A Very Sad Wedding

[Cali vet]

An American friend I've known here in Cali for about a year was admited to the San Juan De Dios hospital about ten days ago diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. I was in the states for a week and had spoken to him before I left and he was fine. His novia said they couldn't come up with a three hundred dollar deposit for a good one so he entered this one, the second poorest in Cali. Nurses aren't available so it's up to family members to feed and wash the patients. Pretty grim. I found out when she called yesterday and asked us to be witnesses. They'd been planning to marry and he wanted to go through with it before dying in order to try to help her out. We went and he was in very very bad shape, barely able to speak. I translated his responses for the priest and the ceremony was carried out. He tried several times to sign the document but didn't have the streignth for more than a scrawl. By the afternoon he was no longer able to speak or recognize anyone. He has very little time left. I asked him once about a month ago if he had any plans to go back to the states for anything one of these days and he said "no, not really".

I hope the marriage will serve her somehow. She has been truely dedicated to him for almost a year but I really can't imagine that with out the services of a good lawyer in the US she'll be able realize any inheritence.

[Gary Bala]

... in response to A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003

Mr. Cali Vet,
You are welcome to ask the Colombian wife
of your friend, given her unfortunate situation,
to contact me offline without charge, when and
if she feels it is appropriate, to very briefly
discuss information about her US
immigration options, if any, under her circumstances.

In general, a conditional legal resident (CR-1)
whose US citizen (USC) spouse dies within the two
year period may self-petition the I-751
for permanent residency.
Further, and in general, the death of a USC
I-130 petitioner before the beneficiary spouse
has been granted residency will not necessarily
prevent the spouse from eventually securing residency.

However, the death of a “potential” I-130 USC petitioner
before any petitions have been filed allows the potential
beneficiary spouse extremely limited options.

Best regards and good luck to all,
Gary Bala

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Gary Bala on Aug 8, 2003

Thank you Mr. Bala I can pass that information along however she has never expressed an interest in going to the US. I think she would like help paying the bills they incurred here.

[DOMINGUIN]

... in response to A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003


CaliVet:

I'm truly sorry you lost your friend. May God bless you. Dominguin

[Pete E]

... in response to A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003

CV,
A sad story,I hope the guy did enjoy his time there before this happened.Plus you are a good friend to help out.
Idea - - It might mean something if they could get a spousal visa going or at least get him to sign the papers if he is still able.I know if they got married before and had the spousal visa and he died she is automatically in as a permanent resident.

Pete

[Jersey Mike]

... in response to Re: A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Pete E on Aug 8, 2003

Pete,
Are you sure about the automatic permanent residency for the spouse of a deceased citizen?  I knew a girl from Hungary who was living here in NJ, and  whose husband was murdered only 4 months into their marriage.  (I do not know the status of their application for permanent residency at the time.)  She ended up having some pretty severe difficuties with the INS, but remarried before her deportation.  It seems that the regs are pretty vague about these sorts of things.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Re: A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Jersey Mike on Aug 8, 2003

Thats what I am told.If she is here on a fiance visa she is here as a  temporary permanent resident.They or she needs to apply to make it permanent 90 days before 2 years.I have been told tha if he dies and she gets the permanent residency.
Now there may be more to it than this,plus if the INS questioned the validity of the marriage she could have a problem.Also,if she was at all a suspect in the murder  the INS might  want to check it out and that could be a problem.
There are several ways she can become permanent even if the marriage has ended.Spousal abuse is one."Good intention" or something to that effect is another.
Now timing can be a big issue.My cousin married his live in lover in New Zealand,with whom he had 3 kids,the day before he left them to come back to the states.Hs intention was to divorce her later,he just married her for her and the kids benefit.Actually he had another girlfriend who was seeing him off at the airport when she found out he married the ex lover.The INS had a problem with it,but they finally got her approved.She came with the kids,stayed awhile.Went back.Real loser.The kids are all here.

Pete

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Pete E on Aug 8, 2003

Pete

I spoke with the agent from the embassy in Bogota today who had previously been in contact with my friend and his future wife concerning a different matter. He said she has no hope of recieving SS benifits first because there is no agreement with the US and second because having just married him she doesn't meet any of the the requirements: ten years of marriage, a child or she being 62. He said she could try to contest the rules but would have to do it in the states and in his words she'd never get a visa. In his opinion the most she can hope for is recieving the proceeds of the last SS check or checks as next of kin. The timing of the marriage and issues of "by his own free will" in that circumstance would go against her. He added that the embassy does not respond for any medical claims nor funeral costs for US citizens.

Completely opposite the usual "that calena took me for...etc, etc" story my friend was constantly "insolvent" and his wife has ended up with huge debts on his behalf. In the seven months or so that they lived together she had to sign for the leases at two different apartments they rented (the second because he defaulted on the first), all public services and furniture purchases because he had only a passport not a cedula. At his insistence she quit her secretarial job a couple of months ago. Tomorrow she will take him out of the hospital to her fathers house because the hospital bill keeps climbing, she already owes for ten days, over $500.000 pesos. If you don't pay in cash you can't remove the patient, alive or dead. A doctor will show her how to feed him since he no longer eats. When he passes on she will be resposible for the costs of burying him, over a million pesos.    

[moam]

... in response to No chance, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003

Cali vet,
Do you plan to start some sort of fund so that the lady can cushion the blow that will be felt by this unfortunate situation?

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: No chance, posted by moam on Aug 9, 2003

His wife has gone around collecting so he wouldn't end up in a common grave so that's taken care of but thanks for asking. He died yesterday morning and was cremated today.

[Pete E]

... in response to No chance, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003

CV,
I didn't immagine she would get SS benefits.But if she wants to come to the US there might be some hope.See Gary Bala's post above.
Not to be crude but it appears even an old sick broke gringo can get a good woman in Cali.I would think a guy who even had the minimum SS benefit($500-$600 a month??) himself could live OK.Immagine how far that would get him here,he would be under a bridge.Living good in the land of bonita chicas or destitute here?Sounds like a no brainer.
Sounds like he found a good woman.Perhaps ones with no ambition to come here are a better bet?

Pete

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: No chance, posted by Pete E on Aug 9, 2003

Pete she might get special dispensation to go to the states if she were being threatened with death by the paras or something like that but according to the agent I spoke with in Bogota there's really no chance of her getting a visa based on being the widow of an American.

Also $500-600 a month would be three or four times the minimum salery here but pretty uncomfortable for most gringos who want to live in a city. Out in a pueblo would be a different matter and that income if not trying to support a car would be a cut above so so.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Pete E on Aug 8, 2003

If it was a fiance visa they need to get married and get the status changed before she even becomes a temporary permanent resident.If that hadn't happened yet it might be tougher.
If anybody needs to know for sure Gary Bala at usimmigrationattorney.com can tell us.He posted on this before and is the main source of my imformation.He is willing to give a certain amount of free advice.

Pete

[mudd]

... in response to A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003

did he have any family in the usa to leave his estate too?
how old was the poor guy? and did he know he had the cancer?

[Michael B]

... in response to A Very Sad  Wedding, posted by Cali vet on Aug 8, 2003

A sad tale indeed. And you did what a friend has to do. How will the marriage serve her? In a 'practical' manner, maybe it won't, at this point she's probably not thinking 'inheratence' or 'green card'. In a 'peace of mind' manner, I'm sure it will serve her well for the rest of her life.