Form I-751 Waiver Based on Battery or Extreme Cruelty
The joint petition needs your spouse's signature. This waiver needs none, and the law built it for this situation.
Before you read further.
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A joint Form I-751 petition needs two signatures, and the two-year green card has an expiration date. When the person who would sign the second one is the person who harmed you, the form itself can become a way to keep control.
This page is for a conditional resident, meaning a person who holds a two-year green card issued through marriage to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and who was battered by or subjected to extreme cruelty by that spouse during the marriage.
A spouse who refuses to sign has not stopped your case. The I-751 belongs to you, and USCIS weighs any credible evidence you can gather.
Which page fits you depends on where you start. If you hold a two-year card and your spouse harmed you, keep reading. If you do not hold residence yet, including because your spouse never filed a petition for you or withdrew one before you became a resident, our VAWA page covers that path. If your marriage ended in divorce and abuse is not part of your situation, read our divorce-waiver page. If your basis is extreme hardship, or your spouse died, our Form I-751 guide names the route for each.
Call (888) 746-5245 or Schedule a consultation. Our intake team answers in Spanish and English.
The Waiver That Needs No Signature From Your Spouse
Under INA § 216(c)(4)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1186a(c)(4)(C), the Secretary of Homeland Security may, in the Secretary's discretion, remove the conditions without a joint petition. The regulation states two elements: the conditional resident entered the marriage in good faith, and during the marriage the conditional resident or the conditional resident's child was battered by or subjected to extreme cruelty by the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse (8 CFR § 216.5(a)(1)(iii), (e)(3)).
The regulation reaches a conditional resident whose child was battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, whatever the child's status (8 CFR § 216.5(e)(3)). A conditional resident child may also file on this basis when the child was battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the parent's U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, or by the conditional resident parent (instructions, page 1). Our Form I-751 guide covers the form itself.
You file the same Form I-751 on a waiver basis, and your spouse does not sign it (instructions, edition 04/01/24, page 1). You do not have to be divorced or separated, because the regulation applies regardless of present marital status (8 CFR § 216.5(e)(3)(ii)).
The 90-day window is for joint petitions. The Policy Manual says a person may request this waiver at any time after receiving conditional status and may file before becoming subject to a final order of removal (Vol. 6, Part I, Ch. 5, current as of October 27, 2026; 8 CFR § 216.5(a)(2)). The regulation also allows a former conditional resident who has not left the United States to apply after the status has ended (8 CFR § 216.5(e)(3)(ii)). When the card has already expired, or removal proceedings have started, status and timing turn on the specific record, and our Form I-751 guide covers removal proceedings.
USCIS's fee schedule (Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26) lists $0 for a Form I-751 filed with a waiver based on battery or extreme cruelty. Fees change, and the current schedule governs.
We build each waiver filing around those two elements, because they are what USCIS weighs. The joint petition this waiver replaces is covered in our Form I-751 guide.
Which Filing Fits Your Situation: A Conditional Card or No Residence Yet
This page covers a person who already holds a conditional green card and needs to remove conditions on Form I-751. A spouse without residence files a self-petition on Form I-360, covered on our VAWA page.
The two are related in law. The immigration statute's definition of "VAWA self-petitioner" includes a person who qualifies for this waiver (8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(51)(C)), and that definition is what brings this filing under the federal confidentiality rules described below. What differs is the starting point: a card already in your hands, or no residence yet.
More than one waiver basis can apply. Form I-751 tells filers to select all applicable boxes, and USCIS approves on one category, so a marriage that also ended in divorce may fit our I-751 waiver after divorce page too.
Divorce, custody, and protection orders are state-court matters, and our family-law pages cover them. We route survivors by where they start, because the right form depends on whether you hold a card.
Confidentiality and Your Safety: What the Law Protects
What federal confidentiality rules protect
Two federal provisions apply. Because a person who qualifies for this waiver falls within 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(51)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1367 covers the filing. Under § 1367(a)(2), federal officials may not permit use of, or disclosure to anyone other than sworn officers and employees acting for legitimate agency purposes, information about a person who has applied for that relief. Under § 1367(a)(1) and USCIS policy, an adverse decision also may not rest only on information from the abuser, a member of the abuser's family, or someone acting at the abuser's request (Policy Manual Vol. 6, Pt. I, Ch. 5 §C.4); that bar does not apply to a person convicted of certain crimes.
INA § 216(c)(4) separately directs the Secretary to protect the confidentiality of information about any abused spouse or child, including whereabouts. The regulation bars release of the application and supporting documents without a court order or the applicant's written consent, but it allows release to federal or state law enforcement and allows the information to be used to enforce immigration law or in a criminal proceeding (8 CFR § 216.5(e)(3)(viii)).
Both have limits. Section 1367(b) lists eight exceptions, including legitimate law-enforcement purposes, judicial review, and national security. The § 1367 non-disclosure rule generally ends if the request is denied and all appeals are exhausted, and both § 1367 protections end on naturalization (PM Vol. 1, Pt. A, Ch. 7 §E).
These rules limit what officials may do with information. They do not promise that your spouse will not learn of the filing, and this page makes no such promise. We tell clients that plainly, because a safety decision built on a promise the law does not make puts a person at risk.
Your spouse's role in this filing
This filing does not require your spouse's signature, consent, or cooperation. What your spouse may learn, and when, depends on facts an attorney should review with you before you file.
A safe address for USCIS mail
Form I-751 asks for a mailing address with an "In Care Of Name" line, and a separate physical address if it differs, and the instructions require a United States address. When a form has no safe mailing address field, the Policy Manual says USCIS treats a protected filer's preferred mailing address as safe and secure (Vol. 1, Pt. A, Ch. 7 §E.4). After filing on this basis, you contact the Service Center where you filed to change your address, not the USCIS website.
Court files are a different system
A divorce or protection-order case runs in state court, and the other party is generally served with what is filed and can read the case file. The federal confidentiality rules above bind federal officials; they do not cover what is filed in a state court case.
Proving Battery or Extreme Cruelty: Any Credible Evidence
The standard USCIS applies
The statute directs USCIS to consider any credible evidence relevant to the application, and leaves credibility and weight to the Secretary's sole discretion. The Policy Manual adds that officers cannot deny a case because the filer could not provide a particular piece of evidence, and must weigh everything available together. The filer still must show eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. We read a file the way the Policy Manual tells officers to.
What extreme cruelty reaches
The regulation says "extreme cruelty" includes, but is not limited to, being the victim of any act or threatened act of violence, including any forceful detention, which results or threatens to result in physical or mental injury, and treats psychological or sexual abuse as acts of violence (8 CFR § 216.5(e)(3)(i)). An attorney reads your facts against that definition, and this page does not tell you whether your situation counts.
Kinds of evidence
The instructions list reports or official records from police, courts, medical personnel, school officials, clergy, and social workers, legal documents relating to an order of protection, evidence of a shelter stay, and photographs (edition 04/01/24, page 6). The Policy Manual lists reports and affidavits from police, judges, medical personnel, school officials, counselors, or the filer.
A protection order issued by a court is one kind of evidence among several. For Colorado, our page on protection orders covers how those cases work.
USCIS policy says a person seeking this waiver does not have to submit a recommendation from a mental health professional (PM Vol. 6, Pt. I, Ch. 5 §C.1). A counselor's or other professional's report can still be part of the evidence, because USCIS considers any credible evidence.
The marriage still has to have been real
Good faith in entering the marriage remains an element, so some evidence overlaps with our divorce-waiver page and our guide to bona fide marriage evidence, which cover how to assemble it.
After You File
A properly filed Form I-751 produces a receipt notice, which the Policy Manual says serves as evidence of extended conditional status for the period the notice specifies (Vol. 6, Part I, Ch. 2). The period on your own notice governs.
A conditional resident must appear for an interview at a USCIS field office unless USCIS waives it, and for a waiver filer only the conditional resident must appear (Vol. 6, Part I, Ch. 3). Our Form I-751 guide covers the interview, a denial, and removal proceedings, and the I-751 processing-time page shows current wait times. We do not predict timing or outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need my spouse's signature, and do we have to be divorced?
No on both. The instructions allow filing without your spouse, and the regulation applies regardless of present marital status.
Will USCIS tell my spouse I filed?
Federal law limits what officials may do with information about this filing, and both rules have listed exceptions. Neither promises your spouse will not learn of it, so have an attorney review your facts before you file.
Do I need a police report or a protection order?
The statute lets USCIS consider any credible evidence, and the Policy Manual says officers cannot deny a case because a particular piece of evidence is unavailable. Police reports and protection orders are among the kinds of evidence listed, next to medical, school, shelter, and counseling records and the filer's own sworn statement.
Is this the same as VAWA?
They share legal ground: the statute's definition of "VAWA self-petitioner" includes a person who qualifies for this waiver (8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(51)(C)), which brings this filing under the federal confidentiality rules. They are separate filings: this waiver is on Form I-751 for a person with a conditional card, and the I-360 is the path for a spouse without residence.
Is there a filing fee?
USCIS's fee schedule (Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26) lists $0 for a Form I-751 filed with a waiver based on battery or extreme cruelty. Fees change, and the current USCIS fee schedule governs.
Working With Novo Legal Group
Novo Legal Group is a Spanish-first immigration practice. Every attorney at the firm is bilingual in English and Spanish, and se habla español at every office.
We work from Denver, Kent, and Walla Walla. Our page on what full legal representation means in family immigration explains what that work involves.
Talk to Novo Legal Group About Your I-751 Waiver
Facts and figures on this page were checked against USCIS sources on November 12, 2026.