I-751 waivers

Statutes, regulations, and policies.

Overview

Foreign spouses with 2-year conditional Green Cards normally jointly file Form I-751 with their citizen spouse to remove conditions on residency. However, foreign spouses can falsely accuse their citizen spouse of domestic violence in order to qualify for a waiver of this requirement. This is I-751 fraud and is a felony under federal law.

Disclaimer: Please be aware that immigration law is one of the most complex bodies of law in the U.S. Code. A single fact can make a world of difference in the applicability of certain laws. Professional legal advice is highly advised before relying on these laws in specific matters.

Background

In 1986, Congress passed Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments Act (Fraud Amendments) to address widespread immigration marriage fraud in the United States.

The Fraud Amendments tightened the rules for marriage-based Green Cards. Instead of immediately being granted permanent residency, newly married immigrant spouses were granted only conditional residency for two-years. To prove the marriage was bona fide, the married couple were required to jointly file a petition to remove the conditions near the end of the conditional residency. Form I-751 is the administrative form used to file the joint petition by both spouses.

The original Fraud Amendments included a statutory “hardship waiver” that gave the Attorney General discretion to “remove the conditional basis of the permanent resident status for an alien…if the alien demonstrates that…(A) extreme hardship would result if the such alien is deported, or (B) the qualifying marriage was entered into good faith by the alien spouse, but the qualifying marriage has been terminated (other than through the death of the spouse) by the alien spouse for good cause and the alien was not at fault [in failing to file a joint petition].” This waiver, as amended, remains available today. Form I-751 is also the administrative form used to file for a waiver of the joint petition requirement. In these cases, practitioners often refer to this as simply a “Solo I-751”.