Worried about my greencard

[alex_5525]

Dear forum,

I am concerned about my greencard, I obtained it in 2004 when I was 11. However my parents divorced and live in separate countries (the UK and the US), this led me to stay at school in the UK, a place where I am currently at university until 2014. I intend to move to the united states straight away after I finish. But my problem lies whenever I enter the country through LAX, the people at customs always tell me off for leaving the country for the 10 months term time, and usually are very concerned about whether I am really intending to use my greencard and obtain a citizenship. However this year when I entered through LAX the customs officer told me I am certain to lose my greencard within the next two years before my degree finishes. He also told me if i want to keep it I should apply for a re-entry permit that allows me to leave the country for two years and they wont care that I have left, these permits come in at $500 dollars which is rather a lot for just a piece of paper. So I am wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do (if i should obtain a re-entry permit or if they are just trying to scare me at customs)

I fully intend to live in the US perminantly after 2014 and obtain a citizenship if they allow me to finish my degree. I have an american bank account, Valid I.D. Card, social security number and am even signed up for selective service just like any other male between 18-26 in the United States.

I should also add I have never left the US for more than 12 months and spend 2 months a year here (which is the most I can due to my studying comitments back in the UK).

My dad and my sister are both citizens of the United States.

My greencard is due to expire in 2014 but I intend to renew it.

I would appreciate any advice anyone has on my situation as I am now genuinely concerned I am going to loose my Greencard next time I enter the country.

Kind Regards

 

[cafeconleche]

I fully understand your situation. I was in a similar one. However, it's no joke when immigration asks you to apply for a re-entry permit. It's about $400, yes, but it's valid for 2 years. You can go ahead and try to risk it without one, but your travel history might cause you to be asked to see an immigration judge the next time you re-enter the country.

 

[alex_5525]

I fully understand your situation. I was in a similar one. However, it's no joke when immigration asks you to apply for a re-entry permit. It's about $400, yes, but it's valid for 2 years. You can go ahead and try to risk it without one, but your travel history might cause you to be asked to see an immigration judge the next time you re-enter the country.

thanks for your reply, i will consider getting a re-entry permit if it is 100% necessary to get one, the thing is, even if i had to see an immigration judge i cant see why they would take my GC off me? Because i havent broken any rules...

 

[BigJoe5]

Dear forum,

I am concerned about my greencard, I obtained it in 2004 when I was 11. However my parents divorced and live in separate countries (the UK and the US), this led me to stay at school in the UK, a place where I am currently at university until 2014. I intend to move to the united states straight away after I finish. But my problem lies whenever I enter the country through LAX, the people at customs always tell me off for leaving the country for the 10 months term time, and usually are very concerned about whether I am really intending to use my greencard and obtain a citizenship. However this year when I entered through LAX the customs officer told me I am certain to lose my greencard within the next two years before my degree finishes. He also told me if i want to keep it I should apply for a re-entry permit that allows me to leave the country for two years and they wont care that I have left, these permits come in at $500 dollars which is rather a lot for just a piece of paper. So I am wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do (if i should obtain a re-entry permit or if they are just trying to scare me at customs)

I fully intend to live in the US perminantly after 2014 and obtain a citizenship if they allow me to finish my degree. I have an american bank account, Valid I.D. Card, social security number and am even signed up for selective service just like any other male between 18-26 in the United States.

I should also add I have never left the US for more than 12 months and spend 2 months a year here (which is the most I can due to my studying comitments back in the UK).

My dad and my sister are both citizens of the United States.

My greencard is due to expire in 2014 but I intend to renew it.

I would appreciate any advice anyone has on my situation as I am now genuinely concerned I am going to loose my Greencard next time I enter the country.

Kind Regards

You should have gotten re-entry permits all along and you will be a supreme idiot NOT to get one now. You actually "reside" in the UK and merely "visit" the US at this point and that is exactly how CBP sees it. Hell, they told you so already--more than once.

 

[Jackolantern]

My dad and my sister are both citizens of the United States.

Did your father become a US citizen before you turned 18? And did you live in the US with your father after he became a citizen and before you turned 18? If yes, you might be able to claim US citizenship based on deriving it through your father.

If you can't claim US citizenship, get a reentry permit the next time you enter the US. You're going to stay in the US for 2 months, so you have enough time for the reentry formalities (you must be in the US when it is filed, and again to give fingerprints a few weeks later). If you're worried about the hundreds of dollars it costs, think about the greater expense of having defend your green card in court, and the consequences of losing your green card if you lose the case. It's actually cheap when you consider the alternative.

In fact, you should download and fill out the reentry permit application and carry it with you, so if you're harassed next time you enter the US you can show them you're serious about applying for the permit. Then make sure to send it by the next day.

You can download it from www.uscis.gov/i-131/

However, note that the reentry permit does not protect your citizenship eligibility; your long trips abroad will likely delay your eligibility until 2018.

 

[Jackolantern]

Are you still under 21? If yes, and they cancel or you surrender your green card before you're 21, you can get it back within a year if your US citizen father sponsors you.

 

[alex_5525]

Are you still under 21? If yes, and they cancel or you surrender your green card before you're 21, you can get it back within a year if your US citizen father sponsors you.

thank you VERY much for your reply!

Unfortunatly i only lived with my dad for 2 months before i turned 18 and he was a citizen (i assume this wont be long enough)

Yeah the thing is i am under 21 and most deffinatly unmarried.. But i will turn 21 at the end of 2013 which is before i intend to move here perminantly (2014). However i only have to enter the country once more without the intention to stay perminantly which is next year and i will still be under 21. If they took my GC and my farther sponsored me for annother one, would the fact that ive already owned a GC affect reapplying?

I will consider getting a re-entry permit as i say, but what im really trying to ask is what would happen if i dont? Say i had to go to court to fight for my GC and say they took it off me, I could just reapply? Plus it would be quite harsh if they did take it off me, our plans changed in 2005 and my parents divorced and live on opposite sides of the world, what was i supposed to do?

 

[Jackolantern]

thank you VERY much for your reply!

Unfortunatly i only lived with my dad for 2 months before i turned 18 and he was a citizen (i assume this wont be long enough)

So he was a citizen AND you had a green card AND you were living with your father in the US for the last 2 months before your 18th birthday? If your father had legal custody, that could be long enough!

If your father had legal custody, please list out the following dates so we can figure out your prospects for derivative citizenship (month/year is OK):

1. Date your father became a US citizen
2. Date you turned 18
3. Date you left the US to start school abroad
4. Date you stopped living with your father, if different from #3
4. Date you started living with your father in the US
5. Date your parents divorced

 

[alex_5525]

So he was a citizen AND you had a green card AND you were living with your father in the US for the last 2 months before your 18th birthday? If your father had legal custody, that could be long enough!

If your father had legal custody, please list out the following dates so we can figure out your prospects for derivative citizenship (month/year is OK):

1. Date your father became a US citizen
2. Date you turned 18
3. Date you left the US to start school abroad
4. Date you stopped living with your father, if different from #3
4. Date you started living with your father in the US
5. Date your parents divorced

Okay, he didnt have legal custody, i didnt know that he had to, also i didnt live with him for the last two months before i turned 18 so thats the end of that..

I wish i knew this at the time, i would have lived with him then..

 

[Jackolantern]

Okay, he didnt have legal custody, i didnt know that he had to, also i didnt live with him for the last two months before i turned 18 so thats the end of that..

So you lived with him for 2 months at some other point before turning 18, while he was a citizen and you had a green card? That may be good enough.

But you say he divorced before becoming a citizen, and didn't have legal custody, not even partial or joint custody? Without him having some kind of legal custody of you while he was a citizen, you won't qualify.

 

[alex_5525]

So you lived with him for 2 months at some other point before turning 18, while he was a citizen and you had a green card? That may be good enough.

But you say he divorced before becoming a citizen, and didn't have legal custody, not even partial or joint custody? Without him having some kind of legal custody of you while he was a citizen, you won't qualify.

My dad became a citizen in march/april 2010, i stayed for two months with him in july and august and i turned 18 in november 2010. I had my greencard through this time.

He got divorced from my mum in 2004 or 2005 and im pretty sure he had no custody over me which is why I decided to stay at school in the UK and have ended up doing since. But i will get that double checked because im not 100% he had absolutely none.

What documents would we need? Do you have a link for any information on this?

 

[Jackolantern]

See these links about the Child Citizenship Act of 2000:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1312.html

www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/ChildCitizenshipAct_120100.pdf

For legal custody evidence, you would need the divorce paperwork that states who had custody, or post-divorce court paperwork if the custody was changed after the divorce.

To prove that you were living with him at the time, you would need documents with your name and address (such as school records) showing that you were staying at the same address as him at the relevant time (i.e. when you were still under 18 and he had citizenship).

However if those two months were merely a vacation visit and you weren't really living with him per se, that might not count, unless the shortness of the stay was due to the custody arrangement (e.g. suppose the custody papers said he has custody in the summer holidays and your mom has custody during the school year).