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Divorce During Green Card Procedures : USA Immigration Lawyer - YouTube
Channel: Law Offices of Jacob J. Sapochnick
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Divorce and Immigration.
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Pretty complicated topic.
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Can you lose your green card if you get divorced
in the process?
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Well, watch this video and we'll talk about
it.
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Hey, everybody and thanks for joining me for
another video here.
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I'm Jacob's Sapochnick, immigration attorney
based in San Diego, California.
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And I'm excited to do these videos every week
and share this information with our community
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here on YouTube.
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Make sure that you subscribe to our channel.
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videos and make sure you follow me on Instagram.
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We have two channels on Instagram, one is
my personal, where I share behind the scenes
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and just my travels, but also some inspirational
quotes and also our immigration video channel
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on Instagram.
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Let's dive in into this video.
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Divorce and Immigration.
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And this comes from a question that I got
from a few of my clients who are going through
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the marriage green card process, but things
just don't work out.
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And they asked me, what happens if I get divorced
during this process?
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Will I lose my green card and I always answer.
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Depends.
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Depends where you are in the process.
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As you know, when you marry a US citizen and
you've been together for less than two years,
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you only get a conditional green card.
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If you've been married more than two years
and then you file, then you're going to get
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a permanent green card.
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The difference is really important in issues
of divorce, so if you have your conditional
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green card only and then you get divorced,
okay?
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Then, there are things you can do to still
save the case.
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For example, you can file for a waiver based
on good faith marriage to prove that you were
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together during those two years and things
didn't work out and you can get a waiver even
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if you get divorced to be able to get your
permanent green card.
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But if you get divorced before you get your
conditional green card, in the beginning,
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while you're pending for the first green card
while you are or before you file, then you're
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not going to be able to get a green card at
all.
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And so, the filing itself will be canceled
and you will lose your benefits of getting
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a green card in the first place.
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So remember, if you file an adjustment of
status and the case is pending, you get your
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work permit, your travel document, and then
you get divorced, you're not going to be able
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to complete the process because, by the time
you get an interview, they'll determine that
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you're not together.
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A divorce has been filed and you will lose
everything.
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However, if you have your conditional green
card and then you get divorced, as long as
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you can prove that this marriage was incepted
and it was bonafide and it was a real relationship,
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then you'll be able to still be filing a divorce,
you still gonna be able to prove that it was
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a bonafide marriage.
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You'll be able to go to an interview by yourself
and still save the case by getting a green
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card based on a bonafide good-faith exception.
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Now, if you have a 10 year regard and then
you get divorced, then it doesn't matter at
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that point because at that point you already
have a permanent green card and if you're
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divorced then by the time you apply for citizenship,
the only thing is you won't be able to apply
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for citizenship based on a three year marriage
to a US citizen.
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You have to wait for five years.
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So to summarize this, if you are married to
a US citizen and your filing your application
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and you're now in the process of this application,
you don't have the green card yet but you
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have a work permit, you have a travel document
and you're pending.
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At that point, if you get divorced and that
divorce becomes final or even if it's not
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final, if you get to the interview and you're
in the process of getting a divorce, you're
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not going to be able to finish this case.
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It's going to be very complicated because
at that point immigration would determine
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that you're not together anymore before even
getting the conditional green card and most
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likely that case will fail.
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Now there are exceptions, even if you are
in the early stage of filing the adjustment
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of status and not getting to the interview
and you are being, for example, abused.
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If you go through an abuse process where a
US citizen is abusing the spouse, there is
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a way to still get a green card even if you're
divorced, even if you're not going to get
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to that interview by filing an after 60 abuse
petition.
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And we've done a separate video on that and
we're going to link it here in the comments,
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and that's another exception.
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But typically if you're filing an adjustment,
everything's good and things just don't work
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out and you have a divorce filed, then you're
not going to be able to get a green card.
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But if you are using the conditional period
to your green card, and divorce has been filed
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and is final, you are still able to remove
those conditions without that petitioner by
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showing that it was a bonafide marriage.
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And the thing didn't work out.
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We call this a bonafide marriage exception,
and you can still get your green card with
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the divorce.
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So hopefully, you found this information useful.
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Let me know in the comments below of any questions,
make sure you subscribe to our channel so
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you can get notified for any new videos that
we release.
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And are we very grateful if you share this
video with a friend of somebody who may need
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this information.
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Thanks for watching, and we'll see you at
our next video.
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