Re-filing an I-130 or Referencing the Original I-130?

[htstguy]

Hi all,

I immigrated from Canada to the US as a permanent resident when I was 10. I was issued a green card and SSN, my father is a natural born American citizen. After highschool, I moved to Canada and have been here for the last 15 years. I have never renounced or officially anandoned my permanent residence, though my green card is undoubtedly considered 'abandoned'.

My question is:
If I wanted to reacquire my permanent residence, does the process need to begin from scratch, i.e. beginning with my father refiling I-130 and then proceeding from there and waiting 10 years (as of the March 2011 Visa Bulletin) for Visa availablity for an F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens ) application or can the original I-130 application from 20 years ago be used?

Best Regards.

JDV

 

[BigJoe5]

Hi all,

I immigrated from Canada to the US as a permanent resident when I was 10. I was issued a green card and SSN, my father is a natural born American citizen. After highschool, I moved to Canada and have been here for the last 15 years. I have never renounced or officially anandoned my permanent residence, though my green card is undoubtedly considered 'abandoned'.

My question is:
If I wanted to reacquire my permanent residence, does the process need to begin from scratch, i.e. beginning with my father refiling I-130 and then proceeding from there and waiting 10 years (as of the March 2011 Visa Bulletin) for Visa availablity for an F3 (Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens ) application or can the original I-130 application from 20 years ago be used?

Best Regards.

JDV

In your circumstances, you need to explore whether or not you have obtained "derivative citizenship", under the laws in effect at the time you obtained your greencard and also, if your father was able to transmit USC to you at birth.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&CH=afm

Look at appendices 71-1 through 71-3 as applicable to your circumstances.

IF you need to re-immigrate, a new petition will be required after all this time.

 

[Jackolantern]

I immigrated from Canada to the US as a permanent resident when I was 10. I was issued a green card and SSN, my father is a natural born American citizen.

You might be a US citizen since birth. See http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html

Or you might have derived citizenship as a result of living in the US as a permanent resident with one or both US citizen parents. Did your mother become a US citizen before you turned 18, and before you finished high school and left the US? If not, were your parents divorced or separated, with you living in the US in the custody of your USC father?

If you're not a citizen, you would have to restart the green card process from scratch.