Francisco was born in Bolivia and came to the United States as a student. Years later, he met and married Jacob, a U.S. Citizen. Jacob filed a Green Card petition based on marriage [1] for Francisco and after an interview with an immigration officer, the residency petition was approved and Francisco was granted legal permanent resident status. Due to the fact that their marriage was less than 2 years old when the petition was approved, Francisco was given a Conditional Residency Card that was valid for 2 years. Francisco and Jacob filed a removal of residency conditions petition (Form I-751) together before the conditional green card expired, as it is the requirement.
Although Francisco and Jacob had formed a married life together – traveling together, renting an apartment together, celebrating special occasions with each other’s families – sadly, their marriage did not last. Adding to this distressing time, USCIS issued a Request for Evidence, stating that more proof of their good faith marriage was needed to make a decision on the Form I-751 to remove the conditions of his green card. At that point Francisco reached out to the immigration attorneys [2] of FitzGerald Law Company and our firm became involved. Having identified that the initial petition was not submitted with sufficient supporting documentation, our office directed our client to provide not only additional documents, but the correct type of documents. We did not hide the fact that Francisco and Jacob were no longer living together; but rather, this was clearly stated in detailed affidavits from each of them. After carefully preparing Francisco and Jacob for the interview with the immigration officer, the interview went smoothly and Francisco received his 10-year Residency. Now, Francisco can turn to the matter of beginning a new life without Jacob as his husband, but still as his friend.