SB-1 (returning resident Visa) refused. What can we do?

rafi-cairo

Registered Users (C)
My father who is 80 years old was a permanent resident of the USA. Then in 2008 he stayed outside of the US for about 18 months, and filled an SB-1 application for a returning resident Visa, and on the interview produced doctor's statement that he was undergoing treatment. The lady interviewer said she wasn't convinced and that he abandoned his residency and refused his application. That incident was in 2009, 4 years ago.

He still has the physical green card which has expired in 2012. Now he feels that he didn't receive a fair assessment and wants to regain his permanent resident status. What can be done now? Is there any appeal process that he can go though? Can he file again for the returning resident visa? Can hiring a lawyer help?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks
 
im a lpr and i stayed in Turkey over a year due to some life circumstances and i tried applying to returning resident visa ,my application for sb1 was denied yesterday. i have stayed in Turkey with my us citizen husband who have got a temporary job and now he is back in states and unfortunately im stuck here .i have got my GC through marriage and we are still married. the officer at the embassy said he should petition to me again like we did in the first place 4 years ago while i was first getting my GC. what would your advice be on getting back to states , having my spouse be a pettioner is the only option? or is this even an option at all?
thank you in advance!
 
im a lpr and i stayed in Turkey over a year due to some life circumstances and i tried applying to returning resident visa ,my application for sb1 was denied yesterday. i have stayed in Turkey with my us citizen husband who have got a temporary job and now he is back in states and unfortunately im stuck here .i have got my GC through marriage and we are still married. the officer at the embassy said he should petition to me again like we did in the first place 4 years ago while i was first getting my GC. what would your advice be on getting back to states , having my spouse be a pettioner is the only option? or is this even an option at all?
thank you in advance!
If your green card is still valid one option would be to just go to the US and try your luck. There is a good chance the officer will let you in if they think you haven't abandoned residency and if it's not too long after one year. If the officer denies you entry, they will ask you to voluntarily sign away your permanent residency. But they cannot forcibly take it away from you because only an immigrant judge can do that; so you should refuse, and they will temporarily let you in and give you a notice to appear at a removal proceeding in immigration court, where you can argue your case to an immigration judge (think of it as a kind of "appeal" of the officer's decision).
 
If your green card is still valid one option would be to just go to the US and try your luck. There is a good chance the officer will let you in if they think you haven't abandoned residency and if it's not too long after one year. If the officer denies you entry, they will ask you to voluntarily sign away your permanent residency. But they cannot forcibly take it away from you because only an immigrant judge can do that; so you should refuse, and they will temporarily let you in and give you a notice to appear at a removal proceeding in immigration court, where you can argue your case to an immigration judge (think of it as a kind of "appeal" of the officer's decision).
thank you for your response. it has been 1 year and 3 months since i have been out. yes my card is still valid. it sounds a little scary for the part where if they dont let me in and i will have to return back from the airport.. if i assume they do let me in after this point will i still have a chance to apply for naturalization, will i be treated as a lrp in this case(im lpr for 3 and half years)

thank you
 
thank you for your response. it has been 1 year and 3 months since i have been out. yes my card is still valid. it sounds a little scary for the part where if they dont let me in and i will have to return back from the airport.. if i assume they do let me in after this point will i still have a chance to apply for naturalization, will i be treated as a lrp in this case(im lpr for 3 and half years)

thank you
What do you mean "return back from the airport"? Like I said, if they don't want to let you in, they won't force you to fly you out of the US again; they will temporarily let you in and you will have to go to removal proceedings. What country are you in? Maybe if you go through pre-clearance (e.g. Canada, Ireland, Abu Dhabi) it may be different because you go through immigration abroad.
 
What do you mean "return back from the airport"? Like I said, if they don't want to let you in, they won't force you to fly you out of the US again; they will temporarily let you in and you will have to go to removal proceedings. What country are you in? Maybe if you go through pre-clearance (e.g. Canada, Ireland, Abu Dhabi) it may be different because you go through immigration abroad.
i understand apologies for my misunderstanding. im in Turkey right now. would that help to fly out from a different location ? and if this all works out ,there is still possibility of me having my card taken away, my apologies again sorry (if this is what you mean by going through removal process) i still want to be able to apply for naturalization in the future, sorry for all the questions . uncomfortably of this situation can not be described
 
i understand apologies for my misunderstanding. im in Turkey right now. would that help to fly out from a different location ? and if this all works out ,there is still possibility of me having my card taken away, my apologies again sorry (if this is what you mean by going through removal process) i still want to be able to apply for naturalization in the future, sorry for all the questions . uncomfortably of this situation can not be described
Turkey is fine. You will fly to the US and pass through immigration in the US. First, there is a good chance of being let in with just a warning. And even if not, you will be in the US with your husband during this process, and you can hire an immigration lawyer to represent you at a removal proceeding if necessary. On the other hand, going through consular processing from scratch would require you to spend at least a year abroad from filing of a new I-130 to getting the immigrant visa.
 
Turkey is fine. You will fly to the US and pass through immigration in the US. First, there is a good chance of being let in with just a warning. And even if not, you will be in the US with your husband during this process, and you can hire an immigration lawyer to represent you at a removal proceeding if necessary. On the other hand, going through consular processing from scratch would require you to spend at least a year abroad from filing of a new I-130 to getting the immigrant visa.
i understand . a year abroad (if you mean in Turkey)is too long that i can not afford to stay. i thought that process would be the same as it was on the first time i was going through filling out the petitioner form while i was in states with my husband.. why do you think it would take a year?
 
i understand . a year abroad (if you mean in Turkey)is too long that i can not afford to stay. i thought that process would be the same as it was on the first time i was going through filling out the petitioner form while i was in states with my husband.. why do you think it would take a year?
Consular Processing abroad is different from Adjustment of Status in the US. For Consular Processing, he first has to file an I-130, which takes several months to approve, and only after it is approved, does it go to NVC and the consulate, where the process will take a few more months. The time varies a lot between countries, but it's around one year on average.
 
i
Consular Processing abroad is different from Adjustment of Status in the US. For Consular Processing, he first has to file an I-130, which takes several months to approve, and only after it is approved, does it go to NVC and the consulate, where the process will take a few more months. The time varies a lot between countries, but it's around one year on average.
i understand . thank you for your advice, im greatly appreciated . i think i will have to think about going in and trying my chance in this case. and i do have a last question if its ok: how this all will effect my naturalization process, will i still be able to wait and start my process for getting a citizen?
 
The fact you stayed out of the US for more than one year automatically interrupted your "continuous residence", so you have to start over counting "continuous residence" from 0 again anyway.
 
The fact you stayed out of the US for more than one year automatically interrupted your "continuous residence", so you have to start over counting "continuous residence" from 0 again anyway.
which means i need to count 2 more years if i still remain married, is that correct?
 
That's a lot of forward thinking.. Naturalization\divorce, etc.. for someone just denied an SB-1.
A denied SB-1 could potentially play havoc at the foreign airport leading to a denied check-in. Potentially.
 
Was your passport stamped showing a denial of an SB1 visa? Anyway, with your GC in hand, you're unlikely to have trouble boarding.
 
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