Multiple green card questions after having moved out of US

J

j.rath9

Registered Users (C)
I grew up in the United States but was born in Germany. My nationality is French and German. After 6 years in the United States my dad applied for an employment based green card which we received a year later, but we had already moved back to the United States. Our lawyer filed for an AR11 simultaneously.

We have now been living in Germany for 5 years and moved to another city -from the original one- 2 years ago. Now that I am almost finished with school here, I want to return to the US. Our green card is still one with an expiration date on it. Sadly my parents didn't pay much attention to it after we moved to Germany. I personally consider myself American and even planned on becoming an American citizen. Unfortuanetly I only started to tend to these kinds of affairs one year ago. Before I didn't understand much and trusted my parents to do the right thing. Now I'm 18 and have started to care more about stuff like this. Two years ago we returned to the United States for summer vacation and everything worked. No problems at all.

My question is:
1.Is my green card still valid?
2. If not is there anything I can do to get my green card back?
3. If it is valid, what should I apply for to return and when should I apply?

Thanks a lot for your help.
 
If you have been living out of the U.S for more than 6 months, you have lost your green card already.
 
j.rath9 said:
My question is:
1.Is my green card still valid?
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Not by itself. After an absence of 1 year or more, it is no longer valid by itself as an entry document; one would need a Returning Resident Visa or Transportation Letter (or Reentry Permit, but this one is not possible in your case).
2. If not is there anything I can do to get my green card back?
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Maybe, because you're only 18. In cases where permanent resident children under 18 were taken out of the US for a long time by their parents, there is a precedent for reinstating/preserving the PR status based on the argument that it was not the child's intention to stay outside the US, it was the parents' intention. Get an immigration lawyer ASAP to help you with this, because once you spend too much time outside the US as an adult, it is becomes seen as strictly your own intention why you're outside, not your parents any more.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Not by itself. After an absence of 1 year or more, it is no longer valid by itself as an entry document; one would need a Returning Resident Visa or Transportation Letter (or Reentry Permit, but this one is not possible in your case).

Maybe, because you're only 18. In cases where permanent resident children under 18 were taken out of the US for a long time by their parents, there is a precedent for reinstating/preserving the PR status based on the argument that it was not the child's intention to stay outside the US, it was the parents' intention. Get an immigration lawyer ASAP to help you with this, because once you spend too much time outside the US as an adult, it is becomes seen as strictly your own intention why you're outside, not your parents any more.
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I turned 18 in November. Is it too late to get my green card back? And how much would a lawyer cost me for this process?

Is it possible to just forget the green card and become an American citizen?

What's odd is that I went back to the US 2 years ago and they didn't say anything. This 3 1/2 years after having moved back to Germany.
 
j.rath9 said:
I turned 18 in November. Is it too late to get my green card back? And how much would a lawyer cost me for this process?
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I wouldn't hold my breath on getting an SB-1 visa.

Is it possible to just forget the green card and become an American citizen?
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You have no basis to naturalize, short of asking Congress to pass a law declaring you a US citizen.

What's odd is that I went back to the US 2 years ago and they didn't say anything. This 3 1/2 years after having moved back to Germany.
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It's not surprising that from time to time the POEs let people return back because they don't exhuastively check records. I wouldn't hold my breath that this would work, and once you attempt to naturalize they will certainly catch it.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
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It's not surprising that from time to time the POEs let people return back because they don't exhuastively check records. I wouldn't hold my breath that this would work, and once you attempt to naturalize they will certainly catch it.
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oh no I'm 100% sure they checked because she needed a while and asked to see our passports twice.

My sister also went back in October 2008 and they took her to a room on the side where they told her that she needed a reentry permit. After a while they let her go into the US. She was on a class trip by the way. Are there any exceptions that exist that would allow this?
 
j.rath9 said:
I turned 18 in November. Is it too late to get my green card back?
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I don't know. But the longer you wait, the closer it becomes to impossible.
And how much would a lawyer cost me for this process?
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Thousands of dollars. I would expect at least $5000, if not $10000 or more. But it should only cost a few hundred to get a consultation from a couple of lawyers to provide an opinion of your chances and give you the reasons and precedents to support their opinion. Then you can decide whether it's worth it to go further. Make sure it's a specialized immigration lawyer.
Is it possible to just forget the green card and become an American citizen?
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No. Unless you meet certain exceptions like being in the US military, you need to be living in the US as a permanent resident for the 5 years* immediately prior to applying, in order to obtain US citizenship.


*or 3 years, if you're married to a US citizen
 
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j.rath9 said:
oh no I'm 100% sure they checked because she needed a while and asked to see our passports twice.
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But maybe the passport didn't reveal the true extent of the lengthy absences. The officer may have seen recent entry stamps for other countries and incorrectly thought that one or more of them were for trips originating in the US.

My sister also went back in October 2008 and they took her to a room on the side where they told her that she needed a reentry permit. After a while they let her go into the US. She was on a class trip by the way. Are there any exceptions that exist that would allow this?
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She got lucky. The officer in the secondary inspection room has the discretion to let somebody into the US even when the person's documents are not fully in good order, and in this case they used that discretion to let her in.
 
Jackolantern said:
But maybe the passport didn't reveal the true extent of the lengthy absences. The officer may have seen recent entry stamps for other countries and incorrectly thought that one or more of them were for trips originating in the US.


She got lucky. The officer in the secondary inspection room has the discretion to let somebody into the US even when the person's documents are not fully in good order, and in this case they used that discretion to let her in.
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Our passports all showed that the last time we were in the US was 2004. In the case of my sister the inspector told her all she should have done was to file a reentry permit. Then nothing would have happened. But it looks like now I'm officially f*cked.
 
j.rath9 said:
Our passports all showed that the last time we were in the US was 2004. In the case of my sister the inspector told her all she should have done was to file a reentry permit. Then nothing would have happened. But it looks like now I'm officially f*cked.
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Do not forget that you are eligible for the visa waiver program and letting you or your sister in is not a big deal even without GC unless I am missing something else.
The other thinking is if you are coming to live and work in US permanently from here on just do it and apply for citizen after 5 years from now.
May be unrelated Q but just curious. What is wrong being with French and German citizen and what USC will add? I may understand this with those from developing countries or those with an established carrier in developed countries and have a better option in US.
 
mmed said:
Do not forget that you are eligible for the visa waiver program and letting you or your sister in is not a big deal even without GC unless I am missing something else.
The other thinking is if you are coming to live and work in US permanently from here on just do it and apply for citizen after 5 years from now.
May be unrelated Q but just curious. What is wrong being with French and German citizen and what USC will add? I may understand this with those from developing countries or those with an established carrier in developed countries and have a better option in US.
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The problem with not having my green card anymore forces me to take a student visa. With that student visa come many restrictions. The VWP program won't help me much seeing as it's only for 90 days. I planned on taking the US Citizenship later on in the future. Not immediately. That wasn't a priority.
 
mmed Quote:
What is wrong being with French and German citizen and what USC will add? I may understand this with those from developing countries or those with an established carrier in developed countries and have a better option in US.
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Nothing wrong with being French or German or both.
What USC will add? Choices for him. Choices for his children.
I might understand your remark if you said something like "What's the point to become a Swede to work and live in Sweden when you're already French?"
But here it's about the US. The full right of working in the US is not even given to any Canadian (needs to qualify for a TN Visa). So why a european won't worry for his GC or his citizenship?

Plus another point for your information: In term of employment is it better to be a minority citizen in the US or in France or Germany?
Ask B.O about his chances to be president in a european country.
Ask Arnold (Austrian) about his chances to be governor of CA and chancelor of Autria.

Choices, opportunities ... still the same ideas that pushed europeans (and others) to leave their country and come to the US.
Choices, opportunities ... still the same ideas that make this country go and desired.
 
Nestor67 said:
Nothing wrong with being French or German or both.
What USC will add? Choices for him. Choices for his children.
I might understand your remark if you said something like "What's the point to become a Swede to work and live in Sweden when you're already French?"
But here it's about the US. The full right of working in the US is not even given to any Canadian (needs to qualify for a TN Visa). So why a european won't worry for his GC or his citizenship?

Plus another point for your information: In term of employment is it better to be a minority citizen in the US or in France or Germany?
Ask B.O about his chances to be president in a european country.
Ask Arnold (Austrian) about his chances to be governor of CA and chancelor of Autria.

Choices, opportunities ... still the same ideas that pushed europeans (and others) to leave their country and come to the US.
Choices, opportunities ... still the same ideas that make this country go and desired.
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Thanks!
 
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