English

We represent Bill Row, a British citizen, who has lived in this country as a conditional permanent resident because of his marriage to Sara Stole, a U.S. citizen. Mr. Row now seeks to remove the condition of his lawful permanent residency.

Normally, a married couple would apply together to remove the conditional status, before the end of the two years of the noncitizen’s conditional residency. However, ten months ago, in April 2016, Ms. Stole and Mr. Row separated, and they eventually divorced. Ms. Stole actively opposes Mr. Row’s continued residency in this country.

However, Ms. Stole’s opposition does not end Mr. Row’s chances. As the attached legal sources indicate, he can file Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, but in the petition he must ask for a waiver of the requirement that he file the petition jointly with his wife.

Acting pro se, Row timely filed such a Form I-751 petition. The immigration officer conducted an interview with him. Ms. Stole provided the officer with a sworn affidavit stating her belief that Row married her solely to obtain residency. The officer denied Row’s petition.

Row then sought our representation to appeal the denial of his petition. We now have a hearing scheduled in Immigration Court to review the validity of that denial. Before the hearing, we will submit to the court the information described in the attached investigator’s memo, which was not presented to the immigration officer. We do not expect Stole to testify, because she has moved out of state.

Please draft our brief to the Immigration Judge. The brief will need to argue that Mr. Row married Ms. Stole in good faith. Specifically, it should argue that the immigration officer’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence in the record before him and that the totality of the evidence supports granting Row’s petition.

I have attached our guidelines for drafting briefs. Draft only the legal argument portion of the brief.