CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Ghanaian
LOCATION: Columbus, OH
Our client contacted our office in July of 2016 regarding a response to the RFE for her I-751 filing. She is from Ghana and she married a U.S. citizen in May 2013. Through her marriage with a U.S. citizen spouse, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in January of 2014. Therefore, her conditional residency terminated in January 2016. She filed the I-751 with her husband in 2015. However, she got the RFE from the USCIS in May 2016.
Unfortunately, during their marriage, our client and her ex-husband went through struggles. Therefore, immediately after they filed the I-751, they lived separately for a while and divorce proceedings was initiated. Thus, our client could not proceed with I-751 joint filing with her ex-husband. After the consultation, we advised that we can help her file the I-751 application with a waiver of the joint filing requirement. We requested a waiver because our client entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment before they can file a joint petition.
On August 2, 2016, our office filed the Response to RFE with the request of I-751 application category conversion from joint filing to waiver of filing with various supporting documents (over 15 exhibits and an affidavit over 6 pages) to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with her ex-husband.
In September 2016, the USCIS scheduled an I-751 interview for our client. Prior to the interview, our office thoroughly prepared our client via conference call with potential issues at the interview. On October 27, 2016, our client was interviewed for her I-751 application at the USCIS Columbus, OH Field Office. The interview was very extensive and the officer questioned a lot of the nature of her marriage with her ex-husband. Nevertheless, the USCIS approved his I-751 application on December 7, 2016. Now, she has her ten-year green card.