Losing Your Green Card After Divorce
There is a common misconception that if you are an immigrant and your green card status derives from your marriage to a U.S. citizen, you automatically forfeit your legal status in the U.S. if you and your spouse divorce. The good news is that the law is on your side in this case, and there are options available to retain your green card even if the marriage that brought you to the U.S. happens to end. As with every aspect of immigration law, though, this is a tricky matter, and there are certain standards that must be met at every step of the way in order to ensure that you can remain legally in the United States. Are you worried about losing your green card after divorce? In the video below, Morris County immigration attorney Susan Scheer details how newly divorced green card holders in New Jersey can work to keep their green cards and continue building their lives in the U.S.
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It is definitely possible to file your I-751 petition to convert a two-year conditional green card to a permanent tenure green card, even if you are divorced. In fact, the documentation is identical. Whether you are still married or you are divorced, the documentation does not change. In theory, if you were still married but had weak documentation, even though you were still married, immigration would not approve the I-751 petition. Conversely, if you were divorced and had very strong evidence that it was a real marriage, and you had many documents that were issued jointly, this would be perfect evidence of a bona fide marriage, and the fact that you were divorced would have no bearing whatsoever. If you are divorced and you were married, living together for a short period, but the divorce occurred because of abuse, if you can demonstrate the abuse through police documentation and court documentation, that is one exception to needing two years of full documentation.
If you have questions about losing your green card after divorce, contact our office today for clarification.
At The Scheer Immigration Law Group in Morristown, New Jersey, we represent clients throughout Morris, Essex and Sussex counties with immigration law issues, including green card, non-immigrant visa, student visa and deportation matters. Our firm has been in operation for more than 25 years, and in that time, we have guided countless individuals, families, businesses and employers through the complex area of immigration law. We believe that every one of our clients should be able to prosper in this country, and we use our knowledge of the U.S. legal system to ensure that your rights are protected.