Green Card Holder Returning to the USA after 7 year absence. What's going to happen?

[TNJ17 1,329]

Is Taiwan one of the countries where you can apply for DCF? That would be the quickest way. 

[jle2234 68]

Before abandoning residency, I would consider visiting the U.S. embassy in Taiwan to discuss your options. While it is likely that your wife will need to abandon her residency, no need to do so if there are other options available to her. At the very least, you may be eligible for direct consular filing for a new GC, since you are both living abroad, which should be faster than the usual process.

[JFH 12,189]

3 minutes ago, TNJ17 said:

Is Taiwan one of the countries where you can apply for DCF? That would be the quickest way. 

No DCF available in Taiwan (except for the usual lust of emergency situations). 

2 minutes ago, jle2234 said:

Before abandoning residency, I would consider visiting the U.S. embassy in Taiwan to discuss your options. While it is likely that your wife will need to abandon her residency, no need to do so if there are other options available to her. At the very least, you may be eligible for direct consular filing for a new GC, since you are both living abroad, which should be faster than the usual process.

There's no DCF in Taiwan. 

[Boiler 43,798]

6 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I have talked to a green card holder who paid a fine ($585) and retained residency. 

The only thing the comes to mind is one of the waivers, but this is not a waiver situation. Anyway a different situation whatever it was.

[Ischnura 285]

27 minutes ago, TNJ17 said:

I believe one of the conditions of the green card is you’re not to be out of US territory for 6 months straight or longer. If during those 7 years you kept going back every 5 months then you should be ok. But if she spent more than 6 months without touching US territory her green card is abandoned. I’m not sure what the process is for that, but I’m assuming you’re gonna have to petition to bring your whole family on family visas now. 

 His kids have US passports, he doesn't need to petition anything for them. 

[Sm1smom 246]

9 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I'm American, my wife is French. We went traveling and then ended up staying in Taiwan. 
 

7 years later, we are returning to my home in TX for Christmas, with a 3 year old, and a 2 month old, both USA passport holders. We fly into Houston, if that's important.  
 

I'm looking for any information about what could happen to my wife if she reenters on her green card. 
 

My understanding is that 1 of 4 things could happen. 
2. She's detained, questioned and fined, but allowed to keep residency.

 

5 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I have talked to a green card holder who paid a fine ($585) and retained residency. 

 

There is no such thing as paying a fine at the POE in order to be let it after one has been deemed to have potentially abandoned their GC. 

 

I’m guessing the $585 fee the person you spoke wiith paid has to do with a re-entry fee due to an expired green card. Ask the person to confirm if the GC they presented at the POE wasn’t already expired (had a valid date on it). The CBP officer that processed them focused on the expired passport and not on the fact that they had been out of the US for a prolonged period. 

 

If your wife’s GC is still valid, she probably would be let in while her GC gets confiscated and told to meet with an immigration judge to prove she hasn’t abandoned residency. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

10 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I'm American, my wife is French. We went traveling and then ended up staying in Taiwan. 
 

7 years later, we are returning to my home in TX for Christmas, with a 3 year old, and a 2 month old, both USA passport holders. We fly into Houston, if that's important.  
 

I'm looking for any information about what could happen to my wife if she reenters on her green card. 
 

My understanding is that 1 of 4 things could happen. 

1. She's allowed entry with ease. 
2. She's detained, questioned and fined, but allowed to keep residency.
3. She's detained, questioned, her passport confiscated and told to report to Immigration Court. 
4. She's detained, questioned, and surrenders her residency.
 

We plan to move back to the USA permanently in summer 2018 so we don't want to surrender residency. 

Thanks

She will be deemed to have abandoned residency, detained, and given the choice to voluntarily surrender the card and and leave (or) see a judge who will then officially and with dispatch determine she abandoned residency, resulting in a deportation order.  You don't even have a gray area case and it's paperwork neither of you need.

She needs to surrender the card to the embassy / consulate now and at the same time apply for a tourist visa for december.  When you want to go back for good  you can file a new petition.

After this long even SB1 is probably impossible.  That's the only other option but it takes a few weeks.  It's essentially DCF without the petition.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Nitas_man

[Springrain22 427]

There's no way she comes here with you. You and your children can come. She will not enter the country, as her residency has been abandoned and her Greencard is no longer valid. In order to bring her back you must file a petition for immigranot visa such as CR1 or IR1. The process will take about 12-14 months do if you file it this month expect her getting her visa no earlier than January 2019 (or it may be later).

[mallafri76 1,012]

8 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I have talked to a green card holder who paid a fine ($585) and retained residency. 

I had an old colleague who did the same thing. She’s divorced from her USC husband and she lives in Denmark with their two kids. She hadn’t been in the US for about two years and were flying over with the kids and her fiancé to visit the ex-husband. She got detained and questioned by CBP and then given the option of paying a fee or go before a judge. This was about two and a half years ago.

[Boiler 43,798]

6 minutes ago, mallafri76 said:

I had an old colleague who did the same thing. She’s divorced from her USC husband and she lives in Denmark with their two kids. She hadn’t been in the US for about two years and were flying over with the kids and her fiancé to visit the ex-husband. She got detained and questioned by CBP and then given the option of paying a fee or go before a judge. This was about two and a half years ago.

So she surrendered her GC?

[geowrian 22,336]

11 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I have talked to a green card holder who paid a fine ($585) and retained residency. 

There is no fine. I'm guessing they filed an I-191? That's the only thing I can think of with a $585 fee that might cover it. However, this is quite uncommon and the criteria is complex...the section of the INA waived by this was repealed a long time ago but sections of it are still in effect. I don't know much more about it, though. But there's no "fine" assessed by the US upon re-entry (unlike other countries that do something like this).

 

11 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

Yeah, I think this is what we are going to do. Do you know much about the ESTA? My wife has only ever entered the country as a resident. She is French with an epassport so qualifies for ESTA. She will go next week to formally abandon residency. 

Once the green card is formally relinquished/abandoned, then they can just apply for an ESTA: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/. Since she only ever entered on an immigrant visa, she should be eligible to apply at that point. No guarantees, but it's only a $14 fee and most results come back right away. An ESTA is valid for 2 years at a time, but must be updated if answers to any questions on it change.

 

5 hours ago, TNJ17 said:

I believe one of the conditions of the green card is you’re not to be out of US territory for 6 months straight or longer. If during those 7 years you kept going back every 5 months then you should be ok. But if she spent more than 6 months without touching US territory her green card is abandoned. I’m not sure what the process is for that, but I’m assuming you’re gonna have to petition to bring your whole family on family visas now. 

The condition on an LPR is that you must maintain permanent residency in the US. Technically any travel abroad could cause CBP to believe you have done so if they have evidence that you took up residency elsewhere. On a more practical level, travel abroad in excess of 6 months can raise suspicion of this, and travel abroad over a year has a presumption of doing so.

 

Short visits back to the US every 5 months would bypass the legal presumption of abandoning residency, but this would quickly raise suspicion of abandoning residency anyway. A resident usually does not come every 5 months for a short trip....they're likely living elsewhere, which will be discovered in questioning or via searches. Many people have done this (even for years), and a number of them have been warned about it at POE or some have been deemed to have abandoned residency.

[geowrian 22,336]

11 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

I have talked to a green card holder who paid a fine ($585) and retained residency. 

There is no fine. I'm guessing they filed an I-191? That's the only thing I can think of with a $585 fee that might cover it. However, this is quite uncommon and the criteria is complex...the section of the INA waived by this was repealed a long time ago but sections of it are still in effect. I don't know much more about it, though. But there's no "fine" assessed by the U

[mcdull 474]

you've spent 7 years in ROC,  is your wife a permanent resident of ROC?

If so, then she may have lost US permanent residency.

 

Why would you wanna take the risk, apply for a visa.

[Michael2017 368]

As other said, she still can use the ESTA. 

[Boiler 43,798]

I was leaning to I 192, but without info we are all guessing.