Help!!!

[together-forever 0]

I have filed I-751, Removal of Conditions, in Dec 2011. I am currently holding an expired 2 year Conditional Permanent Resident Card along with the 1 year extension letter. As of today we still havent received my Biometrics Appointment letter, it has been 65 days now since we received NOA1.

Since January 2011 my husband and me have been staying in Germany due to several factors. My mother had serious health issues which caused an extreme hardship on my family in Germany. Besides that we also received bad news during a routine doctors visit - my body had developed precancerous cells. Unfortunately at that the time we had no healthcare coverage due to my husband ending his contract with the Army. Going to Germany temporarly seemed for us the most practical choice since we were able to support my family and for me to get the needed medical attention which was available to me in my home country.

In November 2011 my husband and I made a trip to the U.S. to gather all the documents for the filing of I-751. My husband and me had to return to Germany for a little while since I had to undergo some more medical follow-ups. AT POE the CBP office didnt allow me entering the county using my Greencard for the reason that it was expiring the next day. I was told that my Greencard wasnt good for the length of trip to the U.S. and that I had to use Visa Waiver. I told him that I was a Permanent Resident living in the States, that my Greencard is still good to enter the U.S. and that it doesnt have to be valid for the length of my trip. I was forced to do the Visa Waiver otherwise I would have not been allowed in the U.S. at all.

I did some research on here. If my trip to the States isnt counted then I would be out of the U.S. for more than 1 year. Is this why I havent received my biometrics appointment letter yet? Is my LPR status terminated?

My husband and me would like to return home now and we are not sure if I will be let in the U.S. with my expired greencard and the extension letter?

Thanks for all your help!!!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

There is a good chance it is terminated. You have been outside of the US for a long time, and the real kicker is that you claimed to be a non-resident by using the VWP. I'd be seeking legal counsel. Good luck.

[jhm3 15]

As you recognize, this is a tricky situation in a number of respects. Looking at things in the most positive light possible, you hold a (now expired) conditional green card along with a valid extension letter, and you have not been physically outside the United States for a period of longer than a year, so you have the documentation necessary to present yourself at a US port of entry as a returning resident. However, given the amount of time you have spent outside the US over the past 13-14 months and the unusual circumstances of your last admission to the country, you should be prepared to show evidence that did not abandon your status while abroad. The sorts of things you would need to document would be the fact that you went abroad for a definite, temporary purpose (e.g., to attend to your mother's health); the fact that, even though you stayed abroad longer than expected, you consistently maintained your intention to return to the US at a specific moment that could be expected to arrive in the reasonably near future (e.g., upon the completion of your own medical treatments); and the fact that you maintained significant ties to the US throughout the period of your absence (e.g., family ties, bank accounts, tax filings, etc., etc., as indicators of your intent to make a permanent home in the United States).

I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't think that the fact that the CBP admitted you via the VWP the last time around would automatically indicate that your permanent resident status has been lost or interrupted. For one thing, they apparently didn't pressure you to surrender your Green Card, and they didn't put you in exclusion or removal proceedings that might have resulted in the formal termination of your status. You still have the card and the extension letter, which gives you a pretty solid claim to lawful permanent residency, though of course that is always subject to a renewed examination of your circumstances (again, particularly in light of the time you have spent abroad recently). It ought to help, too (though I don't suppose there is any record of this) that tried to use your Green Card the last time you entered; CBP insisted on admitting you as a non-immigrant, but that wasn't how you presented yourself.

In any event, being admitted to the US in a non-immigrant category should not by itself cancel LPR status: Buried in the State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM 41.31 N15 and 9 FAM 42.22 N10) are provisions indicating that LPRs who have maintained their US residency status during extended absences can, as a matter of convenience in urgent situations, receive and use non-immigrant visas to travel temporarily to the United States without losing their status. That is, an LPR who has been out of the US for more than a year and would therefore require a returning resident visa can apply for and use a visitor visa if he doesn't have time to go through the returning resident visa process, and his doing so wouldn't affect his LPR status. This isn't exactly your situation, of course, but it does seem to show that admission as a visitor doesn't preclude the maintenance of permanent residence.

As for why you haven't received a biometrics notice yet, it's hard to say. USCIS says you should get a notice within about 30 days, but it seems that waits of 6 weeks or even a little more are not uncommon. More than 2 months is a long time, though, and you're at the point at which you could probably call the customer service line and make a request for attention to your case. My impression is that they don't do a great deal of screening of applications before issuing biometrics appointments, so I would be surprised if the delay were related in any way to your absences from the US or your VWP admission. I would just ask, though, if your I-751 was filed on time. You mentioned entering in November with one day left on your Green Card and your timeline shows your removal of conditions filing in mid-December, so there could be a problem if you filed after the expiration of your conditional status. Anyway, if you're ready to go back to the US, you might want to use the documentation you have now and any evidence of your maintenance of your status to get back there sooner rather than later. This might be easier to sort out from there. Good luck!

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

You entered the U.S. after less than 1 year of absence in November of 2011, yet the CBP officer refused to admit you as a resident "because your Green Card was about to expire the next day?" That is weird. You are a resident as long as you have a valid Green Card, unless CBP determines that you have abandoned your residency and either refuses you entry based on this, or "paroles" you in with the requirement to have a chat with an immigration judge. I have not heard of a case like yours.

My first question would be: did they enter anything into your passport? My second one, did you have to sign a form at the POE?