Hearing of the United States Federal Immigration Court

American immigration law pays attention to family values, so it is faster to get a green card through marriage. As a result, there have also been some marriages specifically for the purpose of applying for green cards, which are called "fake marriages". In order to prevent this phenomenon of "fake marriage", the immigration law stipulates that foreigners apply for a green card through marriage. If they have been married for less than two years when the green card is approved, the Immigration Bureau will only issue a "conditional green card", commonly known as a "temporary green card". The purpose of this legislation is to prevent "fake marriage", but it also sets obstacles for many foreigners who are "really married" to American citizens to obtain formal green cards.

The "conditional green card" is valid for two years. According to the immigration law, American citizens and foreign spouses who hold conditional green cards must apply to the Immigration Bureau to cancel the conditions on the green cards 90 days before the conditional green cards expire, so as to become "official green cards". However, due to marital changes or other reasons, some foreigners with "conditional green cards" can't get the cooperation of American citizens' spouses when they apply to cancel the "green card" conditions. For example, the spouse of an American citizen has died, for example, the two have divorced. Especially the change of marriage will make the situation very complicated.

According to the relevant provisions of the immigration law, if the initial purpose is not to get a green card, but to get married sincerely (that is, marriage is not purely for getting a green card), foreign spouses holding temporary green cards can apply for a green card to become full members after divorcing American citizens. There are two key points here: first, whether we get married out of sincerity or simply to get a green card; The second is whether the foreign spouse divorced the American citizen. Only when these two conditions are met at the same time can foreigners holding temporary green cards apply for green cards to become full members themselves.

As far as the first point is concerned, if a holder of a "conditional green card" wants to apply for a full-time job on his own, he must provide sufficient evidence to prove that he married an American citizen in good faith, not just to get a green card. For example, two people's love letters before marriage, wedding photos, family property jointly owned after marriage, common bank account, common credit card account, family medical insurance, letters from neighbors and friends, etc. These are all valid evidences to prove real marriage. Of course, if the marriage between the two has a result, the child's birth certificate is the most powerful evidence.

Regarding the second point, if the holder of the "conditional green card" wants to apply for regularization on his own, he must have formally divorced an American citizen. According to the immigration law, a foreigner holding a temporary green card cannot apply for cancellation of the conditions on the green card by himself before formally divorcing the spouse of an American citizen. A formal divorce is defined as obtaining a divorce order from a court. This premise cannot be ignored. Simple separation does not meet this condition.

The problem often lies in the second point, because divorce is sometimes a long process. However, the application time limit for canceling the green card condition is very limited, only 90 days. If you can't get a formal divorce within this limitation period, conditional green card holders will face the problem of losing their green cards. If a foreigner loses his green card, the immigration office can deport him.

Strategically speaking, during the application limitation period, even if a foreigner with a "conditional green card" has not formally divorced an American citizen, he should apply to the Immigration Bureau for cancellation of the green card. Even if your application is rejected by the Immigration Bureau and you are forced to enter the deportation procedure, you can still ask the Immigration Court to hear the decision of the Immigration Bureau. However, if the application to cancel the green card conditions is not submitted to the Immigration Bureau in time, the holder of the "conditional green card" may not apply for the first time in the immigration court. In other words, under normal circumstances, once the 90-day limitation period is missed, there is no second chance. Therefore, foreigners who hold a "conditional green card" must consider the corresponding countermeasures as soon as possible if there are problems in their marriage, so as not to fall into the dilemma of losing their identity.