“Hi, this is immigration attorney Abisha Parikh and today I am going to go over the most common mistakes that you should avoid during your visa interview. These tips are coming straight from a Consulate Officer who kindly shared these details with me so that I can share them with my clients.
Is your marriage genuine?
So the question in this article is whether you can lose your green card if you get a divorce. Now I’m only talking about people who had obtained their green card in the first place through their wife or husband who petitioned for them. And so the first thing you need to know right off the bat, is that if you entered into a fraudulent marriage you are certainly at risk of losing the green card if the government finds out that the marriage was fraudulent.
Genuine marriage scenarios
Now, if you entered the marriage with your spouse in good faith, and got a 2-year conditional card but got divorced before your removal of conditions, then you can still apply on your own. As long as you show proof of a good faith marriage, you can apply under the waiver to have your conditions removed.
What if you are still waiting for a decision on your initial green card and you get divorced from your spouse? Unfortunately, in that case, you cannot file on your own unless you qualify under VAWA.
The last scenario is what if you have been approved with a 10-year green card and you get divorced? Then, in that case, you cannot lose your green card. You are now a permanent resident and the divorce will not impact your Green Card status.
This was just a broad overview of the different scenarios, and some cases can be a lot more complex than others so please do seek professional advice before filing anything on your own.“
