I-751 Approval for Korean Client in Washington DC, Request to Convert Joint Filing to I-751 with Waiver, I-751 Pending Divorce Proceedings

CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement

APPLICANT : Korean

LOCATION: Virginia

ISSUE: I-751 Application Pending Divorce Proceedings

We initially met our client in our Washington DC office when she scheduled a consultation with our office. She is from Korea who came to the United States in the 90s, and has maintained her F-1 status throughout until she married a U.S. citizen in 2006. Through her marriage with a U.S. citizen spouse, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in May of 2008.  Therefore, her conditional residency was scheduled to terminate in May 2010.  To comply with the immigration requirements, our client and her husband filed an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions in March 2010.

Unfortunately, their marriage ended in September 2010.  Moreover, our client received the Request for Evidence immediately after her husband initiated divorce proceedings. Eventually, our client contacted our office and retained us to assist her response to her Request for Evidence (RFE).

According to an April 9, 2009 USCIS Memorandum by Director Neufeld, “USCIS may not deny a petition solely because the spouses are separated and/or have initiated divorce or annulment proceedings…  If a Service Center ISO encounters an I-751 petition jointly filed by co-petitioners who are still married but are in divorce proceedings, the ISO issues the Conditional Permanent Resident (CPR) a Request for Evidence with an 87-day response period.  In the RFE, the ISO specifically asks the CPR to provide a copy of the final divorce decree along with a request to have the joint filing petition treated as a waiver petition.  This affords the CPR an opportunity to provide evidence that the proceedings have been finalized and it affords the CPR an opportunity to request a waiver to the joint filing without refilling.”

Based on this Memorandum and with various supporting documents (over 20 exhibits and an affidavit over 5 pages) to demonstrate their bona fide marriage, on October 15, 2010, our office promptly filed I-751 Response to RFE and Request to convert joint filing to I-751 with waiver of the joint waiver requirement pursuant to the Neufeld April 3, 2009 Memorandum for I-751 Applications pending divorce proceedings.

On January 6, 2010, USCIS approved our request for the removal of conditions on her permanent resident status without even an interview. Now, she has her ten-year green card.

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Tagged as: Korea, Washington