What determines whether you receive a 2 year green card or a 10 year green card?

[jasonadams7 0]

What determine whether you receive a 2 year green card or a 10 year green card? It is my understanding that if a couple has been married for over 2 years before receiving the immigrant spouse's green card, then it is automatically a 10 year green card...on the other hand, if they have been married under 2 years, then they receive the 2 year conditional green card, then they must file an I-751 after 2 years, and so on...

Here's our story:

My girlfriend and her mother came to the US in December 2004 in order for her mother to marry a US citizen, which she did. My girlfriend's mother and American stepfather were married in March 2005. They applied for the mother's green card in the fall of 2005, and received it in August of 2007 (and both my girlfriend and her mother got 2 year green cards). So should they have received 10 year green cards instead, or not?

Obviously it matters which date the USCIS uses to measure against the date of the marriage in order to determine whether it has already been 2 years...so do they measure the length of time from the date of the marriage to the date of applying for the green card (my girlfriend's mother and stepfather were only married 6 months before applying), or do they measure the length of time from the date of the marriage to the date of actually receiving the green card (they were married for well over 2 years before receiving the green card)...so which date does the USCIS use?

Does anybody know?

Thank you very very much for you're help!

[TracyTN 237]

Not a K1 issue - moving thread from K1 process forum to General Immigration forum.

[vett 6]

What determine whether you receive a 2 year green card or a 10 year green card? It is my understanding that if a couple has been married for over 2 years before receiving the immigrant spouse's green card, then it is automatically a 10 year green card...on the other hand, if they have been married under 2 years, then they receive the 2 year conditional green card, then they must file an I-751 after 2 years, and so on...

Here's our story:

My girlfriend and her mother came to the US in December 2004 in order for her mother to marry a US citizen, which she did. My girlfriend's mother and American stepfather were married in March 2005. They applied for the mother's green card in the fall of 2005, and received it in August of 2007 (and both my girlfriend and her mother got 2 year green cards). So should they have received 10 year green cards instead, or not?

Obviously it matters which date the USCIS uses to measure against the date of the marriage in order to determine whether it has already been 2 years...so do they measure the length of time from the date of the marriage to the date of applying for the green card (my girlfriend's mother and stepfather were only married 6 months before applying), or do they measure the length of time from the date of the marriage to the date of actually receiving the green card (they were married for well over 2 years before receiving the green card)...so which date does the USCIS use?

Does anybody know?

Thank you very very much for you're help!

my understanding is that they would use the date from marriage to the date the green card was actually issued

so if they were married well over 2yrs before the card was issued then the resulting green card should have been

a 10yr green card, not sure why they got the conditional one, they could make an infopass appointment and sort it out.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

My understanding is that it based on the length of marriage until the approval date. The card may be issued several weeks after the approval date. The card should show the approval date as "Permanent Residence since" or something like that.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Some Old Guy