Court Grants Waiver of Conditional Residence - I-751
Court Grants Waiver of Conditional Residence - I-751
When you apply for permanent residency based on a marriage to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and your marriage is less than two years old at the time you receive your green card, your grant is called a conditional residence. This means that you must file an additional application, called a “Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence” (Form I-751) in order to extend your status to indefinite Lawful Permanent Residence ("LPR"). These petitions are typically joint petitions by the green card holder and the U.S. citizen or LPR spouse. If you are no longer married to your petitioning spouse, you may request a waiver of the joint filing requirement and must prove, among other grounds, that the marriage was entered into in good faith, but the marriage has terminated, or the spouse has died. Our client came to us after his petition to remove conditions was denied by USCIS.
Our client's marriage, unfortunately, ended in divorce. Despite the cumulative evidence and testimony from his former spouse and being represented by his former attorney, the agency denied his petition and referred his case for review before the immigration judge. This week we had a successful merits hearing before the immigration judge and proved through testimony and substantive evidence that our client's marriage was entered into in good faith but terminated due to a dissolution of marriage.
We congratulate and thank our client for his trust and confidence in our legal team and wish him continued success in years to come.
Written by: Attorney Edwin Colon
Juris Doctor, University of Connecticut. Admitted to the bars of Connecticut and New York, and the U.S. District Court of Connecticut.