Outside of US, Lost green card

[ftatatita 0]

My husband got his green card last year. It was sent to my parents' house in Oregon, and they sent it to us in Istanbul. Somewhere in there it got lost. We don't know if it was lost in the mail or when my husband moved offices.

Now, 8-9 months later as we're preparing to go to the US again, we realized it was lost and we're trying to sort something out. Here are my questions:

1) My husband has a valid I-551 in his passport. I mean, as an Immigrant Visa it expired in Jan of this year, but there's that sentence 'Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551...' I assume the endorsement is the stamp they put in there when we entered the US at JFK last year, which would mean that the I-551 is valid until August 12, 2006. Am I correct in assuming this?

2) If the I-551 is valid, is it enough to enter the US, or do we have to get a ($165) Travel Document as well? As usual, the US Embassy and Consulate give conflicting information about this, and they're also giving conflicting information about what is needed for this travel document as well as making impossible requests for proof, such as a police report for a lost thing (the police laughed at my husband when he asked for this.) So if it's possible to skip the travel document, I'll be more than happy to do so.

3) However, we'll be entering the US through PDX in Portland, OR. PDX is infamous for jailing and/or deporting people for any "irregularities" in paperwork, so maybe we should get the travel document just to be safe? Or is it generally understood that a valid I-551 is enough?

4) Last, his visa is a CR-1, so we need to change his status April or May of next year. Is it necessary to have a copy of the actual green card for the I-751? It takes such a long time to replace the green card (it may not even be done before we're due to file the I-751) and it's so expensive that if it's possible to not do it, I'd naturally prefer that.

People keep mentioning on this forum that you can take an InfoPass appointment and get an I-551 stamp in the passport. I don't quite understand what this means-- does this stamp extend an I-551 beyond the year that it's valid? I was planning to go to the INS while in the US anyway-- should I ask them to do this, since his stamp seems to expire August 12, and we're leaving the US August 21?

If anyone can can help out with any of this, I will be eternally grateful!

[john_and_marlene 162]

How long have you been out of the U.S.?

[ftatatita 0]

How long have you been out of the U.S.?

Less than a year. The US doesn't issue tourist or non-immigrant visas to Turks who are married or engaged to US citizens, so our only option was an immigrant visa, even though both of us live and work in Turkey, and don't really have any specific plans to move permanently to the US just now.

But I understand that as long as he enters the US at least once a year, he'll be able to keep the green card... That's a whole 'nother problem that I'll start working on when I get home next month!

[jula 0]

My husband got his green card last year. It was sent to my parents' house in Oregon, and they sent it to us in Istanbul. Somewhere in there it got lost. We don't know if it was lost in the mail or when my husband moved offices.

Now, 8-9 months later as we're preparing to go to the US again, we realized it was lost and we're trying to sort something out. Here are my questions:

1) My husband has a valid I-551 in his passport. I mean, as an Immigrant Visa it expired in Jan of this year, but there's that sentence 'Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551...' I assume the endorsement is the stamp they put in there when we entered the US at JFK last year, which would mean that the I-551 is valid until August 12, 2006. Am I correct in assuming this?

2) If the I-551 is valid, is it enough to enter the US, or do we have to get a ($165) Travel Document as well? As usual, the US Embassy and Consulate give conflicting information about this, and they're also giving conflicting information about what is needed for this travel document as well as making impossible requests for proof, such as a police report for a lost thing (the police laughed at my husband when he asked for this.) So if it's possible to skip the travel document, I'll be more than happy to do so.

3) However, we'll be entering the US through PDX in Portland, OR. PDX is infamous for jailing and/or deporting people for any "irregularities" in paperwork, so maybe we should get the travel document just to be safe? Or is it generally understood that a valid I-551 is enough?

4) Last, his visa is a CR-1, so we need to change his status April or May of next year. Is it necessary to have a copy of the actual green card for the I-751? It takes such a long time to replace the green card (it may not even be done before we're due to file the I-751) and it's so expensive that if it's possible to not do it, I'd naturally prefer that.

People keep mentioning on this forum that you can take an InfoPass appointment and get an I-551 stamp in the passport. I don't quite understand what this means-- does this stamp extend an I-551 beyond the year that it's valid? I was planning to go to the INS while in the US anyway-- should I ask them to do this, since his stamp seems to expire August 12, and we're leaving the US August 21?

If anyone can can help out with any of this, I will be eternally grateful!

IO at POE can check in the system if person requesting to enter the US as PR has indeed a valid PR status. So, in that regard your husband should be OK even with expired I-551 stamp.

Your husband's problem is boarding a plane to US. Airline companies will not (in general) permit a person without valid visa or GC to board. He would need Transportation Letter from the embassy for that. (I guess that's what you are reffirng to as Travel Document).

But I understand that as long as he enters the US at least once a year, he'll be able to keep the green card... That's a whole 'nother problem that I'll start working on when I get home next month!

It is not that simple.

[ftatatita 0]

But I understand that as long as he enters the US at least once a year, he'll be able to keep the green card... That's a whole 'nother problem that I'll start working on when I get home next month!

It is not that simple.

I know, but it's a different topic, and at the moment I'm more concerned about about sorting out the lost green card probelm.

Thanks for your explanation about the travel document (or whatever-- that's what they're calling it over here!). I hadn't thought about the airlines at all!

[john_and_marlene 162]

You may have a bigger problem. If your domicile is not in the U.S. and you've been gone over 6 months, he may have abandoned his LPR status. Actually, he can be determined to have abandoned it even if the absence is less than 6 months if his domicile is actually outside the U.S. The immigrant visa is not a substitute for a visitor visa.

He might even be refused entry even if he had the GC.

[ftatatita 0]

You may have a bigger problem. If your domicile is not in the U.S. and you've been gone over 6 months, he may have abandoned his LPR status. Actually, he can be determined to have abandoned it even if the absence is less than 6 months if his domicile is actually outside the U.S. The immigrant visa is not a substitute for a visitor visa.

He might even be refused entry even if he had the GC.

How do they determine if he's abandoned his LPR status? We paid taxes and everything, but it's true-- we have no domicile in the US, never did, and in fact, we applied using my parents' address for both of us.

I got the one-year limit information from the State Dept. website, but really, I can't find any other info about this. It's not because I haven't spent many hours looking, it's because I'm probably looking in the worng places.

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrant.../info_1333.html

What makes this especially difficult is we just need some kind of visa for him to enter the US once or twice a year to visit my family (my family came to Turkey for the wedding-- he'd been turned down for a tourist visa when we were engaged and they didn't even meet him until 2 days before the marriage), but as I said before, a Turk married to a USC really doesn't have much of a chance of getting a non-immigrant visa-- the system seems to assume that every foreigner is gagging to live in the US, and there's nothing place for those who don't...

[john_and_marlene 162]

You may have a bigger problem. If your domicile is not in the U.S. and you've been gone over 6 months, he may have abandoned his LPR status. Actually, he can be determined to have abandoned it even if the absence is less than 6 months if his domicile is actually outside the U.S. The immigrant visa is not a substitute for a visitor visa.

He might even be refused entry even if he had the GC.

How do they determine if he's abandoned his LPR status? We paid taxes and everything, but it's true-- we have no domicile in the US, never did, and in fact, we applied using my parents' address for both of us.

I got the one-year limit information from the State Dept. website, but really, I can't find any other info about this. It's not because I haven't spent many hours looking, it's because I'm probably looking in the worng places.

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrant.../info_1333.html

What makes this especially difficult is we just need some kind of visa for him to enter the US once or twice a year to visit my family (my family came to Turkey for the wedding-- he'd been turned down for a tourist visa when we were engaged and they didn't even meet him until 2 days before the marriage), but as I said before, a Turk married to a USC really doesn't have much of a chance of getting a non-immigrant visa-- the system seems to assume that every foreigner is gagging to live in the US, and there's nothing place for those who don't...

He may very well be able to get a tourist visa now. He has several things in his favor to get one approved now. His USC wife lives with him in Turkey and he has been granted LPR which he didn't use to stay in the U.S. Before, he was seen as an overstay risk and now he has significant proof that he is not. With your current situation and continued desire to live in Turkey, he should apply for a visitors visa again...there's a very good chance he'll get it with his new circumstances.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

If you have no domicile in the US and you both live and work in Turkey then how can you claim to be LPR.... using a Greencard in this way is using it as a substitute for a visitor visa and is fraud....

Kezzie

[ftatatita 0]

If you have no domicile in the US and you both live and work in Turkey then how can you claim to be LPR.... using a Greencard in this way is using it as a substitute for a visitor visa and is fraud....

Kezzie

If it is fraud then why did the Embassy issue the visa when they were well aware of these circumstances? We explained this to them in the interview...

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

My wife got on the plane with a valid I-551 stamp. And had no problem entering the US. If the stamp is still valid you should be good to go.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/PermRes.htm

You have a greencard... can I ask just how long you have actually spent in the US????

You have already said you do not intent to live and work in the US and only got the greencard because your husband might not get a visitors visa... does not sound to me like you are maintaining your LPR status.... but I am not the CBP officer that will have to admit your husband...

Kezzie

[john_and_marlene 162]

Look at the FAM 42.22 (N1.3) Evidence indicating Abandonment of Residence.

(1) Extended or frequent absences from the United States;

(2) Disposition of property or business affiliations in the United States;

(3) Family, property or business ties abroad;

(4) Conduct while outside the United States such as, employment by a foreign employer; voting in foreign elections, running for political office in a foreign country, etc.; or

(5) Failure to file U.S. income tax returns.

Filing U.S. tax returns is just one of 5 indicators. It appears you will have problems with the other 4 indicators.

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09FAM/0942022N.PDF

[john_and_marlene 162]

Regarding your "less than 1 year absence"

Again in the FAM 42.22 N2.1 (use the previous link for the .pdf)

That applies if you are returning to an unrelinquished residence in the United States.

[Yodrak 7]

ftatatita,

Have a consultation with a US immigration attorney. There have been a lot of things posted in this thread with regard to abandonment of status, you need to have it all put into the context of your specific situation. Status can be lost after 1 year out of the country, it can also be lost on the flight out if the proper steps weren't taken to maintain it.

The I-551 stamp in your husband's passport may get him onto a plane back to the USA but it may or may not get him past the immigration officer at the US POE if the officer determines that he's abandoned his status.

See an attorney.

Yodrak

How long have you been out of the U.S.?

...

But I understand that as long as he enters the US at least once a year, he'll be able to keep the green card... That's a whole 'nother problem that I'll start working on when I get home next month!