How to Use Form I-751

How to Use Form I-751

Form I-751 is a government form from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for the Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence. The purpose of Form I-751 is to give a conditional resident who got their status through the marriage of either a permanent resident or a United States citizen the opportunity apply to remove the conditions placed on his or her residence. After the petition is approved, the individual is given a 10-year permanent resident card.

Specifically, a Form I-751 is usually used by an individual who got a Green Card through marriage of a citizen or permanent resident and came to the United States on a K1 visa who most likely got a Conditional Permanent Resident card which was valid for two years. Once this conditional two-year period is up, the permanent residence status expires automatically and the applicant may be deported or removed from the country.

In order to avoid these actions, an applicant should file Form I-751 90 days or less before the expiration of the conditional residence. Once the condition is approved, the conditional status is then removed and the applicant will receive a Permanent Resident card that is then valid for ten years. Form I-751 should not be filed before the 90-day window because the application will be returned.

If still married, the applicant can file Form I-751 jointly with the spouse who is a United States citizen or permanent resident through whom the applicant obtained the conditional permanent status. If the applicant has any dependent children on the K-2 visa who also obtained their status for conditional permanent when they entered the United States within a 90-day period of the applicant’s arrival, their names and A-numbers can be included in Part 5 of the petition form.

If the children conditional statuses were obtained after the 90 day period from the applicant obtained or adjusted their status or in the case that the conditional permanent parent passes away, the children must file Form I-751 separately from the parent in order to remove the conditional status.

• If the applicant, the conditional permanent resident does not file jointly, he or she can file for a waiver, assuming:

• The applicant can show that proof of entering the marriage with good intentions and honesty, but the spouse subsequently passed away.

• The applicant entered the marriage in good faith, but the marriage resulted in an annulment or divorce.

• The applicant entered the marriage in good faith and is still married, but the applicant has subjected to cruelty or has been battered by the United States citizen or permanent resident spouse or the termination of the status and removal from the country would result in some sort of extreme hardship.

In circumstances where an applicant requests a waiver, proof is very important.

A complete application should include the following:

• A signed and completed Form I-751.

• A front and back copy of the applicant’s Conditional Green Card

• Two passport-style photographs for the applicant as well as any children on the application.

• Form FD-258 for two completed fingerprint cards for the applicant and any children on the application.

• Evidence of a bonafide marriage entered in good faith and honesty, such as birth certificates of children born In the marriage, joint assets, sworn statements of at last two people, mortgage or lease contracts showing joint occupancy.

• Filing Fee.