QUESTION

Do I qualify for VAWA?

Asked on Jun 11th, 2011 on Immigration - New Jersey
More details to this question:
To start off, I met my American citizen husband in May 2009. We dated for a year and then married August 2010 and lived together since July 2010. I got pregnant and decided to move 2 hours away and he got us an apartment. In Nov. he took a job that had him working Sun.-Sun., 12-14 hours everyday. While he worked in other towns I had no choice but to stay alone in an empty apartment. There were circumstances where he could have asked for a day off to accompany me to an appointment or visit me but he insisted to work instead. So, every 40 days he came to see me for only 10 days and then it was another 40 days without seeing him. February 2011 was the last time I saw him before my son was born. During that time I was going through hell and pregnant, there were times when he refused to call me or when we did talk he argued with me because I insisted for him to see me, this caused my water to break because of the distres. He yelled over the phone abusive phrases and he treated me like a child and always made me feel useless or used. In April 2011 my mother saw my situation so she told me to live with her because I've been kicked out of my apartment because he refused to pay rent. When I needed him the most he was busy drinking with friends. When my son was born he just showed up to but his name on his B.C. and stayed 3 days and haven't seen him since. He now lives with his parents 2 hours away and doesn't bother stopping by, I believe he abandoned me pregnant and now my son and I depend on my parents. To this day he threatens me that he is going to take my son, he once mentioned that he was going to take him to Mexico. He uses that I'm illegal against me and now I feel like he controls me. I wasn't physically abused but he did mentally and emotionally abused me.
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2 ANSWERS

Immigration and Naturalization Attorney serving San Francisco, CA at The Law Office of Christine Troy
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From your description, it does sound like you would have a valid VAWA claim. However in order to determine this, the attorney you work with will need to sit down with you to go over your entire case in full detail. If you do not have enough money for this, there are a lot of pro bono clinics and women's shelters that prepare and file VAWA claims. I encourage you to talk with some of them- you can google them just like you did for this site- to determine which agency will be the most legitimate and be able to assist you with your case.
Answered on Jun 14th, 2011 at 3:47 PM

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Immigration Attorney serving Newark, NJ
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I am sorry to hear about your situation. It is sad, indeed. You may qualify for VAWA, but there are definitely some difficult aspects to your situation that need to be proven. You should consult with an attorney to help you through the process to have the best chance at success. I have handled several similar cases to yours and believe I could help you through the VAWA process successfully. Call me for a free consultation.
Answered on Jun 14th, 2011 at 12:00 PM

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