Currently abroad with expired green card

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turbo516

Registered Users (C)
Hi, I have a friend who is currently outside of US and has an expired green card. He has not entered the US for over 10 years due to work/family. He now wants to come back and was wondering what the best way to enter without losing his green card. He is from a visa-waiver country.

Can he enter the US using visa-waiver and then re-new the green card once he's here?
Can custom agents still identify or have records that he has a green card when entering on visa-waiver even though he has not travel for the last 10+ years?

Thanks!
 
He already lost his green card many many years ago. He cannot simply come back to permanently reside in the US unless he gets another green card.
 
turbo516 said:
What do you mean by "he already lost his green card many many years ago"?
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His green expired when he spent more than 1 year outside US. Green cards are given for living permanently in the US, which means living in US at least 6 months in any year, year after year. Under certain circumstances one can live outside US for up to 2 years if permission is applied for in advance and obtained (called a re-entry permit) from US immigration. Your friend has been out of US for over 10 years and there is no way US government can consider him to be a US permanent resident.
 
So if he tries to renew, it would show up as a invalid green card alien number?

I know in terms of the rule, he definitely violated the residency requirement by not living here and therefore he does not qualify to retain the green card. But in terms of forfeiting the green card, my understanding is that only the court has the authority to take the card away from him. So if he were to come in with that card, the custom agent will give him the option of either surrendering or go to court in front of a judge right?
 
Quit dreaming and getting caught up in technicalities. His permanent residence status is VOIDED and DEAD and cannot be resurrected. He should start the process again.

The custom agent will rightfully refuse him entry. Indeed he will not even be given the opportunity to enter to go and face any immigration judge. He is free to try and waste his plane fare and enjoy being violated by the immigration folks at the port of entry.

turbo516 said:
So if he tries to renew, it would show up as a invalid green card alien number?

I know in terms of the rule, he definitely violated the residency requirement by not living here and therefore he does not qualify to retain the green card. But in terms of forfeiting the green card, my understanding is that only the court has the authority to take the card away from him. So if he were to come in with that card, the custom agent will give him the option of either surrendering or go to court in front of a judge right?
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turbo516 said:
So if he were to come in with that card, the custom agent will give him the option of either surrendering or go to court in front of a judge right?
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If the officer lets him in, there's no way the judge will let him keep his permanent resident status after all those years abroad, unless he can show that he was stuck outside the US by a really extreme circumstance such as being kidnapped by the Taliban.

But he probably won't get that far. The officer is supposed to refuse entry if the green card holder has been outside the US for over a year without a reentry permit or another acceptable exception (e.g. military service). Refusing entry isn't the same as revoking the status; after refusal of entry he can still go to a US consulate and apply for a Returning Resident Visa (SB-1). But it won't be approved, unless he can demonstrate an extreme reason like what I mentioned above.
 
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Thanks for the replies!

One last question. He wants to visit his children here in US who are US citizens. Since his green card is voided, can he just enter with visa-waiver to visit?
 
He should officially surrender his green card with form I-407 at a consulate before attempting to visit. Otherwise he can expect some extra hassles when trying to enter the US if his GC is still in limbo, as they may suspect him of trying to re-immigrate with the visa waiver.
 
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