Case Details: In this case, a client and her husband showed up at my office with USCIS (Immigration authorities) papers denying the petition (I-485) that she filed applying for residency through her husband's petition (I-130). Although there was no doubt about her current marriage to her husband, USCIS nevertheless denied her the application because she never applied to take away the status of her previous residence. It turns out that my client had a previous marriage to another U.S. citizen and managed to obtain conditional residency for two years through her first husband's petition. Sadly, that marriage ended within a year and a half of having conditional resident status. She never put up an application (I-751) to take away the condition of her residence and it expired. A few years later, my client I was married again. She and her new husband had a son. Following the wrong advice of a notary who filled out the papers, she confided in herself and with her husband put the applications for her husband's petition along with their application for their residence. Imagine the surprise when the immigration officer explained that he had to deny him residency because the law did not allow him to apply for a new residence through his new marriage. The process under immigration law: Conditional residency is given to the spouse of the U.S. citizen when the marriage is less than two years old at the time that residency is granted. Conditional residency expires after two years.The spouse who has conditional residency, along with his or her American spouse, has to apply three months before the two years to remove the status of his or her residence in order to obtain permanent residency. In the application, new evidence has to be included to prove again that the marriage is legitimate, real and that they are still together. This request can be made alone (self-petitioning) explaining the reason why it is being done alone and asking for a waiver to accept the application without the American spouse as part of that application. If the application is not done on time, you have to apologize for doing it late with a good explanation. If the application is not made, the residence expires and the person is left without any status in the country. By letting a conditional residency expire, the person now cannot apply to adjust their status again with another petition. Many times, immigration authorities begin deportation proceedings against the person because I have no status and are deportable. Action to Solve the Problem Outcome: Application to Remove Condition from residence 4 Years Late: After analyzing the case and all the papers including denial, the previous process with the first husband and copies of the second application with her present husband, I sat down with the client and explained the action plan to solve the problem. I told him we had two ways. One with USCIS and one with an immigration judge. To avoid a deportation case in front of an immigration case, I explained that we had to prepare a good and detailed application to take away the status of her residence that she had for her first marriage. I prepared that application in detail, with statements from family, friends and with many proofs showing that that first marriage was legitimate, real, in good faith and not by papers. At the same time, I had to formally ask for a waiver for submitting the application to remove the condition late. (In this case, 4 years.) The first thing that arrived was the receipt from USCIS confirming that the application was received. With that receipt they sent him an extension of his first residence for one year. What a joy for my client. She was accepted for the application late and now had her residency again for a year while USCIS reviewed her application to determine if they wanted an interview with her or if they approved the application without an interview. She was able to travel with her residence to visit her family. In the end, 6 months later, they approved the application without having an interview and gave him the permanent residence he counted since he had his conditional residency. That is, more than 5 years. It means that she can apply for U.S. citizenship immediately. The first lesson you learn from this house is that the cheap one is expensive. The second lesson is that for important things like your status in the United States, you don't trust people who don't really know what they're doing. Always go to a good, experienced immigration attorney to avoid distress, lost money, and bad time.

If you need to apply with immigration authorities to take away the status of your residence and need help with your professionally prepared and filed application, you can call my office to assist you with your application quickly and professionally. I can represent you anywhere in the country and with any type of immigration issue. Call for a free consultation.

Abraham B. Cardenas Immigration Attorney (786)347-1605