Conditional Green Card: Filing Window, Evidence, and Removal

A conditional green card is a two-year lawful permanent resident card issued when your residency is based on a marriage that was less than two years old on the day you were approved, or on an EB-5 investment. To keep your status, you have to file a petition to remove the conditions during the 90 days before that card expires. Miss the window, or file with thin evidence, and you can lose your status entirely.

Who Receives One

Two groups get the two-year card instead of the standard 10-year version.

The first is people who became permanent residents through marriage to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident when the marriage was less than two years old on the approval date.¹ USCIS uses the conditional period to verify the marriage is genuine.

The second is EB-5 immigrant investors and their qualifying family members. The EB-5 program requires investing in a U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying workers, and the conditional period gives USCIS time to confirm the investment was made and the jobs materialized.² The two groups use different forms and different evidence, so they are handled separately below.

What the Card Lets You Do

The card is valid for exactly two years from the date you obtained conditional permanent residence.³ During that time you have the same rights as any other permanent resident: live and work anywhere in the country, travel internationally, and access the same benefits. It looks like a regular green card, only with a two-year expiration.

The card cannot be renewed. When the two years end, you either remove the conditions and receive a 10-year card, or you lose permanent resident status. There is no extension, no grace period, and no second conditional card. That is why the 90-day filing window is one of the most important deadlines in the immigration system.

The 90-Day Filing Window

You file during the 90 days immediately before your conditional residence expires. Not earlier, not later. If you file outside that window on a standard joint petition, USCIS will reject it.⁴

Marriage-based petitioners use Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, filed jointly with the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse.⁵ EB-5 investors use Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status. Both can be filed online or by mail. Set a calendar reminder for the day your 90-day window opens; late filings are a discretionary gamble, not a right.

Evidence for a Marriage-Based Petition

The I-751 stands or falls on whether you can show the marriage was entered in good faith and is still real. USCIS officers review these petitions with fraud in mind, so build a packet that documents a shared life across the full two-year period. Useful evidence includes:

Joint financial accounts, credit card statements, and jointly filed tax returns.
A lease or mortgage with both names, utility bills at the same address, or a deed listing both spouses.
Birth certificates of any children born to the marriage.
Health, auto, or life insurance policies listing both spouses.
Sworn statements from friends and family who can speak to the relationship.
Photographs from family events, holidays, and trips over the two years.

A couple of photos and one bank statement will not carry a petition. Thin evidence is where most cases run into trouble.

If your children received conditional resident status on the same day as you or within 90 days afterward, you can include them on your Form I-751 by listing their names and Alien Registration Numbers in Part 5. Children outside that window, or whose conditional resident parent has died, each file their own petition.⁴

Filing Without Your Spouse

If joint filing is no longer possible, you can ask USCIS to waive the joint filing requirement and file Form I-751 alone. Waiver petitions do not have to wait for the 90-day window; you can file as soon as the qualifying circumstance arises. Three situations qualify:

Your marriage ended in divorce or annulment, and you can show it was entered in good faith. Include the final decree or annulment order.⁵
Your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse has died. Submit the death certificate along with evidence that the marriage was genuine.⁵
You or your child were subjected to battery or extreme cruelty by your petitioning spouse. Credible evidence of the abuse supports the waiver.⁴

The abuse waiver exists so that a petitioning spouse cannot trap someone in a dangerous situation by refusing to cooperate. If that describes you, file as soon as you can safely do so.

Evidence for EB-5 Investors

The I-829 evidence focuses on the investment. You need to show that you invested, or were actively in the process of investing, the required capital, and that the investment created or will create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. For petitions filed on or after March 15, 2022, the minimum investment is $1,050,000 for standard projects and $800,000 for projects in targeted employment areas.² The filing fee for Form I-829 is $3,750.⁶

If the 10 required jobs are not yet fully created when you file, USCIS may still approve the petition when you provide a clear explanation for the delay and evidence that the jobs will be created within a reasonable time. The nature of the industry and the type of investment are taken into account.

You can include your conditional permanent resident spouse and unmarried children under 21 on the petition. Dependents not included must each file their own Form I-829.⁷

After You File

USCIS mails a Form I-797C, Notice of Action, confirming receipt.⁸ That receipt notice automatically extends your conditional permanent resident status for 48 months past the card’s original expiration date.⁹ Keep it with your expired green card at all times. Together, the two documents prove you are still in lawful status while the petition is pending. Processing on I-751 petitions currently runs roughly two to two and a half years, which is why the extension is so long.

Biometrics and Interview

USCIS will schedule a biometrics appointment for fingerprints, a photograph, and a signature. Attend as scheduled; missing it without good reason can derail the case.

An in-person interview may follow. Officers can waive the interview when the record is strong, there are no fraud indicators, and no complex issues need clarification.¹⁰ A well-documented joint petition has a better chance of a waiver. If you are called in, expect questions about daily life together, how you met, and your living arrangements.

Approval or Denial

Approval removes the conditions and gets you a standard 10-year permanent resident card.⁵ From that point you are an unconditional lawful permanent resident.

A denial is serious. Your permanent resident status terminates on the date of the denial, and USCIS is required by statute to issue a Notice to Appear, placing you in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. You cannot appeal the denial directly to USCIS, but you can seek review of the decision during removal proceedings, and you may file a motion to reopen or reconsider, or a new I-751 if you are still eligible.¹¹

Traveling While the Petition Is Pending

You can travel internationally with the petition pending, but you need the right documents to re-enter. Carry both the expired conditional card and the I-797C receipt notice; one without the other may not be accepted. Confirm your passport is current before you leave, and return before the 48-month extension expires.

If You Miss the Deadline

Failing to file on time is one of the most damaging mistakes in immigration law. USCIS will terminate your conditional permanent resident status, and you become removable from the United States.⁷

A narrow safety valve exists. If the failure to file was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control, you can submit the petition late with a written explanation asking USCIS to excuse the delay, showing the delay was reasonable given the circumstances.⁴ Acceptance is discretionary. Do not plan around it.

What Comes After: Citizenship

Time as a conditional permanent resident counts toward the continuous residence and physical presence requirements for naturalization.¹²

If you are married to a U.S. citizen and living together, you may qualify for the three-year naturalization path rather than the five-year track. That requires at least three years of continuous residence as a permanent resident, at least 18 months of physical presence during that period, and continuous marital union with your citizen spouse for the full three years. You can file the naturalization application up to 90 days before you reach the three-year mark.¹³

One timing point to plan around: USCIS generally requires the I-751 to be approved before adjudicating a naturalization application. If the I-751 is still pending when you apply, USCIS typically holds the citizenship decision until the conditions come off.¹² With current I-751 processing over two years, the sequencing is worth thinking through before you file either petition.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Removing Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. About the EB-5 Visa Classification
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Permanent Residence
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. About Form I-797C Notice of Action
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-751 and I-829 48 Month Extension
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Decision and Post-Adjudication
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Permanent Resident Spouses and Naturalization
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Spouses of U.S. Citizens Residing in the United States