A very complex situation

B

Bill McNair

New Member
I have a Japanese friend who married an American GI in Japan and moved to the United States. They had one child who is an American citizen, and the mother was issued a green card. They seperated and she moved back to Japan with the child. She, and the child have been living in Japan for 9 years. The child who is 16 will need to come back to the U.S. to go to college, as the child is of mix race, and has not been accepted in Japan.

Obviously the child will have no problems coming back, but is it possible for the mother to get another greencard? She has never divorced her husband, so they have been married for over 16 years.

Regards,

Bill McNair
 
Bill,
Technically, since the japanese lady never divorced the American husband, she is still married and is eligible for entry due to her original green card based on marraige.
However, in pratice, the authorities at the Port of entry could deny the entry since she has not resided in this country for such a long period of time and would not meet the "intention to reside" criterion. I believe the Green card requirements need the holder to stay in US for atleast 15 days a year. So she better have a very, very strong reason madeup to convince the authorities of her intentions to stay here and reasons for not staying here. It might be weaken her case to say that she seperated but is still married. However, she has to consult a very good immigration lawyer either in US or Japan to strengthen her case before she comes here.
If she is denied entry and if her GC gets revoked, her son could sponsor her, in his capacity as a US citizen) after he comes here into US. However, family based case approvals are taking a long time these days. Maybe it is different if the family member is from a rich, developed, "first world" set of nations like Japan.
All the best to your friend.
 
She could try to get a returning resident visa (I think it's SB visa, but I could be wrong). She may have a chance, since she is still married to the guy. I can't believe it, though.. :( In any other case, either her husband should sponsor her again, or the child upon turning 21, just like unitednations said.
 
She was in an abusive relationship, with no family in the US to support her, and his family wouldn't support her, and with not a lot of skills in English she decided to go back to Japan.

The child she has is half black, and half Japanese, so she is not accepted at all in Japan. The child will have to go to college in the US, and still needs a lot of support from her mother. The husband just retired from the Marine Corps, and was pay child support until December, but moved and disappeared. Not even his family knows where he is.

It is definitely a bleak situation for both of them.

Anyway, thanks for answering my question.

Bill Mcnair
 
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