Subscribe to Immigration Newsletter & Immigration News Update | Conditional Permanent Resident/Temporary Green Card. A United State Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident may file a petition with United States Citizenship & Immigration Services-USCIS to adjust the status of an alien spouse in order to obtain Lawful Permanent Resident status-Green card. An alien with a qualifying marriage to a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident is generally granted the status of Lawful Permanent Resident on a conditional basis where the qualifying marriage is less than two years at the time of admission or Adjustment of status to Lawful Permanent Resident. The conditional Permanent Resident Status is valid for a Period of two years.
At any time before the end of the two-year conditional Permanent residency period, the United States Citizenship & Immigration services may terminate the alien’s Conditional Permanent Resident status if it determines that the alien’s qualifying marriage was fraudulent, was judicially annulled or terminated, or that a fee or other consideration was paid to the citizen or Lawful Permanent claiming to be a spouse.
Joint Petition to Remove the Conditions on Lawful Permanent Resident Status. If the United States Citizenship & Immigration services does not terminate the alien’s conditional Permanent Resident status under any of the above mentioned grounds, then ninety days before the end of the two-year period of conditional Permanent Resident status, the alien is required to remove the conditional basis of the Permanent Resident status by Jointly Filing USCIS Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on residence requesting removal of the condition, the alien and his or her United states Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse may be required to appear for a personal interview before USCIS Immigration Officer . Where USCIS determines that the alien’s marriage to the U.S citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse was entered into in good faith, USCIS will remove the condition on the alien’s resident status. Where an unfavorable determination is made, USCIS will deny the application and terminate the alien’s Conditional Permanent Resident status. Waiver of Joint-Filing Requirement for Removal of Conditions on Lawful Permanent Resident Status.There are exceptions to the Joint Filing requirement, if the alien fails to meet the requirements for timely filing a joint petition, or for jointly appearing for a personal interview, the alien may seek a waiver of these requirements. Upon request, USCIS can waive this requirement, and remove the conditional basis of the Permanent Resident status, if the alien demonstrates any of the following:
(A) That extreme hardship would result if alien is removed/deported from the United States,
(B) That the qualifying marriage was entered into in good faith by the alien spouse, but the qualifying marriage has been terminated (other than through death of the spouse) and the alien was not at fault in failing to meet the requirements of submitting a joint petition and appearing for a personal interview or
(C) That the qualifying marriage was entered into in good faith by the alien spouse and during the marriage the alien spouse was battered by or was the subject of extreme cruelty perpetrated by his or her spouse and the alien was not at fault in failing to meet the requirements of submitting a joint petition and appearing for a personal interview.
In the event that the alien does not file the joint petition within the ninety-day period set forth in the Immigration Law, the alien’s conditional Permanent Resident status automatically terminates on the second anniversary of the date the alien received that status. Back to Top Waiver of Joint Filing Requirement on the Basis of Extreme Hardship. In an application for waiver of joint Filing requirement on the basis of extreme hardship, USCIS shall consider circumstances occurring during the period that the alien was admitted for Permanent Residence on a conditional basis. The Courts have held that "Extreme hardship encompasses more than the mere economic deprivation that might result from an alien’s deportation from the United States... The readjustment of an alien to life in his native country after having spent a number of years in the United States is not the type of hardship that have been characterized as extreme.”. Economic disadvantage alone does not constitute extreme hardship. Waiver of Joint Filing Requirement on the Basis of a Good Faith Marriage. To determine whether alien entered into marriage in good faith, for purposes of determining whether to grant his or her request for waiver of joint petition requirement for removing conditional Permanent Resident status, United States Citizenship & immigration Services-USCIS considers the degree of commitment to the marriage by both parties, noting the chronology of the courtship, marriage, and divorce, also considered is evidence of their joint and shared life together, including any documentation concerning their combined financial assets and liabilities, length of time during which they cohabited after marriage and after alien obtained conditional permanent resident status, and any other relevant evidence. Waiver of Joint Filing Requirement on the Basis of being a Battered Spouse or Child or Subject to Extreme Cruelty.The waiver of joint filing requirement requires a showing that the marriage was entered into in good faith and that during the marriage, the conditional Permanent Resident or his or her child was battered or subject to extreme cruelty.
Police reports and hospital records can be key documents in establishing that battering or extreme cruelty existed, but not all cases of abuse contain these items.
Waiver applications usually prompt a personal interview with USCIS Immigration examiner.
Dependent Children of a Conditional Permanent Resident. Dependent children of a conditional Permanent Resident who acquired conditional Permanent Resident status concurrently with the parent may be included in the joint petition filed by the parent and the parent's petitioning spouse. A child is deemed to have acquired conditional Resident status concurrently with the parent if the child's Permanent Resident status was acquired on the same date or within 90 days thereafter. Children who cannot be included in a joint petition filed by the parent and parent's petitioning spouse due to the child's not having acquired conditional resident status concurrently with the parent, the death of the parent, or other reasons may file a separate Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence. Time spent as a conditional Permanent Resident counts towards the three years/five years requirement for Naturalization. Back to Top
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