If your permanent residency status was less than two years old on the day that you received permanent residence, your permanent residence status is conditional. Consequently, your conditional residency status begins on the day of admission to the United States on an immigrant visa or adjustment of your status to permanent residence.
You can remove conditions on permanent residency status by filing Form I-751. You may be eligible to remove conditions if you:
1) Are still married to the same U.S. citizen or permanent resident after 2 years;
2) Are a child and you parent’s application cannot include you;
3) Are widow or widower who entered into your marriage in good faith;
4) Entered into a marriage in good faith, but had a divorce or annulment; or
5) Entered into a marriage in good faith, but your U.S.-citizen or permanent-resident spouse abused or cause extreme hardship to you or your child.
How to apply for removal of conditions based on marriage:
You and your spouse must apply together using the I-751 page for removal of conditions before your second anniversary as a conditional resident. You can waive the joint-filing requirement if you are no longer married to your spouse, or if your spouse battered or abused you. If you are late in filing Form I-751, the USCIS will terminate your residency status. This could lead to deportation from the United States; however, you can appeal an application denial during removal proceedings.
Adjustment of Status
The Immigration and Nationality Act allows someone to change their status from non-immigrant/alien to permanent immigrant. Thus, if you are seeking a status change, you must meet the rules for a green card in your category. In addition, you must pass an inspection by the USCIS. In general, the INA provides two alternate paths to permanent residency status which includes consular processing and adjustment of status. You can read more about consular processing and adjustment of status here.
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding removal of conditions based on marriage.
