Help! Issues of Abandonment of Residency and want to apply for N-400

I

iwant2bAmerican

Registered Users (C)
Hi,
I became an LPR at the age of 4 in 1993. At the age of 9, I moved abroad and lived there for 5 years, without returning to the US even once.
My parents did not get a reentry permit although my father did come to the US every year to work and he filed income taxes in the US and claimed all of his dependents (me, my sisters, and mother) on the income taxes. We moved abroad because he got a missionary (religious) position in that country. He did not file a N-470 to preserve our LPR status because he did not know or did not look to find out. My parents also did not keep any house in the US or pay any bills here as far as I know.

In 2002 when my family returned to the US, the officer at the POE (airport) simply let us all back into the US without asking any questions. So my first question is, am I a LAWFUL permanent resident? Was I LAWFULLY admitted? Or could USCIS take my PR card away saying I abandoned my residency? I am having trouble finding out exactly what it means to be lawfully admitted. Does it just mean as long as I did not sneak into the country?

So since coming back to the US in 2002, I have left the US a total of <100 days, so I have been here continuously for 8 years.
I know the eligibility requirements for n-400 is that the applicant needs to have continuous residence for 5 years, so I definitely meet that requirement. I also got married in July, 2008, so I am almost eligible to apply for the 3 year rule based on marriage to a US citizen.
What I am scared of is that the USCIS agent will find that I abandoned my residence between 1998 and 2002 when I lived abroad and will revoke my green card or even place me in removal proceedings. Could this happen?

Say they did put me in removal proceedings, would I be eligible to apply for cancellation of removal? The first requirement is "Has been lawfully admitted as a permanent residence for at least five (5) years" which is why I am asking if I was lawfully admitted as a permanent resident back in 2002 when I returned to the US.

Also, (I know it sounds insane but I need to make sure because I am not risking my marriage for naturalization, I'd rather remain a LPR forever), if I got placed in removal proceedings and got sent back to my country, would my husband be able to get a green card for me so that I can come right back to the US? I'm asking because I know there is a set bar (3 or 10 years) before someone deported or removed can return to this country.

I really want to get my naturalization so I can work for CBP. Funny right? =)
I'm guessing the reason why I can't find any cases similar to mine is because it should be fine, but I'm asking anyways.

If you don't answer anything else, at least please tell me if I was LAWFULLY admitted and if I am a LAWFUL PR right now.

Thanks in advance for any help.

;)
 
I think you got lucky, I know a guy that came to US in 2000 after leaving US in 1985, so after 15 years and got lucky, he had one of those GC's that did not had the expiration date. He lied about his absence on N-400 and even got his citizenship, totally wrong and unlawful but he did it.
Pre 9-11 they were clocking the entry/exit records for a year, but since 2003 they intend to keep it till the doomsday so while you got lucky it will not work now for anyone else.
You entered using your GC, so you entered as a lawful permanent resident and were lawfully admitted.
 
iwant2bAmerican said:
So since coming back to the US in 2002, I have left the US a total of <100 days, so I have been here continuously for 8 years.
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Since you received your GC in 1993, did you renew it in 2003? Did you encounter any issues?
Also, did you ever encounter any issues returning to the US during your trip(s) after 2002?
 
Bobsmyth said:
Since you received your GC in 1993, did you renew it in 2003? Did you encounter any issues?
Also, did you ever encounter any issues returning to the US during your trip(s) after 2002?
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I did renew it in 2002 or 2003 without any problems.
I went to Brazil for about a month and a half in 2005. My old passport has the stamp when I returned March 19, 2005 and says "ADMITTED" MIA so even since I visited Brazil I fulfill the 5 years requirement.

New passport: I went to Korea on May 26, 2010 and again I have the "ADMITTED" stamp July 12, 2010.

I never encountered any issues returning from any trips. But my passports don't have those stamps of when I was out for 5 years and returned in 2002. I don't know if that matters.
I mean, I guess I was lawfully admitted since I was "inspected and authorized" in 2005 and I have the stamp in my old passport to prove it. I'm just scared they might say I shouldn't have been allowed back or something. A lot of people are telling me to just not list any trips past 5 years ago but I don't want to lie.
 
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Your case will go on well. The N400 only cares about the last 5 years,so that's what you have to focuses on, but if achieving sainthood is your aspiration, list your trip for the past 20 years and USCIS will anoint a saint, while nailing you for living abroad for a long time. Focus on the last 5 years, did you pay taxes, are not a criminal? You are likely to be fine.
 
Al Southner said:
Your case will go on well. The N400 only cares about the last 5 years,so that's what you have to focuses on, but if achieving sainthood is your aspiration, list your trip for the past 20 years and USCIS will anoint a saint, while nailing you for living abroad for a long time. Focus on the last 5 years, did you pay taxes, are not a criminal? You are likely to be fine.
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But they still do ask about all trips since becoming an LPR (since 1993 for me). So wouldn't NOT writing that be a crime?
 
The fact that you were a minor at the time and successfully readmitted as a derivative LPR with your dad, and thereafter successfully reapplied for your GC is a good sign that USCIS wouldn't pursue the abandonment issue in the future.
 
iwant2bAmerican said:
He did not file a N-470 to preserve our LPR status because he did not know or did not look to find out.
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N-470 does not preserve LPR status when abroad. Reentry permit is the document that preserves LPR status for up to 2 years; N-470 is to preserve continuous residence for naturalization purposes (and thus is unnecessary for those who don't want to apply for citizenship).
 
iwant2bAmerican said:
But they still do ask about all trips since becoming an LPR (since 1993 for me). So wouldn't NOT writing that be a crime?
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You need to list all those trips, but at this time they're unlikely to hold you responsible for trips taken as a minor. However, you should still consult a lawyer before applying, to find out whether the relevant laws and court cases mean they can't deport you for this, or whether they technically can deport you but they probably will choose not to.
 
Normally i advise one to be always truthful with USCIS. But in your case i will advise you not to be "Too True". When you have to list your trips outside USA since getting GC, do not mention about your 5 year absence in the list. Mention only the trips after that.

In the interview if the question arises you can say you mistook and listed only trips in the last 5/10 years. You will sail through with your naturalization if you have clean criminal record and no tax problem. Wish all the luck with your N-400.
 
madh4 said:
When you have to list your trips outside USA since getting GC, do not mention about your 5 year absence in the list. ...

...In the interview if the question arises you can say you mistook and listed only trips in the last 5/10 years.
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The application states to lists all trips since becoming LPR, so pleading ignorance to the question is not a defense. Also, the IO has access to the list of trips anyways, so there's no point in purposefully not disclosing them to begin with in the hopes the abandonment issue won't come up at interview.
 
im too scared to not list those trips, even though listing them might bring up questions.
if i lie, that is lack of good moral character, which is one of the requirements for cancellation of removal should anything happen. so if they placed me in removal proceedings or something for abandonment of residency and i had lied to the uscis agent, cancellation of removal application goes right down the drain.
it just sucks to list it and then they might ask questions and make a big deal out of it..

bobsmyth..do you think they would even make an issue of my long stay abroad considering i'm a 22 year old female who has been here continuously for the past 8 years and just graduated from a university? have you heard of any cases like this one?
i have one reckless driving record and one failure to obey highway sign (u-turn). how much does that matter? but taxes are all paid and everything.
 
iwant2bAmerican said:
bobsmyth..do you think they would even make an issue of my long stay abroad considering i'm a 22 year old female who has been here continuously for the past 8 years and just graduated from a university?
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Everybody here agrees that your long-ago 5 year absence is very unlikely to cause you to be deported.

But unlikely is not the same as impossible. If you want know if it's impossible for you be deported on that basis, see an experienced immigration lawyer who can research the relevant laws and court precedents.

Did either of your parents become a US citizen before you turned 18?
 
iwant2bAmerican said:
bobsmyth..do you think they would even make an issue of my long stay abroad considering i'm a 22 year old female who has been here continuously for the past 8 years and just graduated from a university? have you heard of any cases like this one?
i have one reckless driving record and one failure to obey highway sign (u-turn). how much does that matter? but taxes are all paid and everything.
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There's no 100% guarantee that they won't make it an issue, but considering the facts you mentioned, I don't see why they would. USCIS has bigger fish to fry than spending resources on trying to make an example of a naturalization applicant who was a minor at the time and who has since successfully renewed their GC and completed college in the US. If USCIS wanted to pursue the abandonment issue they would have done so long ago (as they had the chance on numerous occasions) instead of waiting until naturalization.

Minor traffic infractions that have been paid are not an issue for naturalization.
 
Bobsmyth said:
If USCIS wanted to pursue the abandonment issue they would have done so long ago (as they had the chance on numerous occasions) instead of waiting until naturalization.
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That's not true; there are many people for whom USCIS decided to pursue deportation when they applied for naturalization, even though the prison sentence or probation was completed 10 or 20 (or more) years ago and they successfully renewed their green cards at least once since the conviction and never been in trouble since. USCIS's or ICE's lack of pursuing deportation for 10, 20, or 30 years doesn't mean they will continue to ignore the deportable issue when one applies for naturalization.

Having said that, it is highly unlikely they'll pursue deportation now for iwant2bAmerican's situation.
 
Bobsmyth said:
The discussion here is about abandonment of residency, not a past prison sentence or probation.
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But your point was that if USCIS wanted to deport they would have done it already because they could have done it long ago. "Could have done it long ago but didn't" doesn't mean they can't or won't do it now, and that has been demonstrated with decades-delayed deportations for convictions. There may be other reasons why they can't or won't pursue deportation now for the OP's situation, but "could have done it long ago" is not the reason.
 
parents did not get citizenship before i turned 18. that would've been splendid. what wouldve also been great is if they came to the US a year earlier then i wouldve been born here just like my sisters

if this adds any help.. it says im a category sr3 on my PR card, which is child of a religious worker, which would maybe explain the 5 year absence? i don't know

by the way, my parents recently got their citizenship (within the last 2 years) so i dont know if that changes anything as far as the category on my permanent resident card
 
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iwant2bAmerican said:
if this adds any help.. it says im a category sr3 on my PR card, which is child of a religious worker,
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That may further explain why USCIS did not pursue the abandonment issue at the time of your entry with father in 2002.

Your parents naturalization does not affect the category of your GC.
 
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