GC for my father-in-law.

[vishydude]

Hi,

My father-in-law got his GC in 2003 through his sister, who is a USC. He has been living in India since 2005. Due to a change in some USCIS rule in yr.2006, any Permanent Resident who stays in different nation than USA for more than 6 months, has to get finger printing done. My father-in-law was supposed to appear for the same but he didn't know about it and missed the appointment. As a result, the GC is no longer valid and he surrendered it back to the US Consulate in New Delhi. He was issued a visitor visa in yr. 2011.

He is planning to visit USA and would like to stay with us for couple years and me and my wife (US Citizen) are planning to submit an application for his GC. Therefore, my question is : do we need to renew his old GC or do we need to start afresh i.e. with a new GC application?
If the govt. pulls his record, they will see that he has been issued a GC earlier and will this cause any conflict with his new application?

Also, my mother-in-law is a USC but does not work, can she be a sponsor on my Father-in-law's application?

Please advise.
Vishy

 

[BigJoe5]

Hi,

My father-in-law got his GC in 2003 through his sister, who is a USC. He has been living in India since 2005. Due to a change in some USCIS rule in yr.2006, any Permanent Resident who stays in different nation than USA for more than 6 months, has to get finger printing done. My father-in-law was supposed to appear for the same but he didn't know about it and missed the appointment. As a result, the GC is no longer valid and he surrendered it back to the US Consulate in New Delhi. He was issued a visitor visa in yr. 2011.

He is planning to visit USA and would like to stay with us for couple years and me and my wife (US Citizen) are planning to submit an application for his GC. Therefore, my question is : do we need to renew his old GC or do we need to start afresh i.e. with a new GC application?
If the govt. pulls his record, they will see that he has been issued a GC earlier and will this cause any conflict with his new application?

Also, my mother-in-law is a USC but does not work, can she be a sponsor on my Father-in-law's application?

Please advise.
Vishy

Your plan to urge him to enter on a tourist visa with the intent to file for adjustment of status is ILLEGAL. He needs to go through consular processing. However, it seems like a waste. He could merely just travel back and forth once a year or so but if expense is not an issue, re-immigration is doable.

Either your wife or his wife can file an I-130 for him as an immediate relative and that person must also file an I-864 but can have help from others to meet the financial requirements. Your wife might be the easier choice if she has sufficient income on her own.

Whatever alleged "change in the law" you think happened, didn't. The issue of losing your status for overstaying outside the U.S. beyond one year without a reentry permit (which is only good for two years) has been in the law since 1952 in its current form (and was more strict before that). The 6 month stay relates to naturalization eligibility issue and has also been in the law since 1952 but seems quite irrelevant to him.

I think you are talking about fingerprinting for an I-90 for a replacement greencard (also quite irrelevant to someone who has lived abroad for 7 years).

 

[bigbull99]

Hi,

My father-in-law got his GC in 2003 through his sister, who is a USC. He has been living in India since 2005. Due to a change in some USCIS rule in yr.2006, any Permanent Resident who stays in different nation than USA for more than 6 months, has to get finger printing done. My father-in-law was supposed to appear for the same but he didn't know about it and missed the appointment. As a result, the GC is no longer valid and he surrendered it back to the US Consulate in New Delhi. He was issued a visitor visa in yr. 2011.

He is planning to visit USA and would like to stay with us for couple years and me and my wife (US Citizen) are planning to submit an application for his GC. Therefore, my question is : do we need to renew his old GC or do we need to start afresh i.e. with a new GC application?
If the govt. pulls his record, they will see that he has been issued a GC earlier and will this cause any conflict with his new application?

Also, my mother-in-law is a USC but does not work, can she be a sponsor on my Father-in-law's application?

Please advise.
Vishy

CP in India is always better. Forget about his old GC, That chapter is over. You should start a new one allover again, weather you want to do it in USA or In India

 

[Jackolantern]

My father-in-law got his GC in 2003 through his sister, who is a USC. He has been living in India since 2005. Due to a change in some USCIS rule in yr.2006, any Permanent Resident who stays in different nation than USA for more than 6 months, has to get finger printing done.

You are misunderstanding things. There is no rule that requires that. However, there is another rule that requires permanent residents who are outside the US for 1 year to apply for a reentry permit before leaving the US, or apply outside the US for a Returning Resident Visa (SB-1) at a US consulate. SB-1 has required fingerprinting long before 2006, but the requirement to give fingerprints for the reentry permit was a more recent change (I think 2008).

He is planning to visit USA and would like to stay with us for couple years and me and my wife (US Citizen) are planning to submit an application for his GC. Therefore, my question is : do we need to renew his old GC or do we need to start afresh i.e. with a new GC application?

He needs a brand new application. That old GC cannot be renewed or extended or revived, it has been surrendered and permanently destroyed legally and physically.

If the govt. pulls his record, they will see that he has been issued a GC earlier and will this cause any conflict with his new application?

He will need to mention that he has applied for a GC before and it was granted and surrendered, and it won't cause a conflict. However, he should make sure to use the same A-number from the old GC wherever it asks for his A# on the new application, otherwise that could cause some complications. And on the DS-230 he should say NO where it asks if he wants an SSN to be issued.

If he can't find a copy of the old GC to find the A#, that A# would also be on a number of his other immigration-related documents (e.g. EAD, Advance Parole) and might have be written or stamped in his passport.

Also, my mother-in-law is a USC but does not work, can she be a sponsor on my Father-in-law's application?

If she is still married to him, she can be the primary sponsor and file a marriage-based immigrant petition for him.

If your wife will be the primary sponsor (which I recommend as that is less complex than marriage-based), given that your mother in law doesn't work there is no use in having your MIL as a joint sponsor unless she has pension income or sufficient assets that can be used for the Affidavit of Support. And if your wife already has enough income, there is no use in having a joint sponsor.

Note that your father's assets can be used to offset the income requirement. And if he worked long enough in the US to accumulate 10 years of Social Security credits, no proof of assets or income would be necessary, as he would be eligible to have the Affidavit of Support waived with I-864W.