On Thursday, April 7, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will take a risk-based approach to waiving interviews for conditional permanent residents (CPRs) who file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) fully supports this change as it reflects one of the recommendations from our 2021 Annual Report to Congress.

What Does This Mean?

USCIS will no longer require everyone who obtained their CPR status via processing at a U.S. consulate overseas to go to an interview after they file a Form I-751.

Instead, USCIS will assess if a CPR needs an I-751 interview based on whether:

• There is sufficient evidence in the file that the marriage is real,
• The CPR is eligible for a waiver of the joint-filing requirement (if applicable),
• There is no indication of fraud or misrepresentation in the file,
• There are no complex facts or issues that require an interview to resolve, and
• The CPR does not have a criminal history that would make him/her removable from the U.S.

Why This Matters

In 2018, USCIS implemented a policy requiring mandatory interviews for all CPRs who obtained their status through consular processing. In our Annual Report to Congress last year, we found that this policy did not help USCIS to detect more marriage fraud cases. It did, however, dramatically increase processing times and backlogs. As a result, one recommendation we made was for USCIS to rely solely on a risk-based analysis for interview waivers.

By adopting this risk-based approach, USCIS is working smarter. This approach allows USCIS to strategically focus its interviews—which take more time, staff, and resources—on cases where there is a question of fraud or national security. It will also help USCIS use its staff and resources more efficiently, improve processing times, and reduce its backlog to the benefit of all applicants and petitioners.

More Information

View USCIS’ news release and its Policy Manual for Commentpage for more information on this change and how to submit comments to USCIS.

The CIS Ombudsman is committed to meeting with stakeholders and USCIS to address concerns related to CPRs and Form I-751. We will share additional updates on this topic when available. For more information on our office, please visit www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman or follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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