How soon after one has been married and has received a conditional residency should one file for permanent residency, then citizenship and proceed if he/she so desires to sponsor his/her parents.

- M.S.

If you receive permanent residency through marriage to a United States citizen, and if at the time you are approved for your permanent residency you were married for less than two years, you will receive a conditional resident card (green card) valid for two years. Ninety days before the conditional resident card expires, the couple must file to remove the condition on the card.

The couple must provide proof to the Department of Homeland Security that they continued to live together and that their marriage continued to be valid from the time they were approved for the first green card to the date of filing to remove the condition. All documents proving the continued validity of the marriage, including photographs and affidavits, must be submitted with the jointly filed form.

The Department of Homeland Security considers a marriage to be valid by some of the outward signs demonstrated by a couple, e.g., the commingling of assets and the commingling of liabilities.

Divorce

If the couple is no longer living together, they must get a divorce. The process only allows a couple to file jointly, or for them to get a divorce and for the alien spouse to file singly to remove the condition. The singly filed petition must be accompanied by proof that the couple continued to live together until the date of their separation.

Once the petition to remove the condition is approved, the alien spouse will receive a permanent resident card valid for 10 years.

Approximately half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. It is imperative that the alien spouse keep records during the time he or she lives with their United States citizen spouse after the first approval. If separation and subsequent divorce occurs, the alien spouse should not become overwhelmed at having to provide proof of the validity of their marriage in order to receive a permanent green card.

Deportation

If the petition to remove the condition is denied and the alien spouse is advised to leave the United States, and they do not address the situation, he or she could be placed in deportation proceedings. An alien does not have to be present in court for a judge to order that person deported.

You can be deported in absentia - in your absence, even if you do not receive notification. Whenever an alien changes address, the burden is on the alien to notify the Department of Homeland Security.

The petition to remove the condition must be filed in a timely manner no matter, how difficult a challenge it may present. This is an important aspect of gaining permanent residency which, if overlooked, can lead to deportation from the United States. If the removal of the condition is not properly addressed, even subsequent marriage to another United States citizen may not solve the problem.

If one becomes a permanent resident in the United States through marriage to that US citizen and you remain married to and living with that US citizen, you are eligible for citizenship three years after you receive your first green card. If you separate or divorce the US citizen spouse before the three-year date, you must wait five years before being eligible for US citizenship. Once you are 21 and a citizen, you can petition (file) for your parents for permanent residency.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises in Florida in the areas of immigration, family, corporate and personal-injury law. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. Email feedback to info@walkerhuntington.com.