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I'm an Indian citizen and married my long-time girlfriend (also an Indian citizen) in India in December 2011. After marriage, we didn't live together, as she had to get back to the US, where she was working on H1-b and I had to move to the UK to pursue higher education.
In June, 2012 - I got a H4 (spouse/dependent) visa to visit her for 25 days.
Since long-distance was causing issues in our relationship, I decided to move to the US and began searching for employers willing to sponsor H1-b's. In 2013, an employer (my current employer) sponsored my H1-b and I moved to the US on October, 2013.
However, it was too late and the long-distance had already killed our relationship - so we decided to get the marriage annulled - as we never really lived together as a couple. In January 2014, we got our marriage annulled.
In June 2015, I re-married a US citizen and now I'd like to apply for permanent residence under the marriage based green card category.
I discussed my case with an immigration attorney and he mentioned that my previous annulment would be an issue, as I got a dependent visa (H4) through my ex-wife, although later I got the marriage annulled - which in legal terminology means that the marriage never existed. In his opinion, USCIS could/would view this as immigration fraud, as I got a dependent visa for a marriage which I later proved, never existed. Is this correct? Should I be worried about this? Has someone out there been in the same boat? If so, please share your experience.
Note: I've been working in the US on H1-B since Oct 2013 and have never been arrested or over-stayed or involved in any criminal activity ever. My employer has also initiated an employment-based green card petition for me, but it'll take 5-6 years for me to get a GC via this route.
In June, 2012 - I got a H4 (spouse/dependent) visa to visit her for 25 days.
Since long-distance was causing issues in our relationship, I decided to move to the US and began searching for employers willing to sponsor H1-b's. In 2013, an employer (my current employer) sponsored my H1-b and I moved to the US on October, 2013.
However, it was too late and the long-distance had already killed our relationship - so we decided to get the marriage annulled - as we never really lived together as a couple. In January 2014, we got our marriage annulled.
In June 2015, I re-married a US citizen and now I'd like to apply for permanent residence under the marriage based green card category.
I discussed my case with an immigration attorney and he mentioned that my previous annulment would be an issue, as I got a dependent visa (H4) through my ex-wife, although later I got the marriage annulled - which in legal terminology means that the marriage never existed. In his opinion, USCIS could/would view this as immigration fraud, as I got a dependent visa for a marriage which I later proved, never existed. Is this correct? Should I be worried about this? Has someone out there been in the same boat? If so, please share your experience.
Note: I've been working in the US on H1-B since Oct 2013 and have never been arrested or over-stayed or involved in any criminal activity ever. My employer has also initiated an employment-based green card petition for me, but it'll take 5-6 years for me to get a GC via this route.
