TAMPA CONDITIONAL RESIDENCY LAWYER

When a foreign national obtains legal permanent residency through marriage to a United States citizen, it is very likely that they will receive residency status within 2 years from the date of marriage to their United States citizen spouse. When this happens, the residency conferred upon the applicant is conditional, and granted for only a period of 2 years.

The conditional resident must remove the “conditions” on their residency before this 2 year period expires. Conditional residents use form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, to file for the removal of those conditions. Derivative children are included on the petition, as long as they obtained residency within 90 days of their conditional resident parent.

When filing an I-751 petition, the conditional resident must establish that the marriage to their United States citizen spouse was bona fide, and not for the purpose of circumventing immigration laws. It is important, then, that conditional residents and their spouses collect evidence of their marriage prior to filing the required petition.

The conditional resident may file this petition jointly, with their spouse, or on their own, if the marriage has since ended. Once the petition is filed, however, the conditional resident may continue to live life as a legal resident, traveling and working at their leisure.