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Citizenship: Married Twice and lied about 1st
I am from India and came here on visit visa - transferred to F-1 status, got married, got temporary green card, then permanent green card and schedule to appear for the citizenship interview in a few days.
BUT
7 years ago, when I was in college I fell in love with an Indian girl from a different religion. Both our parents were against it and was forced to break off our relationship due to religious and cultural reasons, but secretly we stayed in touch.
Somehow her family realized we continued the relationship and was trying to sneak her to India to visit grandparents. Both of us were certain that, they were planning to get her married while in India or were not planning to bring her back to the U.S. A few weeks before her scheduled trip we got married in the court without letting anyone know - the purpose was so that - she would not be forced to legally get married to someone in India - when she is already married.
I was on F-1 Visa and she was a green card holder or citizen - do not remember exactly as we did not do this for immigration.
Except for one e-mail after she got to India, there was no other correspondence for almost six months. I hired private investigators to find out what happened to her or where she was - but had no success. While there, not sure what happened - but after she came back - I got a notice from a lawyer for divorce.
I was certain she was being threatened or forced to do this and hired a marriage counselor / lawyer and went through the process of getting in touch with her personally, and arranging a meeting with just her lawyer, my lawyer, her and myself. I did this to make sure she herself took the decision and was not under any pressure and/or that her parents had filed for divorce without her knowledge. At the meeting, she told it was her decision and if I ever cared or loved her I should sign the papers. With no other choice, I decided to give into her wishes. Later that year we appeared at court and got the divorce.
We never spent a night together or lived together, bought anything together, or had legal contracts or anything - except for the marriage certificate and the divorce papers. These are the only two links between us. Since the day at the courts, I haven't seen her, heard anything and our paths have never crossed again.
Few years later through arranged marriage I got married to a wonderful girl and have been married to her for 4 years now. My previous marriage or divorce was not revealed to her or her parents or any of my other family. Though a lame excuse, this was something that was kept hidden from everyone as we(from my previous marriage) never lived together and I did not want to be framed as a divorcee in our Indian culture. It was a closed chapter in my life and I had locked it away.
I confessed all these to my wife 2 years back and she was mature enough to understand and believed that, what was in the past is the past and whatever happened was just on paperwork. But we both agree that, our families will never understand it and things will never be the same if they came to know and has therefore remained a secret.
After our wedding, we filed for my green card - got the temporary, then filed for permanent and got that and now I have applied for citizenship.
ON ALL FORMS AND PAPERWORK SO FAR DONE WITH IMMIGRATION I HAVE NEVER REVEALED OR PROVIDED ANY PAPERWORK FOR MY PREVIOUS MARRIAGE. I HAVE NEVER BEEN ASKED FOR ANY DOCUMENTATION OR CLARIFICATION OF ANY SUCH ISSUES SO FAR.
I am not sure if the other got girl remarried and/or if any paperwork was given with my name, like divorce papers, etc.. I don't know if the INS has access to marriage certificates or divorce papers(remember there is no other paperwork that have both our names together - no bank account or leases or utilities or travel tickets or anything)
MY CITIZENSHIP INTERVIEW IS IN A FEW DAYS. I AM TOO TENSED ABOUT IT AND ANY ADVICE FROM ANY KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE WOULD HELP.
DO I
CONTINUE TO DENY THE PREVIOUS MARRIAGE IF ASKED SPECIFICALLY
AT THE INTERVIEW?
CARRY ALL PAPERWORK RELATED TO PREVIOUS MARRIAGE AND
DIVORCE AND / OR GIVE VERBAL / WRITTEN EXPLANATION?
CONFESS EVERYTHING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE INTERVIEW?
I am not able to sleep at night, thinking about all these. I am sure I am going to get comments from many saying, I should have thought about all these before and I should have been honest from the beginning. But there is no point crying over spilled milk. I need advice for the immediate future - what would be the best option to do right now, at the interview and later if denied. What would be the worst case scenario.
By the way, my current marriage is a legitimate and a happy one. I am confident there will not be any doubts or suspicion about anything fraudulent in this marriage, and for that matter even in the previous marriage (as it was never done for any immigration purpose)
Thank you in advance for all your timely suggestions and advice.
Sleepless
BUT
7 years ago, when I was in college I fell in love with an Indian girl from a different religion. Both our parents were against it and was forced to break off our relationship due to religious and cultural reasons, but secretly we stayed in touch.
Somehow her family realized we continued the relationship and was trying to sneak her to India to visit grandparents. Both of us were certain that, they were planning to get her married while in India or were not planning to bring her back to the U.S. A few weeks before her scheduled trip we got married in the court without letting anyone know - the purpose was so that - she would not be forced to legally get married to someone in India - when she is already married.
I was on F-1 Visa and she was a green card holder or citizen - do not remember exactly as we did not do this for immigration.
Except for one e-mail after she got to India, there was no other correspondence for almost six months. I hired private investigators to find out what happened to her or where she was - but had no success. While there, not sure what happened - but after she came back - I got a notice from a lawyer for divorce.
I was certain she was being threatened or forced to do this and hired a marriage counselor / lawyer and went through the process of getting in touch with her personally, and arranging a meeting with just her lawyer, my lawyer, her and myself. I did this to make sure she herself took the decision and was not under any pressure and/or that her parents had filed for divorce without her knowledge. At the meeting, she told it was her decision and if I ever cared or loved her I should sign the papers. With no other choice, I decided to give into her wishes. Later that year we appeared at court and got the divorce.
We never spent a night together or lived together, bought anything together, or had legal contracts or anything - except for the marriage certificate and the divorce papers. These are the only two links between us. Since the day at the courts, I haven't seen her, heard anything and our paths have never crossed again.
Few years later through arranged marriage I got married to a wonderful girl and have been married to her for 4 years now. My previous marriage or divorce was not revealed to her or her parents or any of my other family. Though a lame excuse, this was something that was kept hidden from everyone as we(from my previous marriage) never lived together and I did not want to be framed as a divorcee in our Indian culture. It was a closed chapter in my life and I had locked it away.
I confessed all these to my wife 2 years back and she was mature enough to understand and believed that, what was in the past is the past and whatever happened was just on paperwork. But we both agree that, our families will never understand it and things will never be the same if they came to know and has therefore remained a secret.
After our wedding, we filed for my green card - got the temporary, then filed for permanent and got that and now I have applied for citizenship.
ON ALL FORMS AND PAPERWORK SO FAR DONE WITH IMMIGRATION I HAVE NEVER REVEALED OR PROVIDED ANY PAPERWORK FOR MY PREVIOUS MARRIAGE. I HAVE NEVER BEEN ASKED FOR ANY DOCUMENTATION OR CLARIFICATION OF ANY SUCH ISSUES SO FAR.
I am not sure if the other got girl remarried and/or if any paperwork was given with my name, like divorce papers, etc.. I don't know if the INS has access to marriage certificates or divorce papers(remember there is no other paperwork that have both our names together - no bank account or leases or utilities or travel tickets or anything)
MY CITIZENSHIP INTERVIEW IS IN A FEW DAYS. I AM TOO TENSED ABOUT IT AND ANY ADVICE FROM ANY KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE WOULD HELP.
DO I
CONTINUE TO DENY THE PREVIOUS MARRIAGE IF ASKED SPECIFICALLY
AT THE INTERVIEW?
CARRY ALL PAPERWORK RELATED TO PREVIOUS MARRIAGE AND
DIVORCE AND / OR GIVE VERBAL / WRITTEN EXPLANATION?
CONFESS EVERYTHING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE INTERVIEW?
I am not able to sleep at night, thinking about all these. I am sure I am going to get comments from many saying, I should have thought about all these before and I should have been honest from the beginning. But there is no point crying over spilled milk. I need advice for the immediate future - what would be the best option to do right now, at the interview and later if denied. What would be the worst case scenario.
By the way, my current marriage is a legitimate and a happy one. I am confident there will not be any doubts or suspicion about anything fraudulent in this marriage, and for that matter even in the previous marriage (as it was never done for any immigration purpose)
Thank you in advance for all your timely suggestions and advice.
Sleepless
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