BATTERED SPOUSE PETITION

What are the Application Procedures?

If you or your child were battered or subjected to extreme mental cruelty by your spouse, you must submit the following:

• USCIS Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence
• Copy of USCIS Permanent Resident Card
• Evidence that you entered the marriage in good faith and not to evade the immigration laws of the United States. Examples of such evidence includes, but is not limited to:
  • Leases showing that you and your spouse lived in the same place
  • Documents that prove that you and your spouse owned property together
  • Birth certificates of your children; or
  • Expert testimony proving that you or your child were battered or subjected to extreme mental cruelty. Examples of such testimony includes, but is not limited to:
    • Copies of police and medical records detailing evidence of physical abuse
    • Evaluations by clinical social workers and psychologists showing evidence of mental cruelty
    • Copy of your divorce decree if your marriage was terminated because of physical abuse or mental cruelty.
  • Evidence that you were not at fault in failing to file the petition on time, if applicable.
  • Evidence that the termination of your conditional resident status and your removal from the country will cause you extreme hardship, includes but is not limited to the following:
    • USCIS Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence
    • Copy of USCIS Permanent Resident Card
    • Evidence that your deportation would cause greater hardship than the hardships created when other aliens are removed from the United States.

However you should note that in evaluating the claim that your removal from the United States will cause you extreme hardship, the Service will only consider factors which arose after the date you obtained your conditional permanent residence.