Very COMPLICATED Situation

E

ellet

New Member
I'm in a very complicated sitation and no lawyer knows what to do with me.

ok here it goes. In 2000 my family and I were accepted refugees to the US. We came from germany, but are algerian nationals. Germany kicked us out, so America accepted us as refugees. We got our green card in 2003 and applied for our naturalization in 2005. In 2003 i got married to a US citizen. We are muslim, and i was his second wife. He is not married legally to either one of us in the states, just religiously.
so in 2005 we moved to Saudi Arabia for work. The month i moved there with husband, my family and I applied for our american passports. While i was away, within the next few months i got pregnant and experienced difficulties with my pregnancy that didn't allow me to travel, during this time i received my fingerprint appointment and couldn't make it. This is all in 2005. Now, in 2007 i go to apply for my children's US passport at the Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I'm so silly and show them my green card. Of course they jump and grab it from me to check if i have been out of the US for some time, and yes i have. They take it from me and demand I sign some paper. I didn't sign anything I was so mad! So now here i am without a green card.
My whole family (parents, siblings) have US passports. My husband is American and so are my kids. I am left with Algerian passport!

Here are my questions, RAJIV please answer them if u can?

What should i do now? I want to go to the US. WHat is the fastest non problematic way? If i was my husbands first wife, he would do a fiance visa for me, but the embassy in riyadh knows that he is married to someone else and that i am the second. so they told him that he can't give me a visa unless he divorced her.


My parents are making a visit visa for me since they cry on a weekly basis for not seeing me since 2005. 5 years later they can't take it and have asked around and around of how i can come visit them or how i can come get my green card back.

Is it possible to get my green card back? how long would it take and what is the process for this?

one lawyer suggested that i get a brand new immigrant visa under "unmarried child of US citizen 21 years or older". That would take YEARS right?

this same lawyer suggested that i don't even try to get a visit visa, because they wont give it to me thinking that i will stay there and not come back. Really? I have a life here in Saudi and my husband works here. Of course i will come back.

Should i try the visit visa and then stay there until i get my green card back? Can i travel outside the states while i'm waiting for my green card? What good reason do i have for them to give me my green card back? the embassy here is saying that i need a really good reason for them to give it back to me.

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELPPPPP!
 
السلام عليكم أختي في الله

First I'd like to ask you, what paper did they want you to sign at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia? (i'm guessing I-407 (Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status))

So yo've been outside the states for about 5 years now, am I correct?

Why didn't you reschedule your biometrics appointment in 2005? And what did you do between 2005 and 2007? didn't you know the regulations about leaving the states for permanent residents?

My suggestion is that you first need to know the status of your greencard. Is it still considered valid? You never know..there's no passport control while leaving the US. And the embassy in Riyadh may have done nothing with your greencard, so your status may still be valid.

If your status i still valid
1. Your family cannot apply for a greencard for you because you ALREADY have a greeىcard.
2. You can try to apply for a returning resident visa (SB-1 Visa). You'll need to have a good explanation why you remained outside the US for such a long time.
I assume if the embassy is telling you to provide them with a good reason, then there's a chance inshAllah. Does Algeria still recognize your Algerian citizenship after you applied for asylum somewhere else? What was the reason your family applied for asylum for? Maybe that reason could convince them (inshAllah)

Is your husband a Saudi? According to Saudi Arabian law for passport controls, a wife is not permitted to leave the country without permission from her husband. This is a very valid excuse.

A visitor's visa will likely be difficult because you were previously a permanent resident, and it may be difficult to convince the embassy that you intend to stay there temporarily, regardless of your ties to Saudi Arabia.

الله يعينك وييسر لك أمرك
 
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wa alaykum salaam. Wow. MashaAllah very knowledgeable.

I don't know if my greencard is still valid. I guess because i didn't sign that paper that it's still valid? i'm pretty sure that was the paper about abandonment.
yes algeria still recognizes my citizenship.
I will try to look into sb-1 visa. thank you so much for bringing that up. u seem to know more then all the lawyers i spoke to.
i honestly dont know what the reason was for my family to apply for asylum. i was young at the time and had no clue about adult issues. lol. My husband is not saudi, he is american thru and thru. but he is a muslim, and he has rights over me as far as me travelling and so on. and he didn't want to me before, just recently i was able to convince him. now he is saying i can travel.
 
By your failure to attend to details and your long stay outside the US, you have abandoned your GC.

You indicate that your husband has a prior wife to whom he considers himself married because it was only a religious marriage and not a legal marriage (to either of you). You have been properly advices that the US does not accept multiple marriages.

Your parents can file for you as an unmarried child since your marriage is not a recognized marriage. This is likely the ONLY way you can come to the US unless you are a skilled worker qualifying for H1B or L1 visa program.

Just because you want to enter the US does not make it possible by US law. You can either wait your turn or make up your mind to make a new life where you now live.
 
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