If at the time of you are granted immigrant status you have not been married for over two years, you will be granted conditional permanent residency. The conditions on your permanent residency must be removed by an approval of a Form I-751 (Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence).

The Form I-751 must be filed within 90 days of the second anniversary of the grant of conditional residence. It is filed jointly by both the conditional permanent resident and the U.S. citizen spouse, along with evidence of the valid marriage. This evidence may include documents showing joint ownership or tenancy of property, birth certificates of children, affidavits of third parties who know the couple, photographs, and bills showing shared residence. About 18 months after filing the I-751, you will receive an approval and a permanent green card.

If both spouses cannot file jointly, the conditional resident may file a waiver on Form I-751. Waivers are available where the U.S. citizen spouse dies. Waivers may also be available even if the marriage is terminated where the conditional resident can show extreme hardship if deported, the qualifying marriage was entered into in good faith but was terminated anyway, or the qualifying marriage was entered into in good faith, but the conditional resident spouse was battered or subjected to extreme cruelty during the marriage.

The lawful permanent resident status of a conditional resident automatically terminates if the conditions are not removed through approval of a Form I-751. This means that if the immigration agency denies the I-751 application you will lose the right to reside, work and travel as a U.S. permanent resident. A foreign national who seeks to return to the United States after the second anniversary of the grant of conditional permanent residence, whose conditions were not removed, will be placed in removal proceedings. You are advised to consult an immigration attorney immediately if you are in this situation.

Please contact us after about 18 months from the grant of your conditional permanent residency if you wish us to process the I-751 filing on your behalf.

Filing for Naturalization While I-751 is Pending

You may file a naturalization application on Form N-400 while the Form I-751 is pending within 90 days before your third year anniversary from grant of conditional permanent residence. The naturalization application will be approved after the approval of the I-751. You may have dual citizenship.

While you are a conditional permanent resident or permanent resident, you must live more than half the time in the United States and never be outside of the United States for a continuous 12-month period to avoid abandoning your permanent residency. You should read our memo on “After You Become a Legal Permanent Resident” carefully. If you want to reside outside the United States, you must obtain advance permission in the form of a “reentry permit.”

Approval of a reentry permit protects your green card from abandonment but does not protect your eligibility for citizenship. So, if you actually reside outside the United States you will not accrue the necessary time in the United States to apply for U.S. citizenship. See our memo on naturalization.

Please contact us if you wish us to assist you in applying for naturalization.
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