Renewing permanent Green Cards and removing conditions from residence (applies to 2-year Green Cards)

​The immigration attorney handles other immigration cases such as renewal of 10 year green cards and removing conditions from 2-year green cards. Green cards can be conditional or permanent.

• Conditional green cards are valid for 2 years. They are issued when the permanent resident status (green card) was issued before the 2nd anniversary of the marriage. Conditional green cards cannot be renewed. Instead, the immigration attorney assists conditional green card holders to remove the conditions from residence. This action needs to be taken during the 90 day period before the 2-year green card expires, otherwise the green card holder will lose the permanent resident status and will become deportable (i.e. can be put in removal proceedings at any time). The immigration lawyer assists both clients in filing jointly to remove the conditions by proving that the couple entered and continues to cohabitate in a bona fide marriage.  If the conditional green has expired, the immigration attorney may be able to assist client with a late filing, as long as the client was not already put in removal proceedings and the client has good cause for not filing on time.

• Permanent green cards are valid for 10 years. If the permanent green card has expired or will expire within the next 6 months, the immigration lawyer can assist with renewing the green card. Most Permanent Residents are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship five years after they become lawful permanent residents. Permanent Residents who are married and living in marital union with the U.S. citizen for 3 years may be eligible to apply for citizenship three years after they become lawful permanent residents (or 3 years after their marriage, whichever occurs later). ​

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