GC renewal from home country

M

mnimesh1

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

Can someone advise me if we can re-new your green card when you are NOT inside United States? My father-in-law has a GC, but he comes only about a week/yr to keep his GC active.
Do he need to come to US and then apply for his renewal and wait here till he gets his new GC? If so then how much time does it take for someone to get the renewal. Or Can he do the same thing from American consulate office @ his home country?

Please advise
Thanks
Nimesh
 
TheRealCanadian said:
Correction. He thinks he has a green card. Renewing the card is a good time for USCIS to notice that he has abandoned residency.
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All I can say is I am continually amazed by the stuff people try! LPR is a privilege granted to genuine residents of the US, not some 10yr flexible work visa issued to those who some day might want to come back and live in the US again.

By chance has your father has been remembering to file his US tax returns each year? If he filed as a non-resident, or didn't file at all, I'd see very little chance he'll get his GC renewed because he's already admitted he's no longer a resident.
 
mnimesh1 said:
Hi,

Can someone advise me if we can re-new your green card when you are NOT inside United States? My father-in-law has a GC, but he comes only about a week/yr to keep his GC active.
Do he need to come to US and then apply for his renewal and wait here till he gets his new GC? If so then how much time does it take for someone to get the renewal. Or Can he do the same thing from American consulate office @ his home country?

Please advise
Thanks
Nimesh
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Dont be disheart by people comment about your post. Immigration is matter of law not what INS thinks or wants to do. If by law you are eligible for benefit you will get it. INS can suspect things but nothing is final until it is very clear by law that you are not eligible for benefit or ordered by immigration judge.

so long story short staying many and long times out of country and not filing taxes can lead to INS think that applicant is not maintaning legal permanent resident status but nothing is certain. you can appeal it and present your case in front of Judge and if you have good argument you can get your LPR status back.

if you do not earn money in USA you are not required to file federal income tax. My mom has green card for 16 years she never applied for tax because she never earned enough where she was obligated by law to file tax. Every time USCIS asked for tax return stuff we showed relative section of law where it says you are not required to file tax if you earn less then $6,000. Which was good enough proof for USCIS so do not worry.

No you can not renew green card out of country. You file I-90 to renew green card it requires you to show up for finger printing. You can not get fingerprinting done out side US so you can not get green card out of country.

If you green card expires out of country you can apply for "returning resident visa" called SB-1. You apply this with US consulate and they evaluate your situation and approve you for reentry to US as green card holder. It depends if you lost your green card or due to critical situation you were out of USA then usually they approve it without giving you hard time but if you are living out side USA for long time and have many trips out and bring reasonable suspition that you are not living in USA they you might not get SB-1. I would avoid SB-1 at all cost if possible so if his green card is still valid I woud bring him in country and apply for renewal here.

Usually it takes 90 days to get green card renewed but if you have need to travel you can get passport stamped by USCIS and then you can travel on that stamp rather then waiting for green card.


If he wants to stay out side US for long time you can get reentry permit which allows you to live out side for about 2 years
 
wenlock said:
Immigration is matter of law not what INS thinks or wants to do. If by law you are eligible for benefit you will get it.
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Exactly, and the law is quite clear on this matter. One is no longer eligible to get the card renewed if one has abandoned his residency in the United States.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
Exactly, and the law is quite clear on this matter. One is no longer eligible to get the card renewed if one has abandoned his residency in the United States.
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Burdon of proof for proving abandonment of green card is strictly on USCIS. They need legal proof for proving that one has abandon his green card. Let me mention it clearly abandonment of green card is one of the difficult cases for uscis to prove until evidence is over whelming.

Suppose if person is in captivity for more than one year in foriegn country does that means he abandon green card? Usually abandonment cases can be challanged in court and USCIS has to bring many proof to back there case.

my point of view is that just stating that if person is living out side the USA after getting green card for more that one year does not means he abandon LPR.
 
wenlock said:
Burdon of proof for proving abandonment of green card is strictly on USCIS. They need legal proof for proving that one has abandon his green card. Let me mention it clearly abandonment of green card is one of the difficult cases for uscis to prove until evidence is over whelming.
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Absolutely. Let's see - he has no job in the United States. No Residence. No physical presence save for a temporary visit of approximately one week per year. Sounds pretty overwhelming to me.

Immigrants like this individual are a plague on honest people everywhere. When there are immigrants waiting for years for the privilege to actually reside in this country, selfish cheats (and I use those terms deliberately) who use a GC as a border crossing card deserve to be found out expeditiously and have their permanent residency privileges revoked.
 
wenlock said:
if you do not earn money in USA you are not required to file federal income tax.
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I'd like to modify your statement to, "if you don't earn money" you're not required to file federal income tax if you are a resident for tax purposes (more specifically if your income is below the filing requirement). The country of origin of the income doesn't matter; you're generally taxed on your worldwide income by the US.

Income exclusions for those with a tax home in a foreign country and foreign nationals that can claim specific income tax treaty provisions exist. However, if the gross worldwide income requires the person to file, the person still has to file a return, showing the appropriate amount that's not US source income excluded (this can potentially be all your income).

The point is, if someone earns above the threshold amount, they still need to file, even if they don't have any u.s. gross income.
 
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boatbod said:
All I can say is I am continually amazed by the stuff people try! LPR is a privilege granted to genuine residents of the US, not some 10yr flexible work visa issued to those who some day might want to come back and live in the US again.
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I completely agree. I am continuously amazed to read here, how many people wait years for their green cards, and then as soon as they receive it, the first thing they want to do is return to their home countries (mainly India).

When you are a LPR, your HOME country is supposd to be the United States. If you don't want to live here, forget about the green card.

Personally, I'd love to hear the argument/logic from someone who comes here only 1 week per year claim that they are still a permanent resident.
 
wenlock said:
Burdon of proof for proving abandonment of green card is strictly on USCIS.
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great response?
I don't think so. If a person has been absent for more than 180 days, the proof is on the person, not USCIS. If less than 180 days - USCIS has to prove that the person has abandoned his LPR status.
 
I agree with TheRealCanadian and Scottfla. People who use a GC just as an exemption from a visitor visa requirement need to be dealt with harshly. They firstly overburden an already taxed system, only to turn around and mock the requirements on an LPR once granted the privilege. In my opinion they should be should be escorted out of the US and handed a sheet of paper which reads "Get out and remain out".
 
Triple citizen,

May I ask you why you have so many citizenships? If you are such a good US citizen, why don't you renounce the other ones. Is it that they are convenient sometimes to have?
I am not jumping at you, just trying to say that sometimes there is a grey area in every situation.
 
Ninyte,
There is no grey area in my situation. All three of my citizenship countries are perfectly aware of my other two citizenships. Neither one of them requires me to be exclusively their citizen. I was born in one, lived in the other in my 20s (and naturalised) and lived in the third one in my 30s (and naturalised). I abide by the immigration and taxation laws of all three countries and thus I safely carry all three of my passports on my person when I travel. I have nothing to hide or camoflage. As for your point about being a good US citizen, a "good US citizen" does not translate to "exculsively a US citizen".
 
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OK fellows I am not trying to advocate any one about how he choose to spend his life. If some one wants to get green card and move back to his home country it is his choice. It is free world and no one can dictate where you spend life weather you have green card or not.

All I am telling is that in legal procedings about abandonment of LPR because USCIS bring charges against alien about inadmissibility or abandonment so burdon of proof lies on USCIS.

Alien for sure has to prove his intentions in this kind of case that when he left country he has every intention to return to country as immigrant.

So please people conplaining about person leaving just after getting green card has no right to point finger on some one how to spend life after getting green card.

I agree that if you have long periods spent out of country and living and earning some where else in world clearly give USCIS reasonable reason to believe that one has abandon his residency. BUT on the same page USCIS has to prove that Alien has abandon residency. If Alien was admitted law fully at first place for green card then USCIS can not expediatly deport him at the point of entry. He will be giving fair chance in front of Immigration Judge.

If you read above article it also mentions same thing.
 
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