CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement
APPLICANT: Filipina
LOCATION: Waukegan, IL
Our client contacted our office in September of 2018 regarding a response to the RFE for her I-751 filing. She is from the Philippines and she married a U.S. citizen in February 2013. Through her marriage with a U.S. citizen spouse, she obtained a 2-year conditional green card in February of 2015. Therefore, her conditional residency terminated in February 2017. She filed the I-751 with her husband in November 2016. However, she got an RFE from the USCIS.
Unfortunately, during their marriage, our client and her ex-husband went through struggles. They lived separately for a while and their divorce proceeding was initiated. Our client could not proceed with the I-751 joint filing with her ex-husband. After consultation, we advised that we can respond to the RFE and convert her application to one with a waiver of the joint filing requirement. We requested a waiver because our client entered into marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment before they can file a joint petition.
On October 23, 2018, our office filed the Response to RFE with a conversion request from joint to waiver. The response had 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 2020, 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 September 29, 2020, our client was interviewed for her I-751 application at the USCIS Chicago, IL Field Office. The interview was very extensive and the officer questioned her a lot. Nevertheless, the USCIS approved her I-751 application on October 9, 2020. Now, she has her ten-year green card.