Were you generally known as spouses by neighbors, friends, and the community?.What was the intent of you and the abuser with respect to what the relationship was to be?.When and where did the relationship begin?.Immigration officials may look at the following factors to determine if you have a valid common law marriage: You will need to work with an immigration lawyer to put together the documents to prove your common law marriage. For a list of US states that recognize common-law marriage and each state’s legal requirements, you can go to the National Conference of State Legislatures website. 1945) (holding that there was no valid marriage where marriage was entered into solely for immigration purposes, and not for ordinarily understood purpose of marriage)Ī common law marriage could count as a marriage for immigration purposes if the laws of the state or country where you had the relationship recognize common law marriages. 604, 613 (1953) (finding no good faith marriage where there was “no intention to marry and consummate the marriages even for a day”) U.S. 332, 333 (BIA 1980) (“A marriage that is entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing the immigration laws, referred to as a fraudulent or sham marriage, has not been recognized as enabling an alien spouse to obtain immigration benefits”) Lutwak v. 774, 783 (BIA 1988) (“Such marriages, entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing the immigration laws, have not been recognized as enabling an alien spouse to obtain immigration benefits”) (citing Matter of McKee, 17 I&N Dec. For information on how to show good faith marriage, see How can I prove that I got married in good faith?ġ Obergefell v. 3 However, it’s OK if one of the reasons you got married was for immigration purposes – as long as you also got married because you wanted to spend your life together. Were you married to your US citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse but s/he lost his/her immigration status within the past two years due to domestic violence?Įven if you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, you will still have to prove to USCIS that your marriage was in “good faith.” 2 This means that you didn’t marry your spouse primarily because you wanted to get immigration status.Were you married to a US citizen spouse who died within the past two years? Note: This does not apply if your spouse was a lawful permanent resident.Did you marry your US citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse believing s/he was unmarried but later found out s/he was already married?.Did you get divorced from your US citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse within the past two years? And was the divorce connected to the abuse? Note: You must be able to answer “yes” to both questions to qualify under this category. ![]() Are you currently married to a US citizen or lawful permanent resident?.If you answer “yes” to any of the questions below, you may qualify for a VAWA self-petition, regardless of whether your partner is of the same sex 1 or the opposite sex:
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