Conditional Permanent Residence Visas for Immediate Relatives

A Conditional Permanent Resident Visa is a type of status accorded to individuals who are applying for a Green Card through their spouse but have been married for less than two years at the time the application is filed. In the case of a person applying for a Green Card through their spouse in a new marriage, they will be placed into Conditional Permanent Resident Status which will last for two years. At the conclusion of the two-year period, the person will be required to file another application that will remove those conditions on residency and will place them into a regular Green Card status, essentially a regular Legal Permanent Resident Status.

Only a recently married person applying for legal permanent residency through their spouse will be issued a Conditional Permanent Resident Visa if the application was filed less than two years after the date that they were married. For more information, review our page about immediate relatives obtaining visas in Maryland.

Removing the Conditions

The spouse applying for legally permanent status must file a petition to remove conditions on their residency two years after the date it was approved before the expiration date. This application is jointly filed with the petitioner and the beneficiary both signing off on it. Generally, the applicant needs to prove that they continue to be in a bona fide relationship with their spouse. In most cases, it is straightforward; you just show that you are still living together and are still married.

Complicating Situations

In cases where the couple has divorced during this time or the petitioning, legally permanently residing, spouse has died during this time, the application becomes more complicated. Basically, the applicant must prove that the relationship is valid, bona fide and not entered into for immigration reasons at the time the application was being filed.

It is not a requirement that the applicant is still married to their spouse at the time they apply to remove their conditions. However, they will be subject to a higher bar to prove their bona fide relationship if they have been divorced during that two-year conditional residence status. The law says that as long as a person can prove that they did have a bona fide relationship that was not simply entered into for immigration purposes at the time the application was filed, they will still be allowed to remove their conditions and live permanently and legally in the United States, even if they have been divorced.