Obtaining lawful residence through marriage to a U.S. citizen is a fairly common method of immigrating to the U.S. If resident status is granted within 2 years of the marriage, the applicant becomes a lawful conditional resident. Conditional resident status lasts 2 years and will terminate if INS finds the marriage has been judicially terminated or was entered into fraudulently, or the conditional resident and his/her spouse fail to file the required petition with INS before the 2 years is up or fail to appear at an INS interview without good cause.

The general rule is that the conditional resident and his/her spouse must file a joint petition to remove the conditional basis of the residence within 90 days of the second anniversary of the grant of resident status, that is, within the last 3 months of the 2-year period. If the conditional resident cannot file a joint petition, he/she must file the form as a waiver. If the conditional basis is removed, the applicant becomes a lawful permanent resident.