A green card is a permanent resident card. Immigrants who qualify for green cards may be able to spend the rest of their lives in the United States. Individuals with green cards can work in the United States and help their loved ones enter the country. They can also eventually naturalize or become citizens.
Family relationships are a common way that people become eligible for green cards. Some people enter the country to reunite with their parents or siblings. Others obtain green cards through marriage. Foreign nationals who marry United States citizens can secure green cards to enter the country and begin living with their spouses.
Those engaged to United States citizens can secure green cards after they obtain K-1 visas. They can enter the country to get married, and if they do marry their fiancés, they can then obtain a green card. Marriage-based green cards are often conditional, which makes them different than most other green cards.
What is a conditional green card?
There are some scenarios in which the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) cannot affirm immediately that an individual qualifies for permanent resident status. Those entering the country because of a marital relationship with a citizen may receive a conditional green card.
If the marriage lasted less than two years before the immigrant applied to enter the country, then they may receive a conditional green card. The document is only valid for two years. They must submit paperwork to the USCIS before the green card expires validating that they meet all of the criteria to remove their conditional status.
Typically, that means they have remained married and have not committed any major crimes while living in the United States. So long as they meet the necessary criteria and submit paperwork before the expiration of the conditional green card, the non-citizen spouse can then obtain a standard green card. 10 years later, when they renew the document again, their marital status no longer influences their eligibility.
Learning about the unique rules that apply to marriage-based green cards can be beneficial for those hoping to reunite with their spouses. People seeking K-1 visas or marriage-based green cards may need help ensuring that they meet all of the requirements to enter and remain in the country legally.