Feed
Read more