Father stranded in India due to covid

[puravvadodaria 0]

My father is a green card holder number. (issued 08/21/18). He had first visited USA in the year 1998 on visitor's visa. Ever since, He has been granted 10-year visitor's visa to the US twice. During all his past visits, he has adhered to the national travel-rules under visitor-visa category. Thereafter, he was really very happy to receive his green card in August 2018.

 

He is a senior citizen (63 years old). Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 pandemic and his health issues, he was not able to return back to USA within 364 days. He had never even imagined of the current situation, but the circumstances were beyond his control.

 

He is fit now and as his immediate family (wife and only son)  are currently in the USA, he would like to join them at the earliest. His wife is also a green-card holder. It is turning out very difficult for him to live alone here in Mumbai. Waiting for consulates in Mumbai to open to apply for SB1 visa will take too long. Can CBP allow him special permission to travel and enter the US?

I want to request CBP to empathize with his special situation and try and allow him to travel as a special condition. Is this possible?

 

Thanks

 

[igoyougoduke 1,604]

was he denied entry ?  why would you apply for SB1 if his green card is valid 

[aaron2020 11,651]

It's not possible to get preclearance from CBP before he shows up at a POE.  CBP can only assessed him when he tries to enter the US.  Most likely, he would be allowed to enter the US. 

 

The problem is whether an airline will let him fly when they learn he is a green card holder who has been outside the US for more than a year.  This is his big problem, not CBP.  

[Ontarkie 13,916]

~~Moved to General Immigration from What Visa DO I Need - the OP's father is already a permanent resident trying to return to the US.~~

[puravvadodaria 0]

Thanks for all the responses so far. He has not been denied entry. He will be allowed to fly from India. The question is that if CBP does not allow him after understanding his case, what could be the repercussions? Also, can anyone please recommend a couple of trusted immigration lawyers in the US?

[xyz12345 260]

The following might be of interest to you:

https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/insidenews/posts/faq-for-green-card-holders-during-the-covid-19-period

 

 

Quote

3. What if the US Consulate refused the SB-1 Visa, or has not resumed operations soon enough, and I have spent in excess of 1 year overseas from my last departure?

 

If your green card (Form I-551) has not expired, you may wish to travel directly to the US and assert at the port of entry that you never abandoned permanent residency. While this is more risky than applying for an SB-1 visa, the Customs and Border Protection official has discretion to waive you into the US even without a technically valid I-551. The CBP official may ask you to complete Form I-193, Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa and pay the requisite filing fee. In the event that the CBP official does not waive you into the US, as a lawful permanent resident you have the right to have an Immigration Judge review your claim, and the burden of proof is on the government through clear and convincing evidence that you abandondoned permanent residency.

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by xyz12345

[retheem 553]

Take a chance and travel. Worse case scenario is that they will refer you to immigration judge. But don't be surprised if this leads to premium tears

Edited August 19, 2020 by retheem

[igoyougoduke 1,604]

On 8/14/2020 at 5:18 PM, aaron2020 said:

It's not possible to get preclearance from CBP before he shows up at a POE.  CBP can only assessed him when he tries to enter the US.  Most likely, he would be allowed to enter the US. 

 

The problem is whether an airline will let him fly when they learn he is a green card holder who has been outside the US for more than a year.  This is his big problem, not CBP.  

What authority does Airlines have for this ? their job is only to verify if he has a green card to travel. i highly doubt they have authority to deny boarding to a valid green card holders. Its the CBP job to deny or not. . 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 hour ago, James120383 said:

What authority does Airlines have for this ? their job is only to verify if he has a green card to travel. i highly doubt they have authority to deny boarding to a valid green card holders. Its the CBP job to deny or not. . 

Airlines can and have denied boarding to people with valid green cards because they didn’t understand the form of them. 
And on my last 2 trips as a LPR, I was asked to confirm length of time I had been absent. I don’t know if all airlines do this, but some certainly do (and one has to assume it’s because CBP wants them to, why else would they even ask?)  Catch here: if an airline denies you boarding when you believe you have the right to enter the US (example: using a temporary i551 that a check-in clerk may not recognize) you can demand to escalate to their CBP rep. Not sure doing it in this circumstance would help. I agree it’s probably pop’s only real route at the moment, but it’s not risk free. (And you can’t force an airline to board you: some of the posts on VJ have been precisely people who’ve been denied boarding despite the correct documents. )

 

OP also hasn’t been very clear about how long dad has actually been out, other than it’s longer than 364 days.
 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[aaron2020 11,651]

5 hours ago, James120383 said:

What authority does Airlines have for this ? their job is only to verify if he has a green card to travel. i highly doubt they have authority to deny boarding to a valid green card holders. Its the CBP job to deny or not. . 

Their authority to deny boarding is because they are the carrier.  They aren't acting as CBP.  They are not denying entry into the US.  They are denying boarding and flying. Two completely different things.  Nothing stops the person from trying to fly on a different airline.  

If an airline flies someone who is denied entry, they have to bear the cost of flying that person back.  So that is why they can deny boarding and flying someone.  At no point are they acting as CBP by denying entry into the US.  

Since a person with a green card who has been outside the US for more than a year could be deny entry by CBP and the airline is forced to bear the cost of flying the person back, the airline can refuse to allow that person to board a flight to the US.  

I'm a US citizen.  I do not have.a right to force an airline to fly me to the US.  They can refuse to board me and let me fly to the US if they want.  You are not distinguishing the difference between not being able to board to fly to the US and being deny entry into the US.

Edited August 31, 2020 by aaron2020

[igoyougoduke 1,604]

7 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

Their authority to deny boarding is because they are the carrier.  They aren't acting as CBP.  They are not denying entry into the US.  They are denying boarding and flying. Two completely different things.  Nothing stops the person from trying to fly on a different airline.  

If an airline flies someone who is denied entry, they have to bear the cost of flying that person back.  So that is why they can deny boarding and flying someone.  At no point are they acting as CBP by denying entry into the US.  

Since a person with a green card who has been outside the US for more than a year could be deny entry by CBP and the airline is forced to bear the cost of flying the person back, the airline can refuse to allow that person to board a flight to the US.  

I'm a US citizen.  I do not have.a right to force an airline to fly me to the US.  They can refuse to board me and let me fly to the US if they want.  You are not distinguishing the difference between not being able to board to fly to the US and being deny entry into the US.

Yeah but airlines are not CBP. you seem to be confused