CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Dominican
LOCATION: Orlando, FL
Our client contacted our office in early December of 2014 regarding her pending I-751 filing. She came to the United States from the Dominican Republic and she married a U.S. Citizen (her ex-husband) in July 2011.
Through her marriage, she was able to obtain a 2-year conditional green card in March of 2012. Her conditional residency terminated in March 2014.
Before her 2 year green card expired, our client filed an I-751 application JOINTLY with her ex-husband in 2014. However, while the I-751 application was pending, their marriage started to fall apart. Our client experienced a lot of difficulties in her marital life with his ex-husband. Eventually, they were SEPARATED AND FILED FOR DIVORCE IN DECEMBER 2014. Their marriage ended in February 2015 (divorce issued). While her I-751 was pending, she retained our office to convert her I-751 from joint filing to a waiver of the joint filing category.
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 42 exhibits and an affidavit over 9 pages) to demonstrate their bona fide marriage, on December 26, 2014, our office promptly filed a new I-751 application with a Request to convert the 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. No new filing fees were included in this conversion request.
In January 2015, the USCIS scheduled an I-751 interview for our client. Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client via conference calls and informed her of potential issues at the interview.
On February 24, 2015, our client was interviewed for her I-751 application at the USCIS Orlando, FL Field Office. Eventually, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application. Now, she has her ten-year green card.