Jacob:
You're married to a US citizen and you filed your petition for a green card, but now, you're
going through a divorce, can you keep your green card?
What's going to happen?
Watch this video and learn more.
Hello, everybody.
Jacob here with another video to educate you and keep you informed and give you the latest
updates on our immigration law system.
And once again, before I dive into this video, I want to thank you personally for watching
our videos, for sharing, for commenting, and for spreading the word.
We appreciate it very much and it gives us the motivation to do more and more of these
videos.
So in this video, we'll talk about what happens when you filed the green card, you get married
to a US citizen, you're here in the United States and you file your petition, and now,
there is a divorce pending or the divorce is already a final.
So, let me go through a few scenarios.
So, let's talk about a situation where you just got married, it's been six months, you
filed your petition and your case is pending before an interview, right?
So, you didn't have your interview, it's your first petition.
You're about to get your conditional green card.
If a divorce is filed during that point, during that stage, it's going to be almost impossible
to adjudicate a case without the US citizen spouse supporting the case.
So if a divorce is filed or is happening before the adjudication of the first green card,
there are very, very few options for the foreign spouse.
So, as long as the foreign spouse is in legal status, they can change back to a visa if
it's possible or in in certain cases, if there was abuse in the relationship, there is a
way to file an I-360, which is a self petition abuse.
You're in the relationship... and we've done a video on this and we'll link that video
here and you can watch that.
So the only way, again, if you're not able to switch to another visa outside of that
filing is to try to file for an I-360 petition for... a sub petition based on abuse.
So, that's before there's an interview, before an adjudication.
What happens if you have an adjudication?
So, you're adjudicated that you got your conditional green card and then two months later you're
having problems and then divorce is filed and you have a pending divorce before you
can file the Removal of Conditions.
Well in that case, there's still a way for the foreign national to get a green card as
long as they can prove one of a few things.
First of all, that the marriage was bona fide when it was intercepted and second of all,
that they are a person of good moral character, that they are a law abiding citizens in the
United States and they entered into a good faith marriage and they can prove that, they
are going to be able to file a waiver from filing jointly, at the end of the day, when
they need to file the Removal of Conditions and they still are going to be able to get
a green card even after divorce.
But it's important that when you file the Removal of Conditions, at the time of filing,
there has to be a final judgment of divorce.
You can't file the Removal of Conditions if you're not yet divorced.
So, we have a lot of cases where people come to us and they are two weeks, couple of months
before the deadline to file the 751 Removal of Conditions, and they're not yet divorced,
but they're no longer together with the spouse.
At that case, I tell them, you cannot file a Removal of Conditions until there's a final
judgment of divorce.
And then in that case, even if you're late to file, it's still okay because at that point
you're going to be able to show to the government that there is a final judgment of divorce.
And then you can file that waiver.
Now, so there is a way, to summarize it, there is a way to get your green card, even if there's
a divorce pending or a final judgment if it happens before the adjudication of the first
green card, you need to find an alternative way to stay in the US or file a petition for
abuse if there is abuse in the relationship.
If you already have your conditional green card and then there's a divorce filed, it's
important to have a final judgment before you can file the good faith marriage waiver
and then you can proceed for the green card without the US citizen spouse.
If you need more, if you have any more questions, post them in the comments below or you can
email me at jacob@h1b.biz.
If you like this video, please share with your friends and give us your comments and
we'll see you at our next video.
Thanks for watching.
Man 1:
[inaudible] if you like this video... you start there.
Jacob:
If what?
Man 1:
“If you like this video, please leave a comment below.”
Just that part.
Jacob:
If you like this video, please leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
Man 1:
Good.
Jacob:
Hello, everybody.
Jacob here with another video to educate you and keep you informed and give you the latest
updates on our immigration law system.
And once again, before I dive into this video, I want to thank you personally for watching
our videos, for sharing, for commenting, and for spreading the word.
We appreciate it very much and it gives us the motivation to do more and more of these
videos.
So in this video, we'll talk about what happens when you filed the green card, you get married
to a US citizen, you're here in the United States and you file your petition, and now,
there is a divorce pending or the divorce is already a final.
So, let me go through a few scenarios.
So, let's talk about a situation where you just got married, it's been six months, you
filed your petition and your case is pending before an interview, right?
So, you didn't have your interview, it's your first petition.
You're about to get your conditional green card.
If a divorce is filed, in that stage, it's going to be almost impossible to adjudicate
a case without the US citizen spouse supporting the case.
So if a divorce is filed or is happening before the adjudication of the first green card,
there are very, very few options for the foreign spouse.
So, as long as the foreign spouse is in legal status, they can change back to a visa if
it's possible or in in certain cases, if there was abuse in the relationship, there is a
way to file an I-360, which is a self petition abuse.
You're in the relationship... and we've done a video on this and we'll link that video
here and you can watch that.
So the only way, again, if you're not able to switch to another visa outside of that
filing is to try to file for an I-360 petition for... a self petition based on abuse.
So, that's before there's an interview, before an adjudication.
What happens if you have an adjudication?
So, you're adjudicated that you got your conditional green card and then two months later you're
having problems and then divorce is filed and you have a pending divorce before you
can file the Removal of Conditions.
Well in that case, there's still a way for the foreign national to get a green card as
long as they can prove one of a few things.
First of all, that the marriage was bona fide when it was intercepted and second of all,
that they are a person of good moral character, that they are a law abiding citizens in the
United States and they entered into a good faith marriage and they can prove that, they
are going to be able to file a waiver from filing jointly, at the end of the day, when
they need to file the Removal of Conditions and they still are going to be able to get
a green card even after divorce.
But it's important that when you file the Removal of Conditions, at the time of filing,
there has to be a final judgment of divorce.
You can't file the Removal of Conditions if you're not yet divorced.
So, we have a lot of cases where people come to us and they are two weeks, couple of months
before the deadline to file the 751 Removal of Conditions, and they're not yet divorced,
but they're no longer together with the spouse.
At that case, I tell them, you cannot file a Removal of Conditions until there's a final
judgment of divorce.
And then in that case, even if you're late to file, it's still okay because at that point
you're going to be able to show to the government that there is a final judgment of divorce.
And then you can file that waiver.
To summarize it, there is a way to get your green card, even if there's a divorce pending
or a final judgment if it happens before the adjudication of the first green card, you
need to find an alternative way to stay in the US or file a petition for abuse if there
is abuse in the relationship.
If you already have your conditional green card and then there's a divorce filed, it's
important to have a final judgment before you can file the good faith marriage waiver
and then you can proceed for the green card without the US citizen spouse.
If you liked this video, please leave a comment below and let us know what you think.