Outside the US for over 1 year - due to pregnancy

[cmtrade]

Hi,
My wife got her green card (thru marriage to me) in Sep of 2005.

We moved the the US from Israel shortly after.
However, in Oct 2006, we took a trip to Israel for a few months so that she could finish her college degree. During that time she became pregnant and had complications. The doctors told her not to fly until after the birth which will be in early November 2007.

In July, we filed the I-751 form to have the conditional status removed from her green card. We got a letter stating that they received the application and that it is extended for 1 more year. A few days later we got a letter telling her to come on Sep 26th to the Immigration office for the biometric stuff to have the conditional status removed. She is now 8 months pregnanat and cannot fly. She will not be able to go to the US until around Jan or Feb 2008 (when the baby is strong enough), which would put her putside the US for longer than 1 year.

I have done some research and found out about for I-131 for reentry.

Here are my questions:

1. We need to reschedule the biometric appointment for the conditional status. Do we send them a letter asking them to postpone it until Feb 2008 and explaining that we filed an I-131?

2. Is I-131 the correct route or am I barking up the wrong tree?

3. Is it ok to file the I-131 after the fact that my wife has left the US?

Any suggestions or help will be appreciated.

[LucyMO]

1. We need to reschedule the biometric appointment for the conditional status. Do we send them a letter asking them to postpone it until Feb 2008 and explaining that we filed an I-131?

you can try to reschedule, but an LPR can apply for a reentry permit only when they are IN the US. Not - outside the US.

2. Is I-131 the correct route or am I barking up the wrong tree?
3. Is it ok to file the I-131 after the fact that my wife has left the US?

I-131 is the wrong route. She can't file for a reentry permit while outside the US. SB-1 returning resident visa is the correct route if she spent more than a year outside the US. Get documents from the doctor prohibiting her from travelling and proof that she was going to come back to the States before the year was over, and that she is still a resident of the US (which is difficult). Good luck.

However, if I were her, I'd travel alone to the States (you are a USC, correct? so the baby is a USC already, right?) after the birth for a day or two - BEFORE the year outside the US is over. This way she doesn't need a reentry permit, and she won't have to get all the docs and a potential denial of SB-1 visa.

[cmtrade]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Going to the US after the birth probably wont work since the birth will be after the year is up.
I am a USC, so the baby will be too. That is no problem.
I searched google for the SB-1, and I kept coming up with the reentry visa I-131.
See this: http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm....htm#returning

Do you think that the SB-1 will work? We can show that she was hospitalized back at the begining of the pregnancy, and get some type of letter that she was not permitted to fly. Also, we have filed a joint tax return for 2005 and 2006 as US residents. We also put a down payment on a house in Florida and signed a contract with the builder. The house will be ready in early 2008. We can also show proof of this.

Do we have a chance?

[Jackolantern]

See http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/re...dent-visa.html

You need to fill out form DS-117, and the page I referenced has a link to it.

[LucyMO]

Originally Posted by cmtrade

Do you think that the SB-1 will work? We can show that she was hospitalized back at the begining of the pregnancy, and get some type of letter that she was not permitted to fly. Also, we have filed a joint tax return for 2005 and 2006 as US residents. We also put a down payment on a house in Florida and signed a contract with the builder. The house will be ready in early 2008. We can also show proof of this.
Do we have a chance?

you also need proof that she WAS going to come back before the year was over, such as a roundtrip ticket, but was delayed.