Coronavirus travel restriction affecting travel to USA.

[srajeevan 5]

Not sure where to ask this question.

 

My sister is a GC holder(family sponsored) and she is still studying in India.Every year she visit USA for few weeks so that she can maintain the GC status.

This year she is supposed to visit USA before end of April,but because of the whole coronavirus situation it seems like she can't make it this time before end of April.

Most of the flights from India comes through Middle east or through European countries and to my knowledge most of these countries have imposed travel restrictions.

So what are my options.?

 

USCIS must be aware of the situation.

What if she plans to visit on August(hope that coronavirus situation will be under control and travel restrictions are removed) and brings a cover letter explaining the situation.?

Should we get in touch with an immigration lawyer ?

 

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

 

 

[Liam2021 551]

7 minutes ago, srajeevan said:

Every year she visit USA for few weeks so that she can maintain the GC status

GC is for living in US. Looks like your sister is playing a game with her domicile.

[srajeevan 5]

2 minutes ago, H&T said:

GC is for living in US. Looks like your sister is playing a game with her domicile.

Its just that she was doing her education and before she turned 21 she has to come and collect GC.

She cannot drop her eduction in between and move to US.It is something people do when they are in between something,

An LPR can stay out of US for maximum 365 days and she can use that option and she will be done with her education in two years and will move to US.

[Liam2021 551]

7 minutes ago, srajeevan said:

Its just that she was doing her education and before she turned 21 she has to come and collect GC.

She cannot drop her eduction in between and move to US.It is something people do when they are in between something,

An LPR can stay out of US for maximum 365 days and she can use that option and she will be done with her education in two years and will move to US.

Ask your sister apply for re entry permit to avoid any problem with CBP in the future. Stay outside of US less than 6 months is no big deal, but more than 6 months can raise some concern about her residency.

[geowrian 22,335]

Sounds like she should have obtained a re-entry permit while in the US. That would have been optimal.

5 minutes ago, srajeevan said:

An LPR can stay out of US for maximum 365 days

Well, it's not quite that simple. An LPR must maintain their permanent residence within the US.

A stay abroad over 1 year has a mandatory presumption of abandoning permanent residency.

Short visits to the US to "touch down" may work for some time to avoid that presumption, but it does not preclude a determination that their permanent residency was abandoned. CBP can make such a determination, although from a practical standpoint, they would parole the individual and then an immigration judge would make the final decision.

However, being a student is often sufficient to show that permanent residency is not being abandoned, at least purely base on time abroad, if within that 1 year. Still, the re-entry permit would have been optimal with their circumstances.

 

if she can't make it within the 12 months, then the best she can do is be prepared to show that she has maintained ties to the US - filing US taxes as a resident (if she worked), maintaining bank and/or credit accounts, etc.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

 

 

1 hour ago, srajeevan said:

 

An LPR can stay out of US for maximum 365 days and she can use that option and she will be done with her education in two years and will move to US.

Not so simple.

 

This is hindsight but she should have got a re-entry permit to protect her green card status. What she has been doing is not actually complying with the residence requirements and has always risked being deemed to have abandoned residence. As geowrian says she can try show she maintained ties to the US (filing taxes is always a winner there,but also maintained driver licence, bank accounts etc). She can try for a SB1 returning resident visa if she ends up being out longer than a year, but for the same reasons as highlighted about maintaining residency, i don't think from what you've said she would be successful.

 

For clarification here is the official stance, and note it specifically says you can lose residency in trips shorter than a year:

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/international-travel-a-permanent-resident

 

A general guide used is whether you have been absent from the United States for more than a year. Abandonment may be found to occur in trips of less than a year where it is believed you did not intend to make the United States your permanent residence. While brief trips abroad generally are not problematic, the officer may consider criteria such as whether your intention was to visit abroad only temporarily, whether you maintained U.S. family and community ties, maintained U.S employment, filed U.S. income taxes as a resident, or otherwise established your intention to return to the United States as your permanent home. Other factors that may be considered include whether you maintained a U.S. mailing address, kept U.S. bank accounts and a valid U.S. driver’s license, own property or run a business in the United States, or any other evidence that supports the temporary nature of your absence.

 

When she makes it back, I strongly suggest she get a re-entry permit as she is already skatng on thin ice residence wise.  Information here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/B5en.pdf

Edited March 9, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[Siddsgal 80]

Mumbai flys to Newark, New Jersey. Think Dehli flys to San Francisco. No need for a layover in a different country. Tickets are pretty cheap right now too

[srajeevan 5]

Thanks all.Weighing in the different options i think that if the corona virus situation is still the same, applying for a SB1 returning resident is the best option.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

54 minutes ago, srajeevan said:

Thanks all.Weighing in the different options i think that if the corona virus situation is still the same, applying for a SB1 returning resident is the best option.

They're hard to get, fair warning.

[srajeevan 5]

11 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

They're hard to get, fair warning.

Thanks for the warning.I understand.

I looked at USCIS website regarding the SB1 returning resident and it states that an LPR  can opt for this option for circumstances beyond his/her control.

Quote

"A provision exists under U.S. visa law for the issuance of a returning resident special immigrant visa to an LPR who remained outside the United States due to circumstances beyond his/her control."

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/returning-resident.html

 

I believe this corona virus situation is such a circumstances.Also i understand that i have to prove ties to unites states.

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

45 minutes ago, srajeevan said:

Thanks for the warning.I understand.

I looked at USCIS website regarding the SB1 returning resident and it states that an LPR  can opt for this option for circumstances beyond his/her control.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/returning-resident.html

 

I believe this corona virus situation is such a circumstances.Also i understand that i have to prove ties to unites states.

 

 

Devils advocate: It will only count as a circumstance beyond control for these purposes if it prevents your sister flying for the requisite amount of time needed to lose residency. So far it is neither, as direct flights are available, and the few weeks (so far) that flight restrictions elsewhere are in place falls well short of keeping her out for the better part of a year. Furthermore, your sister’s history of gaming the system by annual touchdowns will be taken into account in the assessment.
Generally, delaying something for many months for your own reasons and then having an unforeseen event right at the end of it preventing a return is not the same as say being ill and unable to travel for most of a year, etc. if I were you /your sister, I would swallow the short term air fare, and come back and apply for a re-entry permit before returning to India.

[srajeevan 5]

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Devils advocate: It will only count as a circumstance beyond control for these purposes if it prevents your sister flying for the requisite amount of time needed to lose residency. So far it is neither, as direct flights are available, and the few weeks (so far) that flight restrictions elsewhere are in place falls well short of keeping her out for the better part of a year. Furthermore, your sister’s history of gaming the system by annual touchdowns will be taken into account in the assessment.
Generally, delaying something for many months for your own reasons and then having an unforeseen event right at the end of it preventing a return is not the same as say being ill and unable to travel for most of a year, etc. if I were you /your sister, I would swallow the short term air fare, and come back and apply for a re-entry permit before returning to India.

I understand and totally agree to your comments.

Even if she can travel via direct flight now or may be this week or next week,it is kind of dangerous in terms if contracting the virus.That is the main reason we decided not to fly.On top of that India also imposed strict travel restriction like mandatory quarantine for all incoming travelers and things like that from yesterday.

With regards to her annual touch down i would say that it is not purposeful and  the fact is she is doing her bachelors in India and they don't get lots of breaks in between(like semester breaks here in US) to come and stay in US for some time.Last time when she came she mentioned that she is doing here studies ,they were okay with that.I understand that even though it is the truth ,when we look from their perspective it may not look good.Other option is to discontinue her education in India and do bachelors in US ,but then she will loose her 1 or two years of studies.To be honest she is not gaming the system,its just that she is doing her education and trying to balance both.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Your first post said 

On 3/9/2020 at 2:46 PM, srajeevan said:

Every year she visit USA for few weeks so that she can maintain the GC status.

That is gaming the system. She should have got a re-entry permit to begin with if she was going to spend that much time out the country. That’s the whole point of not getting caught out by something totally unexpected like this (or a 9/11, or an icelandic volcano, etc). Anyway as you say she has to deal with the situation as it is now. Good luck, hope it works out. Worst case she can go through the family sponsorship process again,

 

(As an aside, I never really understood why people about to immigrate choose to do degrees in their home country rather than the US, it always seems to me a disadvantage to enter the US job market as a brand new graduate with no experience and a foreign rather than local degree. But that’s a tangential discussion.)

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by SusieQQQ