Freedom of information act request for USCIS
Jane, a US citizen, met John while she was on a missionary trip to Mexico many years ago. Their friendship started when John was the local youth coordinator of the church where Jane was assigned. They spent a lot of time together working on different projects and other initiatives, not to mention that John was also her guide around town. What seemed to be a platonic relationship later blossomed into a romantic love affair. Just a few months into her trip, Jane and John got married in a civil ceremony.
When Jane came back to the US she immediately filed an I-130 spousal petition for John. It took a couple of years for the USCIS to approve her petition and after the long wait John was issued an immigrant visa at a US consulate in Mexico. Subsequently, John landed in California. Finally, they were reunited and vowed to live together and raise a family in the US.
However, after only a couple of months, John became depressed. He missed his parents back in Mexico as well as the youth he served in his church. He badly wanted to go home but due to Jane's protests, he begrudgingly stayed. This situation strained the couple's relationship. Fights became constant and John drank alcohol to alleviate his stress. One morning, Jane woke up to discover that John left. A couple of weeks after, John's mother called her to tell her that John is in Mexico and that he doesn’t want to remain married with Jane anymore. That was her last communication with John's family and since then, has had no news of John's whereabouts.
Time passed and she has moved on with her life without John. She accepted the fact that he abandoned her and she had no desire of reconciling with him. She thought that she would just enjoy being alone and had no plans of getting married again. Until she met Joey.
Joey came into Jane's life when she was at her lowest point. At the time, she was grieving over the death of her mother due to a long battle with cancer. She was her only family left, and with her passing Jane felt so alone. This was when she met Joey at a friend's party. This friend wanted Joey, then a foreign student at a local university, to experience an authentic American Thanksgiving dinner. She found him to be very engaging, honest, and respectful while he thought she was the prettiest and smartest woman he ever met. Their initial meeting led to subsequent dates and meet-ups. Jane, very mindful of her experience with John, took a very cautious approach about this new friendship. Joey understood her but was also very persistent. In time, he professed his love, showed how sincere he was, and eventually won her over. Jane too felt that it was time to give herself another chance at love. A couple of years later they decided to get married.
However, Jane was in a dilemma. On paper, she was still married to John. She didn’t divorce him and she also did not know if he divorced her in Mexico. Her second problem is that she doesn’t have a copy of her marriage certificate issued in Mexico. She also didn’t register her marriage at the US Consulate. She has no proof that she was previously married. She also cannot file a divorce here in the US without a copy of her marriage certificate. In addition to that, without the previous marriage getting dissolved, she cannot marry Joey and without the marriage she cannot file a spousal petition for him. She is also afraid to go to Mexico to obtain a copy of her marriage certificate and doesn’t she know someone there to obtain it for her. What can she do?
In her case, if all else fails, one way for Jane to obtain a copy of the marriage certificate is to file a FOIA request before the USCIS. Her immigration records including her petition and all the supporting documents she filed on behalf of John are obtainable through this request, including their marriage certificate. The FOIA request is generally free, fast, and can be filed online. All she needs is to set up an online account with USCIS and through that, she can fill out the request. Next week, we will discuss step by step on how to fill out a FOIA request at USCIS.