How to remove conditions on your green card
A green card issued through a marriage younger than two years arrives with a condition: it expires in two years, and the couple must petition — together — to make the residence permanent. The petition is Form I-751, and the window for it is strict. This page covers the joint petition; where the marriage has ended, waiver categories exist and belong with an attorney, as explained below. Every claim is cited. General process description, not advice about any individual case.
Why the card is conditional
The two-year card exists because the marriage was young at approval — USCIS returns at the two-year mark to ask whether the marriage that started the case is still a real one. The exit is Form I-751, filed jointly by the couple in the 90 days before the conditional card expires. That window is one of the strictly enforced deadlines in immigration filing: it belongs on a calendar the day the conditional card arrives.
The fee, and what happens to status while you wait
Under the current G-1055 schedule the I-751 costs $750 on paper or $700 online. Filing extends conditional-resident status while the petition is pending — the receipt notice currently serves as evidence of a 48-month extension of the expiring card, a detail confirmed by counsel on this site's record. USCIS fees change periodically — before filing, verify current amounts on the official USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055) at uscis.gov/g-1055.
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The evidence: two more years of a shared life
The I-751 asks the original question again, with two more years of record to answer it: joint finances, shared residence, children where applicable, affidavits from people who know the couple — the same categories as the original case, accumulated since approval. Couples who kept filing the ordinary paper of a shared life assemble the petition from a folder; couples who didn't, reconstruct it. The bona-fide marriage evidence guide covers the categories in depth, and the I-751 form guide walks the form itself.
When joint filing isn't possible
Where the marriage has ended or the joint petition can't be filed — after divorce, abuse, a spouse's death, or extreme hardship — waiver categories exist. Those cases involve individualized legal judgment: this site identifies them during its assessment and refers them to a licensed immigration attorney rather than filing them, and this page deliberately offers no waiver guidance beyond that.
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When do I file to remove conditions?
The joint I-751 is filed in the 90 days before the conditional 2-year card expires — a strictly enforced window.
What does it cost?
$750 on paper or $700 online under the current schedule. Fees change — verify at uscis.gov/g-1055.
My card expires while the petition is pending — am I out of status?
Filing extends conditional-resident status: the receipt notice currently evidences a 48-month extension of the expiring card (counsel-confirmed on this site's record).
What evidence removes the conditions?
The marriage's continued bona fides since approval — joint finances, shared residence, children where applicable, affidavits: the same categories as the original case, with two more years of paper.
What if we divorced, or the marriage ended?
Waiver categories exist for divorce, abuse, a spouse's death, and extreme hardship — and they belong with a licensed immigration attorney. This site flags those situations and refers them rather than filing them.