Remove Conditions On Residence

If you come to the United States on a K1 visa and receive a Green Card through marriage, you will receive a Conditional Permanent Resident card that is valid for two years. Once this two-year conditional period ends, the residence status will expire and you may be deported or removed. To avoid such things, file Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence 90 days or less before the conditional residence expires. Once the application is approved, the conditional status will be removed and you will receive your new Permanent Resident card and that will be valid for the next ten years.

When to File Form I-751?

As mentioned earlier, you have to file this Form within 90 days before your conditional green card expires. While submitting your petition to remove your conditional status, ensure that you file it at the early end of the 90-day period. You should not file this Form before the 90-day period because if you file too early, the USCIS will return your application.

Who May File Form I-751?

You can file Form I-751 jointly with your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse (if you are still married) through whom you got the conditional permanent status. If you have dependent children who got their conditional status when you got yours and they entered the U.S. within 90-days of your arrival, you can include their names in your application. Whereas if your children got their conditional status 90 days after you got or adjusted your status OR if the conditional permanent parent dies, they have to file Form I-751 separately to remove the conditions.

If you are not filing jointly, you can apply for a waiver if you are able to prove that you got married with good intentions, but your spouse subsequently died OR you can show that you got married in good faith, but the marriage ended because of divorce or annulment. You can also get a waiver if you can prove that you entered the marriage in good faith and have remained married, but have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse OR the termination of your status would result in extreme hardship.

If you are requesting a waiver, you should submit adequate proof to support your request. Copies of your divorce decree OR police, court or medical proof that you were abused OR a death certificate showing that your spouse died can be of much help.

Your application package should include a completed and signed application and also a copy of your Conditional Green Card. Additionally, two passport-style photographs of yours and children applying with you. Apart from these, two completed fingerprint cards (Form FD-258) for you and children applying with you and also sufficient evidence showing that the marriage is a bona fide one and that it was entered in honesty and in good faith. Do not forget to send the appropriate filing fee.

If you lose your conditional permanent resident card(green card) or if it is stolen or mutilated, you can get it replaced by filing Form I-90.File Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence 90 days or less before the conditional residence expires.