Form I-551 Law and Legal Definition
A form I-551 may be conditional or permanent. Form I-551 is issued with conditions to foreign citizens who marry a U.S. citizen, and is known a conditional Form I-551. The foreign spouse must apply to have the conditions removed after two years of marriage. A conditional Green Card is also issued to foreign investors for the first two years. A permanent Form I-551 is issued to certain investors and immediate relatives. A permanent Form I-551 is valid for ten years and must be renewed every 10 year.
A person holding a valid Form I-551 will always have to keep his/her original passport. Green Card holders involved in serious crimes or residing outside the U.S. for too long, will loose their Form I551 privileges.
A valid Green Card gives the bearer the right to live and work permanently in the U.S., permits to work in any company or institution, permits to start own business or create own corporation, gives the privilege to sponsor spouse and unmarried children below 21 years to obtain Green Card, and provides Social Security benefits. It also allows the card holder to legally own properties and vehicles, leave and enter U.S. under certain conditions and apply to become a US citizen once the individual is eligible. When a person with Form I-551 applies for U.S. citizenship s/he has to give up his/her Form I-551.
Legal Definition list
Related Legal Terms
- 1040 Form
- Absent Uniformed Services Voter
- Access to Classified Information (Military)
- Adequate Information
- ADV Form
- Against the Form of the Statute
- Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998
- Amendment of Information
- American Federation of Information Processing Societies
- American Standard Code for Information Interchange
