USCIS announced a new policy today that allows interviews for conditional permanent residents (CPR) to be waived, under certain circumstances. Interviews can be waived even for conditional residents who obtained their green card through overseas consular immigration process.
An immigrant may apply for a U.S. permanent resident status (PR status or "green card") through marriage to a U.S. citizen. However, in order to successfully obtain PR status, the couple must prove to the satisfaction of the U.S. government that the marriage was entered into in good faith, rather than for the purpose of immigration.
There are very severe consequences for those individuals who attempt to use marriage as a means to apply for U.S. permanent resident status. For example, under the Immigration Act, a foreigner who has been found to use a shame marriage to apply for legal status will be banned from ever applying for immigration based on family relationship. There could also be criminal liability too for violators.
One common way for the U.S. immigration officials to ascertain if a couple's relationship is genuine is by conducting extensive interviews. During these interviews, questions will be asked about the couple's background, how they met, how their relationship developed, their families, daily routines, etc. Couples in a real marital relationship should know how to answer these questions. The couple can be questioned together or separately. If the couple appears to be nervous or if their answers are inconsistent, the immigration officer may conclude that the marriage is not truthful and deny their petition.
For marriage petitions that are filed on behalf of overseas spouses, generally only the foreign spouse is interviewed by a visa officer at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy. The U.S. citizen spouse is not required to be present, and these interviews tend to be shorter and cursory.
Even if couple has passed the interview with flying colors, only a temporary green card will be issued to the foreign spouse if the marriage is a recent one. Specifically, the law only confers conditional permanent resident (CPR) status to the foreign spouse if the marriage took place within the last two years. Further, the CPR status conferred is only valid for two years. Before the end of the CPR status, the couple must file another petition (Form I-751) to remove the conditions. Otherwise, the conditional status will expire and the holder will be left with no legal status.
To support the I-751 petition, the couple must provide a large amount of documents to prove that they have continued to maintain a bona fide marital relationship. An interview is not mandatory for the adjudication of the I-751 petition. Some cases are selected for interviews because insufficient or questionable supporting documents have been submitted. Other cases are selected for quality control and auditing purposes.
Generally, interviews are required for the I-751 petition if the initial immigrant visa was issued by an overseas consulate or embassy. The new policy has changed this requirement. Instead, individual officers are now authorized to determine if an interview is required based on several criteria including:
(1) whether there is sufficient evidence to prove the bona fides of the marriage;
(2) if the joint-filing requirement is eligible for a waiver (if applicable);
(3) there is no indication of fraud or misrepresentation in supporting documents;
(4) there are no complex facts or issues to resolve; and
(5) there is no criminal history that would render the CPR removable.
The current processing time for the I-751 petition is extremely long. It is hope that the new policy will make the application process quicker and more efficient.
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