Foreigners in Pennsylvania who have conditions on their permanent residence status based on marriage may have those conditions removed after two years. A person who marries a U.S. citizen and becomes a permanent resident must wait two years to have conditions removed so that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can be sure that the marriage was not fraudulent.
It is important that a person apply to have conditions on permanent residency removed before their two-year anniversary as a conditional resident. If an application is not submitted on time, a person’s conditional resident status could be lost, and they could face deportation. An application to have conditions on permanent residency removed can be submitted within the 90-day period before a person’s conditional green card expires.
In order to have marriage-based conditions removed from a green card, an applicant must be able to prove that he or she is still married to the same U.S. citizen or permanent resident after two years. A widow or widower who was married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in good faith may also apply to have conditions on their green card removed. Individuals who were married in good faith but were battered by their spouse may also have conditions on their permanent residency removed.
The USCIS normally requires applicants to prove that they are still married to their U.S. citizen spouse in order to have conditions removed from their green card. However, there are some situations when an applicant may maintain their permanent residency status even after going through a divorce or having their marriage annulled. An immigration lawyer may be able to help to prove that the client entered into the marriage in good faith and that removal from the U.S. would result in extreme hardship.