Immigration

[IF THE PERSON MENTIONS THAT THEY HAVE A GREEN CARD BUT DOESN’T SAY IF IT’S A CONDITIONAL GREEN CARD OR A 10-YR GREEN CARD, ADD THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH: You mentioned you have a green card and I’d like to ask you a clarifying question: Does your green card have dates that cover a 10-year period or for a 2-year period. If a green card is valid for two years, then that green card is called a “conditional green card.”]

If an immigrant is being sponsored by his/her spouse for a green card, s/he may get a 2-year conditional green card if s/he receives a green card within 2 years after the marriage. In order to receive a full 10-year green card, the spouses would file an application together to remove the “conditions” on the card.

But sometimes it’s not possible for spouses to file that application to remove the conditions together, which is why there are “waivers” to the joint filing requirement in cases of divorce, death, domestic violence and extreme hardship. If you are considering divorcing your spouse, then we definitely recommend talking with a lawyer before filing for divorce to figure out what steps to take, especially if you have a two-year green card.

We have more information on waivers that can be filed due to domestic violence on our website. There may be other ways to try to remove the condition aside from the battered spouse waiver, depending on the circumstances. It is important to speak to a lawyer in your state [HYPERLINK] who has experience with immigration law.

If a divorce happens after a person has successfully removed the conditions from the conditional green card or the if someone already has a 10-year green card, then a divorce should not affect his/her immigration status. However, a divorce could affect the time that the green card holder has to wait to file for citizenship, and may mean that an applicant has to wait 5 years rather than 3 years to apply for citizenship. Again, this may depend on many factors, including whether someone removes the conditions on their green card in cases of domestic violence. For more information, we recommend contacting an immigration attorney in your area. If the local legal services organizations that I linked you to above can’t provide immigration help, you may want to reach out to one of these national organizations that specialize in immigration.