Green Card(Permanent resident card) with no Expiration Date

My Father 70 year old lived in US for 12 years and received his Greencard in 1975. He left US for personal reasons in 1979. But now we want to renew his Greencard. Through research we found out that is possible to renew his permanent resident/Greencard as there is no expiration date on his Greencard. I wanted to clarify following questions.

1) Is this assumption correct? Can he come renew under greencard with no expiration date issued before 1989.

2) Should he be in USA to apply or can I apply on his behalf.

3) Currently, he is on 10 years visitor visa. Will there be any negative impact to the visa (in case GC does not get approved?

Other scenario. I will receive my citizenship in 2020 and planning to sponsor my parents GC after that. SInce my father already has GC , is there a way to expedite the process ?

Also, as my father has GC and SSN and he worked in USA , is he eligible for SSN pension now?
 
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The card's expiration or validity is not the issue. Permanent resident status is permanent and does not expire even if the card expires or is no longer valid. If the person maintains residence in the US, the card expiration does not affect their status; it is just inconvenient; and the person can always get a new card no matter how long the card may have expired or been invalid. I-151 cards are no longer valid even if they have no expiration date, whereas I-551 cards with no expiration date issued in the 80s are still valid today; but again, that's not the issue.

The issue is abandoning of residence. Someone who has left for a few years would pretty much definitely be considered to have abandoned residence, let alone several decades. The fact that he got a 10-year visitor visa also pretty much implies he has abandoned residence (usually they would have asked him to voluntarily sign a form to relinquish permanent residency when he applies for a visitor visa; not sure why they didn't do that; perhaps his permanent residency was so long ago that they didn't notice). Someone who has abandoned residence cannot be admitted as a permanent resident, even if their card is unexpired. He also cannot get a new card.

You can petition him to immigrate (become a permanent resident) again from scratch when you become a citizen.
 
Is there any other way to expedite the process like SBI returning resident visa route. Is there any risk on 10 year visitor visa ?
Forget about SB-1. Those are really hard to get for someone even with just a little more than a year out of the US, let alone decades. And you need to show that your inability to return on time was due to circumstances beyond your control from then continuously until now.

If the card was still valid, flying to the US and trying to enter and face determination by the immigration officer and immigration judge usually has a better chance of success than trying to get SB-1 abroad, but even that would have no chance of working for someone who's been out for decades.
 
He can surrender the card either at the consulate/embassy or at the airport when he enters the US. He has a visa, and is now only a visitor. The card is invalid, as is his status. Unless he was ill all this time and could not travel, or was barred from traveling for some other reason, an SB1 visa is a waste of time and money.
 
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