Although there may be many reasons for you to consider remaining married to your spouse, fear of losing your green card is not an emotionally healthy reason to stay. However, if you received your permanent resident status based on your marriage to a U.S. citizen, you may feel you must remain in the deteriorating relationship.
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, you do have options for securing your permanent resident status without staying in a bad marriage. To do so, you will have to remove the conditions on your status.
Joint petition
You and your spouse should fill out the application to petition for the removal of the conditions together. To prove that you did not marry just to get a green card, you will need to also provide evidence that you and your spouse entered into the marriage in good faith. Any documentation, photos or other evidence of the validity of your relationship may help with this.
Waiver of joint petition
If your spouse refuses to cooperate, you still may be able to remove the conditions by requesting a waiver of the requirement for the joint petition. If losing your permanent resident status would cause an extreme hardship, or if your spouse is cruel or violent, you may receive a waiver. Immigrants may also file for this waiver if a spouse dies or if the divorce is already final.
The primary goal of the USCIS is to ensure that your marriage was real when you received your green card, not to keep you in a bad or even dangerous relationship.
