abandoned green card+ filing I130

[sydsyd 0]

Hello.. If anybody can answer any of the questions below, I would greatly appreciate it. I am a US citizen who moved to France more than 10 years ago with my French husband who had permanent resident status but had to abandon his green card (Form I407) in 2007 because we had lived outside of the States for too long. We plan to move back to the States in the Summer 2014... We are freelance journalists so neither of us have jobs with contracts and start dates but obviously need to get my husband the right to work as soon as possible so he can accept jobs offered . He also needs to be able to travel outside of the US once we've applied.

1) From what I've read on the UCIS site...he has to Re-apply from scratch. Is this right...his abandonment cannot be removed? Will having had a greencard already, speed the process up in any way?

2) Is it better to apply through the lockbox system from abroad ASAP (we are not 100% positive we will move) or should I wait until we are in the States and do it through a UCIS office there?

3) If I wait until we are in the US, will he be allowed to leave the US while his application is pending?

4) We go back to the States every summer...if I apply now, does anyone have any idea how long before I hear back whether the petition was accepted?

5) My husband has a valid I visa that allows him to work for foreign media companies in the US. He uses this when he travels on business in the States and comes in on an ESTA for vacation. If we apply for an I130 now, will this affect either his ability to work in the US as a foreign journalist for a foreign company or his ability to come in on an ESTA while the application is pending? What about if it's been approved and we've got a number?

6) If we apply now, go back this summer on vacation and decide to stay, do I have to file an adjustment form once we are in the States or do I just wait for our consular appointment and fly back.

Thank you in advance