Marriage may confer U.S. non-immigration benefits to aliens who marry other aliens that posses a U.S. non-immigrant status. It may also confer U.S. immigration benefits to those aliens who marry a U.S. permanent resident or a U.S. citizen. Finally, marriage may confer U.S. immigration benefits to those aliens who are married to a beneficiary of an immigrant petition. (For more information regarding marriage benefits for U.S. immigration or non-immigration purposes, please click here).

In many instances, when an immigration benefit is conferred to an alien based upon marriage to a U.S. permanent resident, U.S. citizen, or beneficiary of an immigrant petition, termination of the marriage by divorce may adversely affect the pending immigration petition of the alien. In some circumstances, divorce may also adversely affect the legal status of an alien who is a conditional permanent resident when the alien's conditional permanent residence was obtained via marriage to a U.S. citizen. Moreover, divorce may also adversely affect an alien's U.S. legal status as a non-immigrant when the alien's non-immigrant status was based upon marriage to certain classes of other non-immigrants. The following articles will discuss the consequences of divorce for non-immigration or immigration purposes.