Expired CR - Wife left and wants to come back

K

kazuya1274

New Member
Hello,

I have a ? I can't seem to find an answer for. My wife and I were married in 2007, and then applied for her visa to come to the US. We lived together for 1.5 years. In 2008/2009 she went back to her home country for the holidays, and she was also pregnant. When she came back to US we were fighting and she wanted to go back. For whatever reason, I gave into her wish, and she went home, and had the baby over there. We did not divorce. Now she wants to come back and I want her and my daughter with me. Her deadline for applying for permanent residency was last September 2009. I never received any communication from anyone regarding her status or whether she is still here or not. My question is, do we have to go through the entire process with USCIS again to get her another visa, or can we re-instate her visa since she had one already, but her CR expired? I've been thinking long and hard about this and I need to find out what I need to do to get this going again.
 
So she was granted a condition green card in 2007, failed to file for the unconditional green card by the September 2009 deadline, and she also stayed outside the US for over 1 year without a reentry permit?

If that is true, that's 2 reasons her green card is dead and you'll need to apply for a new one from scratch. It's basically the same paperwork you filed back in 2007; start by filing an I-130 ...
 
Something tells me that the old I-130 may be used, since the relationship between the beneficiary and the petitioner is still intact.
 
The relationship may be still intact, but with the green card having been granted and abandoned I'm 99% sure the I-130 cannot be used again.

And even if there is some obscure regulation or precedent allowing it to be reused at this stage, it's likely to meet so much resistance and complications with USCIS, leading to denials or delays, so it's better to just file a new one and keep things straightforward.
 
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I-130 establishes the relationship between the beneficiary and the petitioner. The relationship continues - I-130 should be valid. She wouldn't have to go through the USCIS. She'd file DS-230 with a consulate, as far as I know.
 
I suppose she could take the old I-130 approval notice and go ahead with DS-230 at the consulate and see what happens. But it probably won't be smooth sailing, even if the end result is success.
 
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