Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

320 Lori Cohen
collect sufficient information for the client’s personal statement, it is essential to
provide as much detail as possible. It may be difficult to elicit some information,
such as details of sexual abuse — nonetheless, such details are essential to a
successful application. If the client does not speak English, a certificate of
translation must be included at the conclusion of her statement.
Categories of Relief for Domestic Violence Victims
Removal of Conditions on Residence
If the victim is married to a United States citizen who has previously filed
an immigrant petition for her, she may currently hold “conditional resident”
status. 34 Conditional permanent residence allows the foreign-born spouse to
work and to travel abroad, but it is limited to two years. If the couple is still
married and living together 90 days prior to the two year anniversary of the
conditional residence, they may file a joint “Petition to Remove the Conditions
on Residence.” 35 If approved, the condition on the permanent resident status
previously granted to the foreign-born spouse is removed. Once the condition is
removed, permanent residence will not be revoked if the couple subsequently
divorces. Conditional residence was established to discourage fraudulent
marriages between would-be immigrants and United States citizens. 36
Where the couple is happily married and possesses sufficient documentation
to substantiate their continuing good faith marriage, petitioning to remove the
conditions on residence is one of the more straightforward applications that a
practitioner can hope to file. The process is more complicated when the wife is a
victim of domestic abuse and the husband refuses to file, or she does not want
to or cannot ask him. Rather than submit a joint petition, she may file alone and
request a “battered spouse waiver.” 37 While a battered spouse waiver requires
more documentation than a petition jointly filed by a married couple, it still
offers a more streamlined form of relief for victims of domestic violence than
other VAWA remedies.
Elements of a “Battered Spouse” Waiver under VAWA
To obtain a battered spouse waiver, the victim must show:
She is currently or previously has been a conditional resident;
She is currently or previously has been married to a United
States Citizen;