Legal Question in Immigration Law in Virginia

wanting a divorce from a greencard holder

Im a us citizen who now has a wife with a permanent greencard which was issued not long ago through me.

now i want to get a divorce and didnt know if it will affect her eligibility to file for us citizenship? will she still be able to keep her greencard and file on her own for citizenship or do i still need to be with her and then get divorced after she gets her passport?


Asked on 9/09/04, 1:14 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: wanting a divorce from a greencard holder

If you intend to sponsor her application for citizenship by filing an I-130 petition in her behalf, this will have to be done while you're still married to her.

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Answered on 9/09/04, 3:30 pm
Jonathon Moseley Jonathon A. Moseley

Re: wanting a divorce from a greencard holder

It's not clear from your question, but you used the word "recently." There is a minimum period of time that a non-citizen must be married to a U.S. citizen in order to obtain citizenship. I don't remember whether it is 3 or 3.5 years off the top of my head. Under the bureaucratic approach of the INS (now the CIS), any marriage between a non-citizen and a citizen is PRESUMED to be fraudulent, until proven genuine. So the INS (CIS) has to be satisfied that it is a real marriage, and that the marriage is long enough to qualify. They can ask questions like what kind of toothpaste your spouse uses to test whether people are just saying they live together or actually do.

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Answered on 9/10/04, 12:17 am


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