Can I renew my two year green card if I am no longer with my spouse?
If you obtained your two-year green card through marriage and you are no longer with your spouse, you may still be able to renew your green card by filing Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. If you are successful, USCIS will grant you a 10-year green card (Form I-551)! To be successful on this application, you will need to show that yours was a “real” (aka bona fide) relationship and marriage. Or, in other words, you need to prove to USCIS that you did not get married just to get a green card.
To renew your green card if you are separated from your spouse, you will need to file the Form I-751 jointly with your former spouse. However, if your spouse refuses to sign Form I-751, then you will have to qualify for a waiver to get your Form I-751 approved and your green card renewed for 10 years. You can request for a waiver based on one of the following grounds:
- Your spouse has died;
- Your marriage was real but your married is legally ended by divorce or annulment;
- Your marriage was real, but your US citizen spouse (or green card holding spouse) abused you physically, sexually, financially, or emotionally; or
- You will suffer extreme hardship if your green card is not renewed for 10 years.
To win a waiver case, you must not only prove it was a “real marriage” but you also need to prove the other issue of death, divorce, abuse, or extreme hardship. Waiver applications are difficult to prepare and win, and USCIS is always looking for fraud in I-751 waiver applications. Don’t file a waiver application without an experienced immigration attorney!
If you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney. We’ve helped hundreds of people traverse the complicated immigration and citizenship process. We would love to help you as well. Call (617-766-0214) or email hello@cambridgeimmigrationlaw.com to get in touch.
Our client of many years recently got their Citizenship Application approved! When they came to us, they were a newly engaged couple who had experienced some complications with their Fiancé Visa application. They decided that they couldn’t wait to get married so we filed an I-130 instead. Once their application was approved, we worked with them on the National Visa Center applications and prepared them for the Embassy Interview. Not long after that, the couple was reunited in Massachusetts! A couple of years later we submitted their I-751 application. While their I-751 was still pending we submitted their Citizenship Application. On the day of the interview, both the I-751 and the N-400 were approved! All these years later and the newly engaged couple has grown into a happily married family of four.
This week one of our clients became a US citizen in less than three months. She had been a permanent resident for more than 5 years and decided that it was time to take the next step in her immigration process. We immediately began to work with her and submitted a strong application to USCIS on her behalf. She was scheduled for her Naturalization interview within 3 months. Our attorney prepared our client for her naturalization interview and went with her to the interview. The attorney was with our client through the whole interview process to make sure everything went smoothly. Our client’s naturalization application was approved the same day. She is now a United States citizen, in what we consider record time.
