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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    3

    Exclamation How to Continue Permanent Residency After an Extended Absence, no Reentry Permit

    I am a US citizen by birth. My wife of 13 years (14 years in August), is a citizen of South Korea. In October of 2003 after 5 years of marriage and worthily after the birth of our daughter (of course also a US citizen by birth) we moved from Germany to the United States, and my wife began the process of applying for LPR status. The process concluded with the issuance of her Green Card in November 2004 with a 10-year validity. We purchased a home in Maine in the spring of 2006, which we still own.

    In 2009/2010 my position as a teacher of German at a public middle school in Massachusetts was threatened, and at the same time I was offered a position teaching German at the US Embassy affiliated American School of Warsaw in Poland. In order to ensure my uninterrupted employment, I accepted the position and we moved to Warsaw in August 2010. Unfortunately, we were very naive about what impact this would have on my wife's LPR status (I had assumed that her status was secure until 2014, as that is the date printed on her Green Card).

    It was only after arriving in Poland and speaking to friends and colleagues who have been in similar situations that we learned that she needed to apply for a re-entry permit prior to our departure. Consultations with the consular section of the Embassy in Warsaw made it clear to us that this permit could only be procured in the US, and that DHS/USCIS would almost certainly consider consider my wife's LPR status as abandoned. When we returned to the US for the summer in June (2.5 weeks ago), we were afraid that my wife might be denied entry and immediately put back on a plane to Poland, so we "played it safe" and entered her as a tourist on the visa waiver program. (I now understand this may have been a near-fatal mistake.)

    About 2 weeks ago we presented ourselves to the DHS offices in South Portland, Maine to officially hear what their view of my wife's LPR status was. We were initially informed that her status would be considered abandoned and that they would be confiscating her Green Card and presented us with a form to officially abandon her status. I read the form and asked them about question 6, asking for the reason that she "willingly" abandoned or was planning to abandon her status. I asked for clarification on how to answer that question, because we had not "willingly" abandoned her status at all, but rather accidentally or unwittingly done so. At this time three agents convened to discuss our situation further. When our officer returned, she took the form away, returned my wife's passport and Green Card to her, and indicated that we should seek legal assistance.

    In the opinion of a friend of a friend, who is an immigration lawyer in Pennsylvania, the fact that the DHS official returned my wife's Green Card to her indicates that - for the time being - they have chosen NOT to consider her LPR status as abandoned, as if they did, they would surely not have returned the card. We indicated to them that we DO still jointly own a house in Maine, maintain bank accounts in Maine, file with the IRS annually, and our "home of record" continues to be in Maine.

    So the areas on which we need clarification are as follows:

    - Is my wife's LPR status valid? That is, does DHS consider her status as abandoned or not?

    IF her LPR status is valid, there are two paths to resolution of our issue, and we'd need advice on which path to follow and how.

    - Apply now for a reentry permit to be collected at the US Embassy in Warsaw after we return to Poland. (I continue to be employed there.)
    - Apply now for naturalization based on her 6 years of continuous legal presence in the US prior to our departure in 2010, with the understanding that my wife would have to return once or possibly twice to the US for the interview and for the oath.

    We would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide us on this strange case.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Too Long Outside the U.S. on Lpr Status - Now What

    At this point, not having a reentry permit or returning resident visa, she will have been considered to have abandoned her residency.

    I don't agree with your friend fully. While she might still have the green card, I can guarantee that with two years of not reentry permit/returning resident visa when she attempts to enter she will have problems. They'll immediately ask her to waive her residency, but even if she doesn't a hearing on the matter will certainly make that determination.

    The big issue with just jumping to naturalization at this point is that she will need to show she is a permanent resident AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. You can't do this remotely. You actually have to be residing in the district in which you are applying for naturalization for at least three months.

    You should consult a proper immigration lawyer. There were a number of things you COULD HAVE DONE, keeping the reentry permit going, getting an N-470 filed, etc... but at this point it may be too late and you're back to starting over.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Too Long Outside the U.S. on Lpr Status - Now What

    Thank you, flyingiron.

    We have already entered and are currently in the US. The DHS officer who presented us with the I-407 (or whatever form it was) for us to fill out "officially" abandoning her status withdrew it and returned her card to her upon hearing our explanation as to why we did not "willingly" or really even "knowingly" abandon her status. What implications, if any, do you think this has?

    We know all about the things that we COULD/SHOULD have done, but what we need to know is what to do now.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Too Long Outside the U.S. on Lpr Status - Now What

    I suspect that either an attempt to belatedly obtain a reentry permit or an attempt to naturalize will, under the facts you've given, be unsuccessful. If you can afford the filing fees, though, there's only one way to find out for certain. The alternative is to start over.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Too Long Outside the U.S. on Lpr Status - Now What

    We're not lawyers. I don't usually do this, but I will this one time. Pop over to http://forum.freeadvice.com and ask in their immigration forum. They actually do have an immigration attorney that responds over there.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Too Long Outside the U.S. on Lpr Status - Now What

    Thank you, flyingiron. I'm on it.

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