USCIS Updates Policy to Waive Interviews for Certain Conditional Green Card Holders

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its policy, allowing USCIS officers to waive interviews for more applicants of Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.

Under the updated guidance, USCIS may waive interviews under the following conditions:

• the record contains sufficient evidence that the marriage was bona fide, not entered into for the purpose of evading immigration laws;
• there is sufficient evidence that the conditional resident (CR) is eligible for waiver of the joint filing requirement, if applicable;
• there is no indication of fraud or misrepresentation in the record;
• there are no complex facts or issues that would require an interview or sworn statements; and
• there are no criminal bars rendering the CR removable.

The new Biden-administration policy overrides a policy set by the Trump administration in 2018 that required USCIS officers to interview all applicants of Form I-751 unless the applicants had been previously interviewed by USCIS. Under that policy, those who were granted Conditional Residence outside of the US and interviewed by a U.S. consular officer were required to undergo an interview after filling for removal of conditions.