Divorce and Immigration.
Pretty complicated topic.
Can you lose your green card if you get divorced in the process?
Well, watch this video and we'll talk about it.
Hey, everybody and thanks for joining me for another video here.
I'm Jacob's Sapochnick, immigration attorney based in San Diego, California.
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Let's dive in into this video.
Divorce and Immigration.
And this comes from a question that I got from a few of my clients who are going through
the marriage green card process, but things just don't work out.
And they asked me, what happens if I get divorced during this process?
Will I lose my green card and I always answer.
Depends.
Depends where you are in the process.
As you know, when you marry a US citizen and you've been together for less than two years,
you only get a conditional green card.
If you've been married more than two years and then you file, then you're going to get
a permanent green card.
The difference is really important in issues of divorce, so if you have your conditional
green card only and then you get divorced, okay?
Then, there are things you can do to still save the case.
For example, you can file for a waiver based on good faith marriage to prove that you were
together during those two years and things didn't work out and you can get a waiver even
if you get divorced to be able to get your permanent green card.
But if you get divorced before you get your conditional green card, in the beginning,
while you're pending for the first green card while you are or before you file, then you're
not going to be able to get a green card at all.
And so, the filing itself will be canceled and you will lose your benefits of getting
a green card in the first place.
So remember, if you file an adjustment of status and the case is pending, you get your
work permit, your travel document, and then you get divorced, you're not going to be able
to complete the process because, by the time you get an interview, they'll determine that
you're not together.
A divorce has been filed and you will lose everything.
However, if you have your conditional green card and then you get divorced, as long as
you can prove that this marriage was incepted and it was bonafide and it was a real relationship,
then you'll be able to still be filing a divorce, you still gonna be able to prove that it was
a bonafide marriage.
You'll be able to go to an interview by yourself and still save the case by getting a green
card based on a bonafide good-faith exception.
Now, if you have a 10 year regard and then you get divorced, then it doesn't matter at
that point because at that point you already have a permanent green card and if you're
divorced then by the time you apply for citizenship, the only thing is you won't be able to apply
for citizenship based on a three year marriage to a US citizen.
You have to wait for five years.
So to summarize this, if you are married to a US citizen and your filing your application
and you're now in the process of this application, you don't have the green card yet but you
have a work permit, you have a travel document and you're pending.
At that point, if you get divorced and that divorce becomes final or even if it's not
final, if you get to the interview and you're in the process of getting a divorce, you're
not going to be able to finish this case.
It's going to be very complicated because at that point immigration would determine
that you're not together anymore before even getting the conditional green card and most
likely that case will fail.
Now there are exceptions, even if you are in the early stage of filing the adjustment
of status and not getting to the interview and you are being, for example, abused.
If you go through an abuse process where a US citizen is abusing the spouse, there is
a way to still get a green card even if you're divorced, even if you're not going to get
to that interview by filing an after 60 abuse petition.
And we've done a separate video on that and we're going to link it here in the comments,
and that's another exception.
But typically if you're filing an adjustment, everything's good and things just don't work
out and you have a divorce filed, then you're not going to be able to get a green card.
But if you are using the conditional period to your green card, and divorce has been filed
and is final, you are still able to remove those conditions without that petitioner by
showing that it was a bonafide marriage.
And the thing didn't work out.
We call this a bonafide marriage exception, and you can still get your green card with
the divorce.
So hopefully, you found this information useful.
Let me know in the comments below of any questions, make sure you subscribe to our channel so
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Thanks for watching, and we'll see you at our next video.