# Green card/7 year absence/fiance - advice needed please



## chafive (Jan 6, 2009)

Hi, I'm really in need of advice here, hopefully somebody can help or point me in the right direction.

To try and cut a very long story short...

I am a UK citizen that lived in the USA with my family from age 14 to 20 and recieved a green card (through my father's job) that is valid until 01/02/2011. For the last 3 years I was there I lived with my US citizen girlfriend. However I left in 2001 to come back to the UK to study and ended up not going back.. However, now we want to get married and I want to go back to live there with her permanently.

From what I gather the K1 visa requires me to have been to see her in person twice in the last 2 years, which I haven't and because I've been out of the country for more than a year my green card is now invalid.

What is the best course of action to take and what kind of time period/cost could I be looking at? I really want to be back ASAP but obviously not as an illegal immigrant!

Any help much appreciated.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

chafive said:


> Hi, I'm really in need of advice here, hopefully somebody can help or point me in the right direction.
> 
> To try and cut a very long story short...
> 
> ...


There are two avenues you could pursue: trying to claim your previous permanent resident status or pursuing residency again through your impending marriage. Some misconceptions in your post.

The K1 requires that you have met ONCE within the last 2 years. So have you met once within the last 2 years?

The green card is merely proof of your status. Your status does not expire because the card has expired. Nor does the time limit of one year way necessarily expire your permanent resident status -- you can be out for a day and lose it, or a decade and not. The law is quite complex in this area and you will not be able to determine whether or not you have lost it without consulting with a US immigration lawyer specializing in abandonment issues. Try Stuart I. Folinsky, Attorney At Law - Home if you want a recommend.


----------



## chafive (Jan 6, 2009)

Thanks for your quick reply. You've made me feel slightly more optimistic than I was feeling a couple of hours ago.

I haven't been back at all, so it sounds like I should find out if my existing green card could still be used first. Failing that I guess I would have to visit and then go down the K1 route.

Thanks again.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

chafive said:


> Thanks for your quick reply. You've made me feel slightly more optimistic than I was feeling a couple of hours ago.
> 
> I haven't been back at all, so it sounds like I should find out if my existing green card could still be used first. Failing that I guess I would have to visit and then go down the K1 route.
> 
> Thanks again.


Nothing to be disheartened about. Most people can't find one route to permanent residency but you have a possible two! Regardless of which route you take here (and I do believe with your complications you need a lawyer's advice), you should be here within the year.


----------



## chafive (Jan 6, 2009)

That's true. I didn't think about it like that. Reading through the USCIS site can be pretty confusing and intimidating!

Thanks again.


----------



## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Without a propperly filed re-entry permit that GC will not do him a lot of good.

For my own curiosity - your GC was based upon your father's visa. When was it actually issued?


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

twostep said:


> Without a propperly filed re-entry permit that GC will not do him a lot of good.


There are a couple of options: he can file for re-entry OR argue it in immigration court over here.


----------



## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> There are a couple of options: he can file for re-entry OR argue it in immigration court over here.



After seven years absence, returning home to go to school and work and no effort to show intent to return in the mean time - good luck!


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

twostep said:


> After seven years absence, returning home to go to school and work and no effort to show intent to return in the mean time - good luck!


We haven't really probed the reasons why he might or might not have abandoned his residency. Or whether there are circumstances that might make it better to take this route rather than a family-based petition. And I don't intend to except in a very general way because it's over my head!


----------



## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> We haven't really probed the reasons why he might or might not have abandoned his residency. Or whether there are circumstances that might make it better to take this route rather than a family-based petition. And I don't intend to except in a very general way because it's over my head!


Please do not scare me and change on me:>)
The initial posting does not quite jive as far as dates goes. Serious question - which GC does still run over 10 years?


----------



## chafive (Jan 6, 2009)

My GC wasn't issued immediately, that's why the card expiry date is 2011. It also says on it "Resident since 08/10/99" which I hadn't actually noticed before. Before that I had an "employment authorization" card, so I'm guessing I was on some sort of other visa for a long time. I really couldn't tell you right now, I guess I will have to talk to my father about it.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

twostep said:


> Please do not scare me and change on me:>)
> The initial posting does not quite jive as far as dates goes. Serious question - which GC does still run over 10 years?


You conflate status with a documentary proof of that status.


----------



## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> You conflate status with a documentary proof of that status.


Will female suffice as explanation?

Let's wait and see if the poster gets details from his family


----------



## chafive (Jan 6, 2009)

The last two posts have completely lost me 

I'll talk to my dad tomorrow and let you know if you're interested or think you might be able to offer further advice based upon it.

Thanks again.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

chafive said:


> The last two posts have completely lost me
> 
> I'll talk to my dad tomorrow and let you know if you're interested or think you might be able to offer further advice based upon it.
> 
> Thanks again.


It's not a straightforward case for you. The choice of trying to reclaim your residency requires an experienced attorney to assess your case and advise accordingly. I gave you a link to one such.

If you chose to go through familial sponsorship instead, there are many routes, though complicated by the fact that you haven't met in the last 2 years. You could meet her, then file for a K1. You could relinquish your GC, fly out to the US, marry there, and then return for a CR1 immigrant visa petition. Or she could come to the UK and file when she returns to the States.

Too many options and you need to be an informed consumer to decide which one you're going to take. If you can afford the couple of hundred bucks necessary for a consultation with an immigration attorney, this would be the wise choice to make now. You don't need to use them for the whole process--except perhaps in the case of trying to reclaim your residency.


----------



## chafive (Jan 6, 2009)

A lawyer is my next step once I have a more complete history of my previous visa/GC situation. Thank you once again.


----------



## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

I was recently talking to a woman from India who has a green card and is attending graduate school in Canada. She said that the last time she visited the US, after an absence of less than a year, she was told by an immigration official that she shouldn't stay out of the US much longer, or she will put her green card at risk. Very upsetting for someone who wants to do a PhD there.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

synthia said:


> I was recently talking to a woman from India who has a green card and is attending graduate school in Canada. She said that the last time she visited the US, after an absence of less than a year, she was told by an immigration official that she shouldn't stay out of the US much longer, or she will put her green card at risk. Very upsetting for someone who wants to do a PhD there.


It really ain't up to the immigration official if, as I suspect s/he was CBP.


----------



## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

No, the US immigration official said that if she stayed out of the country too long, she could lose her residence status.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

synthia said:


> No, the US immigration official said that if she stayed out of the country too long, she could lose her residence status.


The official is equating it to time. I don't agree with the official.


----------

