Conditional Permanent Residents and Naturalization Requirements

For marriage-based immigration, in order to remove the conditions on their Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status, Conditional Permanent Residents (CPRs) must jointly file with their petitioning spouse a Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, during the 90-day period immediately preceding the second anniversary of their admission as Conditional Permanent Residents, or as otherwise provided in section 216, to establish that the marriage was not entered into for purposes of evading U.S. immigration laws.

Failure to establish the real marriage, or failure to timely file the petition or otherwise comply with section 216, results in the termination of the alien’s Legal Permanent Resident status. Although section 319(b) ensures that eligible spouses of qualifying U.S. citizen employees are not precluded from eligibility for naturalization because of their residence abroad, section 319(b) otherwise requires “compliance with all the requirements of the naturalization laws.” 

This includes the requirement that naturalization applicants demonstrate they have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence “in accordance with all applicable provisions” of the Act as stipulated in section 318 of the Act. 

Legal Permanent Residents admitted pursuant to section 216 of the Act who apply for naturalization under section 319(b) must, therefore, comply with the requirements of section 216. Section 216(e) of the Act, which provides that for purposes of naturalization an alien in conditional status “shall be considered to have been admitted as an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence and to be in the United States as an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence,” does not relieve a conditional permanent resident applying for naturalization from the requirements of section 216. Section 216(e) merely ensures that the time spent in the United States as a conditional resident may, after the conditions have been removed, be considered for purposes of establishing the residence and physical presence requirements of the naturalization laws, such as those required by sections 316(a) and 319(a) of the Act. 

Therefore, Legal Permanent Residents admitted pursuant to section 216 who seek naturalization under section 319(b) must comply with the requirements of section 216, though such Legal Permanent Residents who naturalize under section 319(b) prior to the 90-day Form I-751 filing period are not required to file Form I-751 for those purposes because they would not be within the designated filing period. 

However, such applicants must nevertheless establish that the qualifying marriage (1) was entered into in accordance with the laws of the place where the marriage occurred, (2) has not been judicially annulled or terminated, (3) was not entered into for the purpose of procuring an alien's admission as an immigrant, and (4) that no fee or other consideration was given (other than attorney's fees) for filing the immigrant or fiancé(e) visa petition that forms the basis for their admission to the United States.
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