United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it would be adopting a risk-based approach in its policy to allow immigration officers to waive in-person interviews for conditional permanent residents (“CPRs”) who have filed a petition to remove the conditions on their permanent resident status. The newly updated policy sets out the criteria USCIS officers are to use when deciding to waive interviews of the US citizens and lawful permanent residents’ (“LPR”) family members who have conditional permanent residency status in the US and have submitted a Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residency. This update, effective immediately, replaces previous guidance that required all CPRs undergo an interview if they obtained CPR status through consular processing.
Conditional Permanent Resident status is afforded to foreign nationals who have been married for less than two years to a US citizen or permanent resident and apply for permanent residency in the US, and is granted for a two-year period. At the end of this period, CPRs must petition with their spouse to remove the conditions on their residency and gain LPR status. Under the policy update, USCIS may waive the interview requirement if the USCIS officer decides:
there is enough evidence about the bona fides of the marriage to show it was not entered into for the purpose of evading immigration law;
if relevant, there is sufficient evidence to support the CPR’s eligibility for the waiver of the joint-filing requirement;
there is no indication of fraud or misrepresentation in supporting documents;
there are no complex facts or issues to resolve; and
there are no criminal bars that would render the CPR applicant deportable.
This is a welcomed change that is hoped will “increase efficiencies that improve processing times, allow for a better use of agency staffing resources, and help reduce the pending caseload while still maintaining procedures to identify fraud and protect national security,” as noted by USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou.