Gave voluntarily GC after getting married, is it possible to regain it?

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Corisco

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone,

I believe this a very unique situation. Here's my case:

I got married in the US with my wife (GC holder at the time) while we were there on vacation in 2007 (her parents are living there and became meanwhile American Citizens).

We are currently living in Portugal.

Last summer we went on vacation (like we usually do every year) and after getting in, on the airport, she was called apart to justify why she was out for so long and why was she still a green card user since she was living outside.

After a long talk, she voluntarily agreed to give back it's card (her number will be hers for life, so we were told). If she plans, she can still make a petition to re-gain it.

This is the situation. We now have a little daughter. Her parents are US citizens and she no longer has a GC, an alien, like me :)

Is it possible for her parents to fill a petition to her daughter (and since she is married and have a daughter) to have a GC again? If so, will I and our daughter have it to?

If it is, how long does it usually take this process?

Thanks for your time,

Best Regards,
 
Corisco said:
After a long talk, she voluntarily agreed to give back it's card (her number will be hers for life, so we were told). If she plans, she can still make a petition to re-gain it.
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If she surrendered her GC, she is no longer a permanent resident.

Is it possible for her parents to fill a petition to her daughter (and since she is married and have a daughter) to have a GC again? If so, will I and our daughter have it to?
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Yes, your in-laws could petition your wife in FB3. There is an approximately 10 year wait for a visa to become available.
 
Thank you for your answers.

I think we will proceed with the filling, don't know how much will cost us though.

I thought that this sort of request would usually take up to 5 years. Up to 10 years is quite a lot. Doesn't the fact that being American Citizens and from mother to daughter would be taken in consideration in order to speed up the process?

Thanks,

Best Regards.
 
Hi again,

I have searched the forum for similar situations for my last question.

Tell me something, when she gave back the green card at the airport, she was told that the number of her GC will always be associated to her. If she planned later to recover it, she could fill in a request and that number would be the same.

Doesn't the fact that having her data/number of GC already issued on the records speeds up her process if her parents fill in the petition?

Thanks,
 
Corisco said:
Doesn't the fact that being American Citizens and from mother to daughter would be taken in consideration in order to speed up the process?
Click to expand...

It is taken into consideration - if her parents weren't citizens they wouldn't get to petition her in the first place.

Her old GC will do nothing to speed the process up.
 
Since she has an A-file, certain documents relating to her are in there. IF she or her parents have trouble finding any older documents they may refer USCIS to that A-file. NOTE: it is easier to prove relationship between mother and child (her mom should file the I-130).
 
Corisco said:
Hi again,

I have searched the forum for similar situations for my last question.

Tell me something, when she gave back the green card at the airport, she was told that the number of her GC will always be associated to her. If she planned later to recover it, she could fill in a request and that number would be the same.

Doesn't the fact that having her data/number of GC already issued on the records speeds up her process if her parents fill in the petition?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

She should use the same old A-number when reapplying, but it won't speed things up compared to other people who never had a green card before. However, failure to provide her old A# could slow things down compared to other people, because if she doesn't provide it USCIS/DOS may discover at the last minute that she already has an A-file, and then her case is delayed while they review it. Whereas if the A-number was provided from the beginning, they would have located the file earlier in the process.

The bottom line is that her prior GC gives her no advantage in future GC processes, apart from the old documents aspect that BigJoe mentioned. But it may have other advantages that she can enjoy after she returns to the US, such as not having to wait for an SSN because she already has one, or perhaps not having to retake the driving test if she returns to the same state where she had a driver's license.
 
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Hi,

Thank you all for your answers, they were quite helpful, though not very promising ...:)

I believe they will still fill in the petition, but we'll have to wait. I guess it's best not to live life thinking about it.

Thanks once again,

Best regards,
 
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