Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.
On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 2892). The law contains a measure that ends the “widow penalty,” the government’s practice of annulling a foreigner’s permanent residency application when his or her American spouse dies before the marriage is two years old.
Under the new measure, an immigrant whose American spouse died less than two years after the marriage commenced may submit an individual petition for residency. The petition must be submitted within two years of the spouse’s death and will be rejected if the applicant has remarried or cannot prove a good-faith marriage to the former spouse. The provision applies retroactively, and spouses will have two years from the law’s enactment to petition for residency.
Photo credit: Pete Souza