Green card renewal after several years

[altena99]

Hello all. I will explain my situation as detailed as possible, in order to receive hopefully an helpfull answer to my questions.

I (or better the company I was working for) applied for a GC in 1996 and one was issued to me in 1997. I continued to live in the US until 2001, and left in December of 2001 for my originating country, The Netherlands.
Since 2001 I have not returned to the US and did not file anything. Furthermore, I lost my GC document due to theft somewhere in 2004.

Of course my questions are related to the subjects Renewal of my GC and return to the US somewhere in the near future.

I was told that, although the physical GC has expired, ones actual status as Resident Alien does not change. (Although a GC holder has to file taxes over the years not being present in the US, and failure to do so can send the holder to jail by entering the US without proper preparation (i.e. taking care of tax issues before traveling abroad again )).
A few years ago I called the (former) INS and an officer told me that my status as RA was abandoned and I had to start all over again.

This seems an excellent site to get some advise from persons in the same situation, or at least persons who know the law better then I do.

Questions:
1. is it true that my status actually did not change, despite the fact that I lost the document and did not renew it over the years?
2. could I just file for a renewal, pay the fee, get a new stamp in my (Dutch) passport and travel to the US (of course after sorting out my tax isssues)
3. are there any other issues to consider in this process?

Thank you for your advise and have a good one.

 

[fromnaija]

Yes it is true that you are no longer a permanent resident having abandoned your residency when you stayed out of the US for more than 12 months.
At this time there is nothing you possibly can do to regain the status except by applying from the beginning again through any of the avenue open to you.

 

[nelsona]

I was told that, although the physical GC has expired, ones actual status as Resident Alien does not change.

Actually, it is the reverse taha tis true: despite having an unexpired GC, one's actual status could and does change.

Yours is a case in point. You have abandonned your RA status, plain and simple. Even if you continued to file a 1040, this does not outweigh the abandonment.

Had you kept the card, you *might* be able to sneak back in, but even this is doubtful, and is impossible for you at this point.

 

[mmed]

Hello all. I will explain my situation as detailed as possible, in order to receive hopefully an helpfull answer to my questions.

I (or better the company I was working for) applied for a GC in 1996 and one was issued to me in 1997. I continued to live in the US until 2001, and left in December of 2001 for my originating country, The Netherlands.
Since 2001 I have not returned to the US and did not file anything. Furthermore, I lost my GC document due to theft somewhere in 2004.

Of course my questions are related to the subjects Renewal of my GC and return to the US somewhere in the near future.

I was told that, although the physical GC has expired, ones actual status as Resident Alien does not change. (Although a GC holder has to file taxes over the years not being present in the US, and failure to do so can send the holder to jail by entering the US without proper preparation (i.e. taking care of tax issues before traveling abroad again )).
A few years ago I called the (former) INS and an officer told me that my status as RA was abandoned and I had to start all over again.

This seems an excellent site to get some advise from persons in the same situation, or at least persons who know the law better then I do.

Questions:
1. is it true that my status actually did not change, despite the fact that I lost the document and did not renew it over the years?
2. could I just file for a renewal, pay the fee, get a new stamp in my (Dutch) passport and travel to the US (of course after sorting out my tax isssues)
3. are there any other issues to consider in this process?

Thank you for your advise and have a good one.

GC is nothing but permanent visa like for example H visa. If you have valid H stamp and valid Paper work for H but you are not working with H sponsor, you will be no H anymore and you will be never admissible under H (you may sneak with this paper work, but still this is illegal). If you abandoned you PR status (by staying outside US for more than 12 months without travel permit), even with what look to be valid GC, again this means nothing you are not still not admissible with that card anymore. You can start the process again, from where it depends on many factors.

 

[Jackolantern]

1. is it true that my status actually did not change, despite the fact that I lost the document and did not renew it over the years?

Your status does not change as a result of losing the card or having it expire. But it can change for other reasons, like spending more than 1 year outside the US without a reentry permit.

If you had spent (for example) only 5 months outside the US, and your card both expired and got stolen during that time, you would still be considered a permanent resident, and you could go to the US consulate in your country to apply for a "transportation letter" that would allow you to reenter the US.

In example 1 above, the card is unexpired and in your possession, but the PR status is gone due to the long time outside the US; in example 2, the card is lost and expired but the PR status is maintained.

So it's not that your PR status can't or doesn't change. You can lose your PR status, but losing or keeping the status is a separate consideration from what happens to the card.

So you should consider your PR status as being abandoned since December 2002, and don't bother to file any US tax returns for 2003 or later.

 

[Jackolantern]

If you do plan to visit the US in the feature, you should officially surrender your permanent residence at a US consulate using the I-407 process, otherwise you would run into trouble either when entering the US or applying for a tourist visa.