GC complications

[hepcore]

I am a Canadian citizen with GC (obtained in sept 2003). I have never lived in US for more than a month at a time but I travel to the US at least 5 to 6 times per year. In my recent trip to the US, an immigration officer at the airport, on my way to the US, asked me to surrender my GC. I did not have my GC with me and the officer said that he will enter a record in the computer that when I travel to the US next time I should give back the GC at the airport. He also suggested that I should get reentry permit if I plan to live in the US in the future. My question to you is that:

1. I am in the US now and planning to apply for REP. Can I apply for REP even though the officer had already created a record indicating that I should give back the GC?

2. If I decided to give up my GC, will it affect my future trips to the US even though I do not need a visa as Canadian? Very important for me, more than the GC, to be able to travel to the US without restrictions for business reasons.

Thanks.

[wik]

Originally Posted by hepcore

I am a Canadian citizen with GC (obtained in sept 2003). I have never lived in US for more than a month at a time but I travel to the US at least 5 to 6 times per year. In my recent trip to the US, an immigration officer at the airport, on my way to the US, asked me to surrender my GC. I did not have my GC with me and the officer said that he will enter a record in the computer that when I travel to the US next time I should give back the GC at the airport. He also suggested that I should get reentry permit if I plan to live in the US in the future. My question to you is that:

1. I am in the US now and planning to apply for REP. Can I apply for REP even though the officer had already created a record indicating that I should give back the GC?

2. If I decided to give up my GC, will it affect my future trips to the US even though I do not need a visa as Canadian? Very important for me, more than the GC, to be able to travel to the US without restrictions for business reasons.

Thanks.

If you are in the US now, then presumably the POE officer granted you entry. Under what category? If it was ARC (returning permanent resident), then I would assume you could apply for an REP regardless of what information he claims to have entered into the system.

[Scottfla]

It may depend on what the officer entered into your record on his computer about your entry into the U.S. How were you planning on entering the U.S. if you didn't have your green card with you? Why would you attempt to enter the U.S. without it? If you attempted to enter the U.S. under fraudulent pretenses, it could come back to haunt you later. It really does seem strange that you would not have your green card with you. I am sure you don't need to be told that under no circumstance should you try to deceive an immigration official.

At this point, you do not have a choice regarding keeping your green card. Since you admittedly did not live in the U.S. for more than one month at a time, you have effectively abandonned your permanent residency. It seems to me that you were lucky enough to to get an extremely friendly inspector. The next time, another inspector, upon reading the entry in your record, will demand that you surrender your green card; you will have no choice in the matter since you have not met the conditions necessary to maintain permanent residency (i.e. you were living and working in Canada and only come to the U.S. "on business"). The next time you attempt entry, I would give yourself lots of time to catch your flight, since you will probably be sent to secondary inspection until they get this situation sorted out.

[rajmash]

if u want to keep ur GC and apply reentry permit!

the smart and the right way to do is to drive to US
have your GC and ur canadaian passort with you!


give the GC to the immigration office - dont have to say anything- make sure he scans the GC ( like a credit card) -if he doesnt scan - ask for it to be scanned!

if he tells u something like - another official has indicated that you should surrender ur GC- then u have to surrender ur GC- use ur canadian passport to enter - end of story!!!


if not - if he scans and doesnt ring a bell- then most probably the other official didnt enter anything- so proceed to US and apply for reeentry permit

by doing this - you leave the decision making to the immirgration official - so nothing will come back to bite you! Have the dates and other proof (use ur credicard in US)

in any case dont lie

[namedude]

Get an immigration lawyer involved.

You might still be a valid GC holder because for example you kept ties to the US, live in the US, maybe even work here. You generally need to make sure that all your trips to Canada are for temporary reasons and you file taxes in the US as a resident. Ideally have a US address and be employed at a US company.

The issue is that you will have to explain why you came in on Canadian passport into the US - you use it for business/tourist purposes. Normally you should use US GC. But maybe you can convince sb - that this was just one time and that you forgot about this requirement or sthg.

Definitely get an expert involved. All people here are laymen who have no expertise, do not know your personal circumstances etc.

[bashar82]

Something similar happened to my father a few years ago. He was asked to give up his GC right there and then or face detention until and immigration hearing (this happened on a Friday evening and he didn't want to sit around a jail cell till Monday). He gave it up and they asked him to sign a document stating that he surrendered voluntarily. My father refused but signed another document which stated that he surrendered it under protest. He was allowed to enter the country for 10 days. He hired a lawyer who honestly did not do much. I've have sponsored him since beomcing a citizen. The one good thing was that he hasn't had to US taxes on his income for the past two years, but because he has paid into SS and Medicare, he'll be covered when he gets his GC back. Plus, he's hidden overseas income before so this time around he can bring the money in from abroad with fewer questions.

[TheRealCanadian]

Originally Posted by bashar82

Plus, he's hidden overseas income before so this time around he can bring the money in from abroad with fewer questions.

Wow, what a good name he gives us all.

[baikal3]

Originally Posted by hepcore

I am a Canadian citizen with GC (obtained in sept 2003). I have never lived in US for more than a month at a time but I travel to the US at least 5 to 6 times per year. In my recent trip to the US, an immigration officer at the airport, on my way to the US, asked me to surrender my GC. I did not have my GC with me and the officer said that he will enter a record in the computer that when I travel to the US next time I should give back the GC at the airport. He also suggested that I should get reentry permit if I plan to live in the US in the future. My question to you is that:

1. I am in the US now and planning to apply for REP. Can I apply for REP even though the officer had already created a record indicating that I should give back the GC?

2. If I decided to give up my GC, will it affect my future trips to the US even though I do not need a visa as Canadian? Very important for me, more than the GC, to be able to travel to the US without restrictions for business reasons.

Thanks.

It seems clear from your post that you have in fact abandoned your U.S. permanent resident status since for 3 years you did not maintain your primary home and employment in the U.S.
I am guessing that you also did not file U.S. federal and state income taxes during that time.
Based on your post, since you did not have either a GC or a valid reentry permit with you at the time of your last entry, I cannot imagine that the immigration officcer would have admitted you in the LPR category. Most likely you were admitted as a non-immigrant, under a visa waiver program for Canadians. Moreover, I suspect that this was not the first trip to the U.S. since Sept 2003 where you did not use your green card for re-entry to the U.S, which means that during those previous times you also would have been admitted as a non-immigrant.

U.S. permanent residents are required by law to use a green card or other proof of LPR status when they re-enter the U.S. and are not allowed to enter in a non-immigrant category, using a non-immigrant visa stamp or a visa waiver program. I don't know for sure but I think that entering in a non-immigrant status probably automatically terminates your LPR status.


If your LPR status has indeed already been abandoned, as seems clearly the case, you cannot regain or preserve the LPR status by getting a reentry permit. In fact, I would think twice about even applying for a reentry permit. This could be viewed later as immigration fraud since you are applying for an immigration benefit you are not entitled to, and you would be stating in such an application that you are a legal permanent resident which you are not.


On the other hand I see no downside in surrendering your green card. As a Canadian citizen you will still be able to travel to the U.S. without a visa on business trips etc. You just have to make sure that you are not flagged by the system as having committed immigration fraud or something like that.

All in all, you definitely need to consult an immigration lawer about your situation.

[namedude]

The issue is that we don't know enough facts on this case and drawing conclusions is dangerous. For all we know - the poster might have been living in the US - having address, domicile in the US and may have been physically present for most of the time. We don't know if the poster was admitted in non immigrant status - and if so - why this happened?

The poster is also not saying anything about tax filings - so drawing conclusions is a mess.

We don't know about posters' ties to the US etc.

I recommend seeing a good lawyer who is experienced with abondonment issues. Lots of lawyers are oblivious though and do not understand this problem.

[hepcore]

Thank you everyone for the advice. The most important thing for me right now and for the next couple of years is to be able to travel to the US with no restrictions. At this moment the GC is not worth the hassle and the lawyers’ fee that might have to pay. I basically decided formally to abandon my GC. Do you know the best way to do this? Should I surrender it at the airport next time I travel to the US as I was instructed to do so by the officer? Or should I fill the appropriate form and send it to the INS along with my GC?

[Scottfla]

You can certainly surrender your greencard at the airport. You will be taken into the secondary inspection area to fill out the appropriate forms. Be careful though; if the inspector suspects that you are travelling to the U.S. to work, you may be turned around and denied entry unless you have the appropriate visa. You can certainly come to the U.S. for business purposes without a visa, just make sure that the reason you are coming cannot be construed as working. As I said before, give yourself plenty of time to catch your flight! I would still recommend seeking the advice of an attorney to ensure that this transition is smooth.

[ginnu]

Originally Posted by hepcore

Thank you everyone for the advice. The most important thing for me right now and for the next couple of years is to be able to travel to the US with no restrictions. At this moment the GC is not worth the hassle and the lawyers’ fee that might have to pay.
I basically decided formally to abandon my GC.
Do you know the best way to do this?
Should I surrender it at the airport next time I travel to the US as I was instructed to do so by the officer?
---------------the CPB officer told you to do that and the same person admited you to US. If he found that you are no more PR why he should admit you. It seems he just gave you a warning and admitted you are PR.
----at Airport you face CBP(Customs and Border Protection ) officer not immigration officer.
Or should I fill the appropriate form and send it to the INS along with my GC?
--------- You should go the the local US consulate and surrender the GC.one has to fill up form I-407(Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status)before US consulate officer
READ FAQ from the US consulate site:
http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/legal_...residents.html

namedude is correct
"The issue is that we don't know enough facts on this case and drawing conclusions is dangerous. For all we know - the poster might have been living in the US - having address, domicile in the US and may have been physically present for most of the time. We don't know if the poster was admitted in non immigrant status - and if so - why this happened?

The poster is also not saying anything about tax filings - so drawing conclusions is a mess.

We don't know about posters' ties to the US etc."

*** why dont you post your full details? you may have not Abandoned PR status.