A conditional green card is a temporary document that is only valid for two years. In order to get your permanent green card, you will need to file a petition to remove the conditions before your conditional green card expires. This must happen no later than 90 days before your conditional permanent resident card is set to expire. A conditional permanent residence card cannot be renewed. If the conditions are not removed before expiration, then the immigrant will lose permanent resident status, and deportation proceedings can begin.
Conditional permanent residence is given to two types of immigrants. The first and most common type of conditional green card is a marriage-based green card. This will be issued to you if you qualify for permanent residency based on marriage to a U.S. citizen, but have been married to your spouse for two years or less. The second type of conditional green card is one given to entrepreneurs and investors.
A conditional permanent resident is more or less the same as a regular permanent resident as far as day-to-day life goes. With a conditional permanent residence, you can still work or travel as usual, and your time as a conditional permanent resident will still count towards the total time you need to have been a permanent resident before you can gain citizenship.
If your green card has an expiration date in two years, then it is conditional. You will need to file to remove conditions on your resident status before the card expires.
Getting your green card is a process. Your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse will file a petition on your behalf for these documents. The United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) will then take steps to verify the documentation that you and your spouse have provided. The speed of the immigrant petition and green card issuance will depend on how fast USCIS can verify this data. The speed of the process is also heavily dependent upon the status of the American spouse and the location of their residence.
The shortest time frame to get a marriage-based conditional residence card will happen when the immigrant is married to a U.S. citizen (either by birth or by naturalization) who lives within the United States. In this case, you can expect to wait 10-17 months for your green card. If the American spouse lives outside the country, it will take a little longer.
If your spouse is not a U.S. citizen and instead has permanent residence, the issuance of your card will also take more time. For a green card holder living in the U.S., the time frame is about 29-38 months. If they are living outside the U.S., then you can expect to wait about six months longer. The good news for a green card applicant based on marriage is that there is no limit to how many are issued each year, so at least that will not cause any further delays.
On the other hand, if you are applying for an employment-based conditional permanent residence, you will run into this problem. There are both limits on how many employment-based green cards are issued each year, and limits on which countries’ citizens can receive them. Some countries send large numbers of immigrants to the U.S. — in particular, China and India — and there is a limit that no more than 7% of green cards can be issued per country. This helps to diversify the countries from which immigrants get a chance for U.S. permanent residence, but it also means that those from one of the high-demand countries can expect to have to wait much longer than the average, up to decades, unless changes are made in U.S. immigration law.
Conditional green cards are only valid for two years, but this doesn’t mean that you face removal from the U.S. after this time frame. There is a process to apply to remove conditions from your permanent residence and become a regular green card holder. Why are some green cards conditional in the first place? This is to prevent green card scams, basically, so USCIS requires those in short-term marriages to provide evidence that the relationship and marriage are genuine. Before your conditional green card expires, you must prove that you did not use your marriage as a means to get around U.S. immigration laws. In order to do so, you must file a Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.
If you and your spouse are still married after two years, then you will file a joint petition of Form I-751. Along with Form I-751, you will need to provide copies of several documents and full English translations of those in a foreign language. In addition to copies of both sides of your permanent resident card, you will need to provide evidence that your marriage was made in good faith, rather than to circumvent immigration laws. This can include as many documents as necessary to establish the circumstances of your relationship and prove that it is genuine.
If you have gotten or are in the process of filing for a divorce or otherwise have dissolved your marriage from your American spouse before your conditional green card has expired, you may still be able to successfully apply for a permanent green card. To do so, you will need to provide the same evidence that you entered into the marriage in good faith, but you will also need to include your spouse’s death certificate (if applicable), your divorce decree, and evidence about why your relationship ended or about abuse you may have suffered at the hands of your spouse. It is also possible to file for a waiver of the joint filing requirement due to the fact that your removal from the U.S. would result in extreme hardship, for which you will also need to provide evidence.
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Caring and compassionate, Saman Movassaghi Gonzalez is a Florida immigration attorney dedicated to producing the results her clients need. She has over 17 years of experience helping both corporate and individual clients with an emphasis in employment/investment cases and family adjustment cases.
As the Managing Attorney at Florida Immigration Law Counsel, Saman Movassaghi Gonzalez and her team are capable of representing and helping individuals looking to attain a Family Visa, Work Visa, and Citizenship/Naturalization. Her experience successfully representing clients in front of the Department of Justice for cases involving Deportation/Removal Proceedings will lead to success in your case.
Her experience and expertise in immigration litigation has led to multiple Avvo awards and other accolades, including the Clients’ Choice for 2017 Immigration Attorney. Her clients also consistently post positive reviews on her Facebook page. Her experience has also allowed her to teach a new generation of lawyers as an adjunct professor of law at Nova Southeastern University, and she also regularly gives speeches on immigration matters.
Counselor Gonzalez is also experienced in helping corporate clients through the process of filing for Employment Visas, Labor Certifications, and Business and Investment Visas with the Department of Labor. She takes on the entire case from start to finish, simplifying the process for her clients and allowing them to focus on their business.
Fluent in English, Spanish, and Farsi – Saman Movassaghi Gonzalez is dedicated to making her clients feel comfortable and assured in making her their go-to immigration attorney in Florida. Her goal is to ensure that those who want to live the American dream have a professional fighting for them and making the process as painless as possible.
Saman’s passion for immigration law stems from her personal life as the daughter of immigrants. Her parents were recipients of the student F1 visa in 1971. Her father came into this country with the goal to improve his life and the life of his children. He earned a PhD in Civil Engineering and Business, instilling in his daughter a strong work ethic that she carries to this day. Saman saw firsthand what it means to be an immigrant and achieve the American Dream.
Saman Movassaghi Gonzalez can personally understand the struggle of immigrants and the children of immigrants navigating through the bureaucratic process of immigration law. Because of this, she dedicates herself fully and provides her personal attention to every case. She prides herself on developing a strong relationship with each and every client, and she is not afraid of pushing the envelope and looking for answers where other attorneys have failed.
Saman Movassaghi makes it her goal to provide you with only the best representation for immigration matters because she believes it’s time for you to live the American dream!