Q & A December 11, 2005

Q & A 1.

Q&A 1.

Absences of More Than 6 Months Outside U.S. for Green Card Holders and FBI Fingerprint Checks

Tian Reader asks:

I passed my interview on 7/2003, however, as of now, I have not received any information. Could I hire an attorney or myself to contact FBI and check on my case?

I currently stay more than 6 months in China doing business. Will it affect my green card?

Dear reader:

Staying in China for six months doing business may adversely affect your green card, but there are many variables involved because of which I cannot give more of an opinion. For example, are you paying U.S. taxes? Are you taking the IRS exemption for income earned overseas? Is this your first time outside the United States for more than six months after obtaining your green card or is this part of a pattern? Are you working for a U.S. company involved in whole or part in the development of Foreign Trade and Commerce of the U.S.? Do you have a reentry permit? Have you preserved your residence for naturalization purposes under an N-470 application?

It was a common practice up until a few years ago for an attorney to contact the FBI to find out the status of FBI clearances. The FBI would only provide information about whether such clearances were completed and sent to the interested agency. The FBI then stopped providing such information to anyone but law-enforcement or agency personnel leaving individuals with no choice except to constantly request U.S.C.I.S. to check with the FBI or for the examiner to send another namecheck clearance request to the agency. Now however, there appears to be a recent change as the FBI now has a national name check office that individuals can call [(202) 324-2399] and inquire as to the status of the security name checks. Although there should supposedly be a live person answering the line, there was only a phone message as of November 11th providing an e-mail address [fbinncp@ic.fbi.gov] to which individuals are to supply name, date of birth, alien number, and e-mail address.

Copyright © 2003 - 2005 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.