my cousins arrived in the US in 2010 on conditional visa which expired in 2012. Her spouse refused to give her any information if he had filed in to remove the condition. She retrieved her expired passport and expired PR card with the help of police. She has 2 kids both born in the US. She has no way of getting any information, she does not have any income to seek a lawyer. Her in-laws record all her phone conversations. Please let me know how can I help her and who to see for this matter?
She needs the assistance of an experienced immigration attorney. I believe most of us will make payment plan arrangements with her. If she cannot afford one, and no one is willing to help her, she should see if NWIRP can help her.
For her immigration matter if the spouse is not cooperating she needs to file a Form I-751 requesting waiver of joint filing as soon as possible in order not to be put in deportation or removal proceedings.
Consult an experienced local attorney.
If her husband is either a US citizen or a legal permanent resident and she or her children have been victims of domestic abuse, she may be eligible to self-petition under VAWA with form I-360. She can contact her local legal aid office to see if they can help or ask the women's shelter if they know someone who may be able to help her. She'll need the help of an advocate who can help document her case and refer her to a good Immigration attorney. There is a fee waiver for filing VAWA cases so this should help lower her costs.
The attorney may be able to help her look up the status of any pending applications at uscis.gov or file a FOIA request with USCIS. However, it's doubtful that her husband has filed the I-751 application to remove conditions on residence because she would have had to sign that document. Best of luck to your cousin and God bless you for trying to help her.
She could file for a waiver of the joint filing requirement at any time. Hopefully, she has not already been referred to removal proceedings. She better see an attorney ASAP.
The residency of a holder of a conditional permanent resident card automatically ends on the date indicated on the card if a petition to remove conditions is not timely filed.
It sounds as if your cousin likely is without a lawful immigration status right now. While the immigration services likely are not actively looking for your cousin to deport her, she could come to the attention of the immigration services if she is charged with some criminal law violation.
Her spouse likely signed the affidavit of support for her when she was applying for her permanent residency. If so, she can use the affidavit of support as a basis to ask the court to order the spouse to financially support her.
If she does not want to be married with the husband any more, she can file for a dissolution of the marriage.
Once the dissolution is completed, she can file a petition to remove condition on her permanent residency.
While it has been several years since her conditional green card expired, she likely can be approved for the petition to remove condition.
"Her in-laws record all her phone conversations." If she is in WA, it would be unlawful for the inlaws to record without the consent of all persons in the conversation.
Your cousin needs to review the specific facts with her attorney to find out her legal options
Although many fine answers have been provided here, I write only to note that her best chance of getting a waiver under these circumstances is to apply for a waiver of the joint petition requirement (on form I-751) on the grounds that she and her children will suffer extreme hardship if she is removed. Also, she should contact Linda Yoo for help in Seattle, 425/450-4858, and tell her I referred her. As others have noted, payment can be collected from her husband if necessary.
