Another case, this one in Texas, illustrates the dangers of trying to enforce the Form I-864 in state versus federal court. In Beringer v. Beringer, yet another I-864 beneficiary got less than what she was entitled to under the plan…
In Golipour v. Moghaddam, yet another federal court has directly held that an I-864 beneficiary cannot waive her rights in a nuptial agreement. No. 4:19-cv-00035-DN-PK (D. Utah Feb. 7, 2020) (granting and denying in part cross-motions for summary judgment). This…
In Anderson v. Anderson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 193910 (W.D. Wash., Nov. 4, 2019), following Anderson v. United States, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 211102 (W.D. Wash., Dec. 22, 2017), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington addressed…
In Al-Aromah v. Tomaszewicz, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154638 (W.D. Va. Sep. 10, 2019), the plaintiff Nadiah Al-Aromah (“Al-Aromah”) sought I-864 damages for a 6-month period that occurred prior to the time she filed for divorce from her husband -…
Courts continue to grapple with when a prior family law (divorce) case may pose a res juidcata problem for an I-864 plaintiff. Levin v. Barone. In Levin v. Barone, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169573 (S.D.N.Y., Sept. 30, 2019), the plaintiff…
In a recent ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an I-864 defendant cannot avoid liability by claiming marriage fraud. The decision follows the view that I-864 obligations end only after one of the five terminating events…
A review of all I-864 enforcement cases filed in the federal court system shows that most claimants go to court without a lawyer. Out of all publicly available cases, 54% of plaintiffs tried to represent themselves. Do I-864 plaintiffs have…
A recent case shows the risk when immigrants raise the Form I-864 in the context of family law proceedings. Once again, a family law court has enforced the Form I-864… but only sort of. CAN WE OR CAN’T WE RAISE…
On June 20, 2019 a judge for the Northern District of Alabama handed down a decision on the first I-864 litigation in that state (whether federal or state court). The order, Belevich v. Thomas, touches on a number of interesting…
Another U.S. federal court has ruled that Form I-864 sponsors cannot avoid liability by alleging that they were defrauded into signing the Form I-864. In Anderson v. USA, et al, Judge Robert Lasnik dismissed a long list of affirmative defenses…