When you apply for a green card with a marriage of fewer than two years, it is likely a conditional card. They share the same responsibilities and rights as traditional green cards, but you have to remove the conditions via application before the expiration date of the card.
In essence, at the two-year mark, you must show that your marriage was legitimate and not for the purpose of immigration fraud. You show that by still being in the same marriage. But what if you want a divorce for legitimate reasons?
Filing a joint application
The Code of Federal Regulations discusses what you need to remove conditions on a green card. It is still possible to remove these conditions even after getting a divorce.
First, if you and your spouse are on decent enough terms, you can work together to file a joint application to remove these conditions. In amicable divorces, this is likely not going to be a difficult task.
However, if you cannot get your ex-spouse to co-sign with you, you might want to look into getting a waiver for the removal of the conditions on your green card.
Requesting a waiver
If you make a request for a waiver, you must prove one of three things. First, you would face extreme hardships if you lost permanent residency status. Next, you suffered from domestic violence or abuse in the marriage. Third, at inception, your marriage was bona fide.
To show proof of a bona fide marriage, you can provide copies of birth certificates of any children you had together, affidavits from people who knew you, or evidence of joint finances.
If you can show that your marriage was genuine, you can more easily get your 10-year green card.