What is the Fate of Green Card if you Divorce Post Immigrating to USA on Marriage Based Visa

If you marry your spouse and get a marriage-based visa, and later you get divorced, you may get in trouble. Here in this article, we will tell you all you should know. We have explained the scenarios that you might be into and what shall happen then. Read carefully. 

If the Marriage is not Older than 2 years, which status you get?

Any person who applies for a marriage-based visa, if their marriage is not older than 2 years, gets the status of Conditional Permanent Residence. This status will last for 2 years. The applicant has to file a petition with USCIS or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services before their 2nd anniversary of immigration. If you are not divorced by this time, you will get a complete permanent residence. On the other hand, if you are divorced, your visa will be canceled. 

What To Do if You Sponsored Your Spouse’s Immigration Application and You Are Divorcing?

In such a case, you should take back your sponsorship promptly because he/she should no longer be your responsibility. When you signed the affidavit of support, you must have signed the papers saying you take your spouse’s responsibility legally and financially until he/she becomes a citizen of the country. Even divorce does not eradicate the idea of her/him being your responsibility. Until he/she leaves the country or becomes a citizen of the country, you are responsible for everything. As soon as the divorce proceedings are imminent, you should withdraw all the petitions from your spouse. 

After a Divorce, How Will the Immigration Applications Be Treated?

When such an application is pending with the USCIS, the immigrant spouse is considered out of status after the marriage’s separation. In fact, as soon as the divorce proceedings are completed, the immigrant can be asked to leave the country immediately. If your marriage, for some reason, does not stay intact for the required period, the immigrant can apply for a waiver, depending on the couple’s good faith while starting with the marriage.

How Will the Issuance of the Conditional Green Card be Affected with a Divorce?

The US citizen can apply for an immigrant marriage visa for his/her spouse. The couple will be interviewed by USCIS and assure that the marriage is genuine. If your marriage is less than 2 years old and the immigrant needs to stay with the spouse in the country, he/she will get a Conditional Residence Status. This status becomes permanent after the 2nd anniversary of the immigrant in the country, and the couple can jointly file for an I-751 petition that has to be signed by the couple. This must be completed within 90 days of the 2nd anniversary of the immigrant in the country. To check whether the marriage is legitimate or not, the couple will be interviewed by the USCIS.

Also Read- What fees are required for Immigrating to Canada

As An Immigrant, What Can You Do To Maintain Your Immigration Status?

In case the marriage worked longer than 2 years after you immigrated to the country, you may not need to worry about anything. You can do it all on your own, and if you and your spouse have already petitioned the I-751, you do not have to do anything; you already have received the country’s permanent residence. In case the marriage didn’t last longer than 2 years, you will have to choose the waiver path. You can use the waiver path under 3 conditions – child ground or battered spouse, termination of a great faith marriage, extreme problems, or hardship if deported.

Summing up

To conclude, if the marriage lasts more than 2 years of the immigrant’s 2nd anniversary in the country, the immigrant gets a permanent resident of the country after a little paperwork and an interview. Otherwise, the immigrant either has to return to their own country or go for the waiver option.

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Diksha Garg

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