Bringing a fiancé or new spouse who isn’t a U.S. citizen to the United States generally requires a visa. They are likely eligible for a green card after entering the country. They can adjust their status and then remain in the United States indefinitely.
However, their ability to stay in the country depends on their continued eligibility for their green card and their adherence to all immigration rules. For those who have entered the country to get married or after being married for less than two years, the green card that they’ve received is conditional and subject to important restrictions.
Conditional green cards are temporary
Technically, all green cards require renewal and are not actually permanent instruments in their own right. Every permanent resident must renew their green card once a decade to preserve their legal status in the United States.
A conditional green card is valid for a much shorter period. A spouse’s conditional green card is only valid for two years, which is a means of validating the bona fide marital relationship that made them eligible for the green card.
The immigrant spouse must prove during the renewal process that they still meet the criteria for a green card. They must still be married to their citizen spouse and must avoid any serious criminal charges.
They can apply to remove the conditions from their green card in the months before it expires. There is a brief window of opportunity in which to do so, and the failure to take action can cause significant immigration challenges.
Working with a professional familiar with family-based immigration rules can help those married or engaged to foreign nationals understand their options. Conditional green cards are an important part of the family immigration system for couples, but they also create obligations that newly-married must fulfill.