Out of USA 9 months, trying to return.

[needs help 0]

Background: Married Sep, 2010 Simferopol, Ukraine. Wife and daughter entered USA with CR1/CR2 visas November, 2011. Received conditional, 2 year green cards a few weeks later.

May, 2013 left USA and went to Ukraine. Wifes mother is gravely ill. She is divorced, lives alone and has no one to care for her.

August, 2013, filled I 751 to remove conditions on green card. Sep, 2013, received appointment letters for biometric at local office.

I followed the proceedures on the I 797C for requesting a new biometric. I sent it in, not my wife and daughter.

No response from USCIS. I sent it in again. No response. No new biometric appointment.

i called the 1 800 number for USCIS many, many times with no results! They would not talk to me about the case since I was not the petitioner. Of course, wife could not call an 1 800 number from Ukraine. Tried in vein to find another phone number or email address she could use for Ukraine. No progress!

Had wife and daughter send express mail letters from Ukraine requesting a new biometric date. Had to pay $80 to send each letter. About a month later, a new biometric appointment letter comes, but we only have about two weeks notice. Wife quickly purchases airplane tickets on line. The biometric is set for 3 March, so they are leaving Simferopol, Ukraine on 28 Feb.

Yesterday, at about 4 a.m. my phone rings. Wife is in tears! I can hardly understand her! They made the flight from Simferopol to Kiev on Ukrainian Internations Airlines without any problems. When they went to the LOT desk to check in for the flight: Kiev/Warsaw/Chicago, they showed their expired 2 year green cards along with the orginial I 797C that I had sent to they by express mail. LOT checked on the computer and saw that they were out of USA since May, 2013. LOT told them that since they were out of USA for more than 6 months, they could not enter USA and WOULD NOT LET THEM BOARD THE PLANE!

LOT will not refund any money nor give credit towards future tickets.

Wife and daughter bought new tickets and returned to Simferopol.

Now in case anyone has not read the news for the last few months, Ukraine is in a revolution! Most of the trouble has been in Kiev, but now a lot of problems in Crimea. Russian troops are taking over the airport in Simferopol and govenment offices.

Daughter will be 21 years old this July. We don't know what to do? They would need new visas to reenter USA. Wife suggests filing a new petition for IR1/IR2 visas. This process takes about one year to complete. They would get the 10 year green cards since we have been married for more than 3 years. However, WILL DAUGHTER AGE OUT WHEN SHE BECOMES 21 YEARS OLD THIS JULY? Does it depend on the date youi file the petition?

Was LOT correct that they could not enter USA after being out of country for 9 months?

I send an email to Immigiration Attorney, Alena Shautsova, Brooklyn, N.Y. Does anyone know anything about her? Any recommendations?

Up until now, I have not used an attorney for any immigration processes.

What is the chance for a five year mulitple entry visa for business or pleasure?

[ashleyphilly 70]

Can your wife or you reach the American embassy in Ukraine, explain the situation and ask for help?

[EndlessStory 53]

Your daughter needs to enter US before she turns 21 if you need to refile. As for b1/b2 visa, there's no way of us telling you if she will get 6 months/5 years/10 years/etc

She needs to be able to show ties to Ukraine for B1/B2 visa

[milimelo 4,196]

Not up to LOT to decide whether they're let in or not. They should've requested a higher up. As long as they have expired green card and extension letter they should be let to board and CBP at POE will decide. Even then, wife and daughter can't be refused entry and can request to be seen by the Immigration Judge who ultimately decides whether they're still residents.

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

They should be allowed to re-enter with the green card and extension letter, and should not have needed a re-entry permit unless out of the US for a year or more. Have your wife contact the nearest US Embassy in order to ask for help in getting the airline to allow them to board the plane. Perhaps they can provide a transportation letter or boarding foil(http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88071.pdf).

Even if the worst case scenario happened and you needed to file new I-130 petitions, the above info about the child needing to enter the US before they turn 21 is incorrect. You only need to file the I-130 before they are 21 > http://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/questions-and-answers-uscis-issues-revised-guidance-applicability-child-status-protection-act-cspa

~ Moved from ROC to Working & Traveling During US Immigration - topic is travel and US re-entry ~

Edited March 1, 2014 by Jay-Kay

[kzielu 1,147]

Why they told airline personnel how long they have been out of US ? That was asking for trouble...

[miraclescometrue 0]

if it is your daughter, she can come here without a trouble because she has a US citizen parent, as for your wife, i suggest going to th embassy ASAP!! And explain the situation!

Edited March 2, 2014 by VJVasi

[needs help 0]

It is my wife's daughter, but I have known her since she was 7 years old and she seems like my daughter. Anyway, her birth father never sees her.

I looked at the USCIS website and it seems like being absent for 6 months can break the continuous residence requirement for becoming a US Citizen, but should not stop you from entry to US unless you are out of county for i year or longer without getting a re entry permit prior to leaving USA.

I don't see anywhere that there is a difference in this requirement between a conditional, 2 year, green card holder and a 10 year green card holder.

IF ANYONE CAN FIND SUCH A DIFFERENT, PLESE LET ME KNOW!

I think that LOT Airlines was completely wrong and should have let they fly. We lost more than $1850 on the LOT tickets plus about $350 on the Ukrainian International tickets. Plus I lost a day from work when I already used up my vacation time. But the worst thing is that they are missing the biometric appointment on Monday.

I see there is something called a Returning Resident Visa, SB-1 that I need to check into.

Starting a new I 230 would take a lot of time and money. Before, my wife had to make a special trip to Russia for the police report since she was a student in Russia for 5 or 6 years. It took more than one year to get the visas.

My wife is an extremely talented Visual Artist. However, she is emotional and probably not able to handle the stress put on by the LOT personnel. Anyway, they took her away in an abluence to a medical service area at the airport and kept her there until the flight back to Simferopol.

Everything that could go wrong, went wrong!

[Boiler 43,433]

Seems the issue was with the airline.

[Me_Theo 25]

Your wife and her daughter should have filled out the form I-131 before leave USA. USCIS could have given allow to their travel (AP)for some months for necessary travel .By conditional green card (2 years) they could not leave USA for one day without allow travel (AP).

Now,you should start all over again. no way to fix this problem, sorry about telling this, but that is true.

on a conditional green card expire time is 2 year but on a 10 years green card expire time is 10 years.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Me_Theo

[Cathi 5,610]

Your wife and her daughter should have filled out the form I-131 before leave USA. USCIS could have given allow to their travel (AP)for some months for necessary travel .By conditional green card (2 years) they could not leave USA for one day without allow travel (AP).

Now,you should start all over again. no way to fix this problem, sorry about telling this, but that is true.

on a conditional green card expire time is 2 year but on a 10 years green card expire time is 10 years.

you do NOT need AP if you are a green card holder. They entered on a cr1 visa, not K1. Please do not give incorrect information as it only confuses the OP. What you said here is 100% wrong

Edited March 2, 2014 by mimolicious

[Cathi 5,610]

Why they told airline personnel how long they have been out of US ? That was asking for trouble...

It is stamped in their passports how long they have been out of the US.

To the OP, it was an issue with the airlines, they don;t need a reentry permit unless they have been out of the US for more than 1 year. Contact the embassy in Kiev. Ultimately it is up to CBP as to whether or not they will be admitted, not the airlines, With their expired green cards and extension letters they should have been allowed to board the plane

[B & G 200]

Firstly, have your wife contact the US embassy and confirm that she wa holding the correct paperwork to be permitted in the the US. Once you have that confirmed, call LOT and explain that your wife and daughter were denied boarding as the airport personnel deemed that the correct paperwork they were holding to be incorrect.

Demand that their tickets be made available and the date change free of charge, because this was the airline's mistake and not your wife's or daughter's.

Escalate it if need be. Trust me, they can do this quite easily. I say this because I am airport personnel for a major airline.

You just have to make sure that the documentation that your wife and daughter were holding at the time of denial was the correct paperwork.

[discoverusa 229]

I hope it all works out fine. Dealing with LOT though is going to require some persistence. They don't have the same customer service we are used to here in US.

[Boiler 43,433]

The quickest option would be to use a different airLine.