U.S. citizenship for a spouse under deportation threat

A couple contacted immigration attorney after they had received a denial decision regarding their jointly filed I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions.

We couldn’t promise miracles, but we did promise to work diligently to achieve their goal.

As it turns out, the USCIS field office had reopened the case sua sponte (voluntarily) and issued Notice of Intent to Terminate Conditional Residency Status, granting us 30 days to respond.

We responded in time and waited for their decision. The couple had an on-site visit with two immigration officers while the case was still pending.

We waited for about nine months before the spouse received an invitation to her N-400 interview. Having taken this length of time, we reckoned that the petition had been approved.

We accompanied our clients to the N-400 interview, at which we found out that their I-751 was, indeed, approved. Since the spouse had never received her permanent Green Card or approval notice, the attorney also accompanied her to her N-400 oath ceremony. We wanted to make sure that the absence of her Green Card would not create any obstacle for obtaining her naturalization certificate. After all, it was not client’s fault she did had not received it.

Ultimately, the client became a naturalized US citizen.