World Journal Weekly Q & A - October 22, 2006
Q & A 1.
Q&A 1.
Legal Options Where Green Card Holders Have Been Out of The Country
Longer Than Allowed by Law
Chen Reader asks:
My niece received her U.S. permanent resident in 1994. She came
and went several times. The last time she left the U.S. was in April
of 1997. Then, she stayed in Taiwan for medical treatments. Her
green card expired in 2004. Now, she wants to come to the U.S. and
live with me. Can she use her green card to come in? If not, what
can she do?
Dear reader:
Unless your niece had a terrible problem with her health which
absolutely precluded her from returning to the States, she has lost
her right to permanent residence through remaining overseas for
the past nine years. I suggest she can either try to explain such
dire circumstances to the AIT and request a special immigrant visa
if such happened, or if there were no dire circumstances, she can
either try to re-immigrate herself to the U.S. through undergoing
the immigration processs again (if that is possible at this time),
or surrender the green card to the AIT and request a visitor's visa
to the U.S. if her purpose is to visit only. If she has other purposes,
she should seek the appropriate visa.
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