In marriage-based petitions where the applicant's marriage to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident is less than 2 years old at the time the green card is approved, the applicant will be granted conditional residence which is valid for 2 years.

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The conditional resident must file a form I-751, petition to remove conditions on permanent residence, within 90 days of the expiration of the 2-year period.  If the conditions are not removed, the conditional resident may lose their permanent resident status. If the conditions are successfully removed, the applicant will receive a normal 10-year green card. 

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The petition to remove the conditions on residence should be filed jointly with your spouse, or with a waiver of the joint-filing requirement which applies if:

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• You married a U.S. citizen in good faith, but your spouse has since died.

• You married a U.S. citizen in good faith, but have since divorced or annulled.

• You married a U.S. citizen in good faith, but have since been subject to extreme cruelty by your spouse.

• You are the child of a conditional resident and have been subject to extreme cruelty by either your conditional resident parent or their spouse.

• Termination of your status and removal would result in extreme hardship.

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In some cases, an Applicant may petition to remove the conditions on their residence and file for Naturalization simultaneously.

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