This archive report was first published on 24 November 2019.
On November 21st, 2019, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) introduced a new policy change that eases the rules for conditional green card holders who need to file a new petition with a different spouse.
Conditional permanent residents who have been married for less than two years to a U.S. citizen and file for adjustment of status application (Form I-485) are issued a two-year conditional permanent resident status (two-year green card). They are then required to file an application to remove conditions on their green card (Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence) within a 90-day window before the two year anniversary as a conditional permanent resident (CPR).
Previously, conditional permanent residents who failed to remove conditions for various reasons, such as having divorced their US citizen spouse, could not file a new application with a new spouse until an immigration judge ruled on the termination of their conditional permanent status.
“Because USCIS often did not send the information to the courts, these immigrants wound up in a terrible limbo: unable to renew their old residence or apply for a new one,” said attorney Elina Santana, a member of the South Florida branch of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
Under the new policy, an immigration judge no longer needs to affirm the termination of CPR status before the alien can file a new adjustment of status application. This change applies to adjustment of status applications filed after November 21st, 2019.
