Divorce before 10 year greencard

[HopefulEnd 1]

Hi,

I have a conditional greencard that will expire at the end of august, 2010. I can submit my removal of conditions starting end of may. My husband and I are having problems, and I don't think he will sign for me. If I remove the conditions by myself, what are the chances of getting approved?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Hi,

I have a conditional greencard that will expire at the end of august, 2010. I can submit my removal of conditions starting end of may. My husband and I are having problems, and I don't think he will sign for me. If I remove the conditions by myself, what are the chances of getting approved?

We don't know you nor your husband, so how can we guess what your chances are?

Generally speaking, you can remove conditions on your own successfully, if you can prove that you entered the marriage in good faith. The most important thing for you right now is to understand that you need to be divorced to remove conditions. You can file earlier, but you will receive an RFE for the missing divorce decree. That's okay, as it buys you time.

In your specific situation you should wait until the last 10 days before sending in your I-751, but you still need to get busy with your divorce as time is not your friend in this case.

[lynn2000 0]

You can file earlier, but you will receive an RFE for the missing divorce decree. That's okay, as it buys you time.

Don't understand "as it buys you time"? I know you mean if you are asked for RFE for more information, your case will be slowed down. So it is good for the case to stay behind in the waiting line? what is the advantage?

In your specific situation you should wait until the last 10 days before sending in your I-751

What do you mean ? last 10 days?

[TracyTN 237]

Don't understand "as it buys you time"? I know you mean if you are asked for RFE for more information, your case will be slowed down. So it is good for the case to stay behind in the waiting line? what is the advantage?

What do you mean ? last 10 days?

'Buys you time' in that it allows you to receive your divorce decree while still filing the I 751 on time. Your case is slowed down in the sense that they must receive the decree from you before they proceed with processing. If you have the decree right away, the delay may only be a week or two - longer if you have to wait a bit for the decree.

'Last 10 days' - he means wait until your 2 year green card is 10 days from expiring before you send in the I 751. You may have already received your divorce decree by then, meaning you won't get an RFE for it.

[lynn2000 0]

'Buys you time' in that it allows you to receive your divorce decree while still filing the I 751 on time. Your case is slowed down in the sense that they must receive the decree from you before they proceed with processing. If you have the decree right away, the delay may only be a week or two - longer if you have to wait a bit for the decree.

'Last 10 days' - he means wait until your 2 year green card is 10 days from expiring before you send in the I 751. You may have already received your divorce decree by then, meaning you won't get an RFE for it.

So generally speaking, if time permits, it's better to file I-751 together with divorce decree ?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

So generally speaking, if time permits, it's better to file I-751 together with divorce decree ?

Ok, let's start with the basics.

Normally, you need to file the I-751 in the 90 day window before your green card expires, and you need to file it jointly with your husband. The "condition" of your conditional status is that you remain married, and you're asking that the condition be removed because you satisfied the requirement of remaining married.

However, the law recognizes that a marriage doesn't always work out, so it provides a few ways that you can file the I-751 without filing jointly with your husband. One of those ways is if the marriage ended in divorce or annulment. In this case, you check box "d" in part 2 of the form, asking for a waiver of the joint filing requirement. The basis for the waiver is your divorce. Since you didn't remain married for two years (the requirement for the "conditional" status), you have to prove you married in good faith; i.e., the marriage was legitimate, and you had every intention of remaining married, but the relationship fell apart.

Because the law requires that you be divorced (or annulled) in order to be granted the waiver, your removal of conditions will not be approved until your divorce is final, and you can provide a copy of the divorce decree to USCIS. This is a quandary for people whose divorce has not yet completed by the time they are required to file the I-751. The policy of USCIS used to be that a petition which was not accompanied by a copy of the divorce decree would be denied. However, they changed that policy. Now, they will simply send an RFE for the divorce decree, and allow a little time for you to respond.

It takes several months for USCIS to get around to adjudicating an I-751. The time is approximately the same, regardless when you file. If you have the divorce decree when you are required to file, then you should send it in with the I-751. If you don't have the divorce decree, then postpone the filing until the last few weeks before your conditional green card expires - this will add an extra couple of months before you'll get the RFE, which will give you a little more time to complete the divorce. In other words, the later you send in the I-751, the later you'll get the RFE. If you don't get the divorce decree by the time you get the RFE, and you still don't have the decree before your time to respond to the RFE has expired, then your petition will be denied, and they will probably begin removal proceedings. This is not the end of the world. When you appear at your removal hearing, you simply ask the immigration judge to postpone the proceedings while you wait out your final divorce. These requests are usually granted.

The sooner you get started on the divorce, the better the odds you'll have the decree before you ever get to the point of having to appear in front of an immigration judge.

[TracyTN 237]

^^