Hey friends. If you're interested in hearing about how divorce impacts immigration, watch this video
in this video, I'm going to walk you through the major things you need to consider.
If you're going through an immigration filing process and you're either separated or divorced or
contemplate in divorce. So watch this all the way until the end. For those of you who are new to me,
welcome. I'm Latoya, McBean Pompey and immigration lawyer in New York, working with clients all over
the United States and in many different countries. Now let's get into the discussion around divorce
and immigration. And I started to think about this, uh, just recently, as a matter of fact,
when I, uh, posted on Instagram, for those of you who aren't following me at on Instagram,
you want to do so at McBean immigration law, because I do post a lot of short videos,
answering questions and touching on topics that many of you are most concerned about.
But just a few days ago, I posted this real, this video in which I talked a little bit about,
well, what should, what, how should you handle a situation where by your spouse
left you after filing for you? And so a number of you responded that, oh my God, this is me.
I'm in this situation right now. Um, oh, I, you know, I'd love to be able to pick up the pieces
and move on with my filing or ultimately get through. And so in thinking about this issue,
I put together this little presentation with some things that you need to really consider
the first is this, where are you in this process? Where are you? Are you separated
after the filing has happened? And when I say filing, what I'm really referring to
is the green card filing. Okay. The green card filing for those of you who are hearing
the United States, going through the adjustment of status process.
And certainly this impacts those of you who are overseas and your spouses here,
and they've just dropped the ball on you. Okay. They are gone or they have pulled out.
Okay. So if you're separated after filing the first thing you need to think about as well,
am I separated before we actually got a chance to go on an interview? Right? Did the violent,
did the separation happened before the interview? If it happened before the interview, some of the
main things that you've got to think about include, well, what will happen when I do get
that interview notice? Um, am I going to show up on my own? Um, am I going to be denied? Um, can I
try to go in and with my spouse and try to keep up appearances? Like we're still together in
marital unity, what should I do? Right. Those are the questions that you may have right now,
or if you, the separation happened after the interview, but before the approval.
And so you're just waiting now for, uh, either, uh, your rating for the next response from the
government after you've had that interview. And if, um, things didn't go great during
that interview, the government may send you a request for additional evidence or notice of
intent to deny, um, or, you know, obviously you may get that approval letter as well or a denial.
If the evidence is really, uh, adverse against you. Now, the next thing to think about as well,
am I separated after the approval? And when I say separated, just to be clear, I mean, you're just,
you're no longer living together in marital unity. You're,
uh, separated, but not divorced yet. So did the separation happen after you've been approved?
You might be thinking, whoa, I just, you know, I dodged a bullet there. Um, you know,
I've already been approved and now it's, oh, you know, um, we're separated and so I'm free.
Well, the one thing that you should think about is, well, did you get a two-year green card,
the conditional residency card, because if you had gotten the conditional residency card and perhaps,
maybe your children were part of, uh, were filed for as well by your spouse and your
children also have the two year green card, well, you've got to really think about, well,
how do I get the 10 year, right? The, um, the permanent residency card, the 10 year card, which
the government will require you to apply for, uh, after two years of being a conditional resident.
So those considerations need to happen as well. Now, what if you are divorced before approval
before approval? Now this is legal divorce that I'm speaking of here, right? There has
been a final decree, a judgment issued by a court that, um, indicates that you're now divorced.
Now, what happens if your, this happens before you're approved by the government? And,
well, the first question is, well, are you divorced before the interview?
Because in which case, if you're going through, uh, the green card process and you're
going to get the two year green card, this is going to have significant implications. Although
we help people in this Berry scenario all the time, uh, there is a way for people to still go
forward and get, um, the 10 year green card, even after they've been divorced. Now, the
other question is, well, did the divorce happen? Um, after your interview, okay. After the green
card interview, you then got approved, you got the divorce, but this was before your approval. How is
this going to impact you long term? All right. And when I say long-term guys, I mean this, I
mean, um, for naturalization purposes, right? When you're seeking to apply for naturalization,
if you've been divorced after you've gotten approved, um, for the green card, it's,
it's an issue of time in how soon thereafter will I become eligible to apply for naturalization is
the time right to do that. And if I were to apply for naturalization now, um, shortly after getting
my approval, because you know, maybe three years, I've been a resident for three years and I'm
eligible. Well, you've got to think about the fact that the government at the naturalization stage
will be, we'll still be concerned about your marriage and whether you lived in marital
unity, um, for a certain period of time. So there's a lot of things to think about when
it comes on to, um, some separation and divorce, and you're going through an immigration process,
you're really going to need to get some legal help wherever you find yourself on this spectrum,
wherever you are at what stage you're at, it re you really need some guidance, legal help.
And so contact McBean law. Uh, we work with people virtually in many different states,
all over the U S I should say, um, you can contact us@mcbeanlaw.com to get started with
a consultation so that we could figure out what the problem is and help you to
strategize on your next steps. Uh, you could also email us@infomcbeanlaw.com.
Our phone number is also on the screen 5 1 6 8 6 6 3900. Uh, but our staff is on deck Monday
through Friday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. So you could, it's best to just book your consultation online,
24 7 also friends. I want to remind you that you should follow me on Instagram at McBean
immigration law, where I drop a lot more, um, short videos and information about immigration.
If you'd like to get on my email list, uh, we also do Q and A's send out Q and a emails, and I have
a weekly immigration news email that goes out as well. So click the link below in the description.
And then my online courses, I have some terrific courses go to Latoya mcbean.my kajabi.com to see
those courses. And then lastly, subscribe now subscribed to McBean immigration TV,
hit the notification bell, so that you'll be able to get my videos each week. Thank you so
much for being with me in this one, and I will see you in the next one. Bye bye.