Re-Instating a Green Card that was relinquished while Minor

[M.A.X 0]

Hello guys,

I have a curve ball for you. My sister in law had a green card when she was 4 years old. Her parents decided to leave the country and never came back and now her Green Card has been cancelled. I am wondering is there a way that she can have the GC Reinstated now when she is not a minor. She never relinquished the GC of her own choice! Is there a procedure that can be followed to get her the green card back?

Please Advise!

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Hello guys,

I have a curve ball for you. My sister in law had a green card when she was 4 years old. Her parents decided to leave the country and never came back and now her Green Card has been cancelled. I am wondering is there a way that she can have the GC Reinstated now when she is not a minor. She never relinquished the GC of her own choice! Is there a procedure that can be followed to get her the green card back?

Please Advise!

Just Curious how old is she now.

[M.A.X 0]

She is 24 now.

[washington1972 12]

as I know,if you leave the states with over one year,then the green card will be cancelled,it happen with a lot of people,but some of them run away with it,they get a new passport with no stamp on it,and on the border if they been asked for how long they been out the states?they answer for only a few months.but in your sister in law case.its a lot different,its been too many years out the states, I don't think so.no way.

lets see what the rest of the guys going to say.

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

She is 24 now.

I would say since she is now 24 and did not take any action when she was responsible for her self.. then it's a done show. I hope someone with more info will chime in.

[M.A.X 0]

I am thinking that there may be some kind of law that lets her back in the states on the basis that she was made to leave the country when she was a minor. She never left of her own accord. May be someone has an answer along these lines. Just a thought!

[washington1972 12]

I am thinking that there may be some kind of law that lets her back in the states on the basis that she was made to leave the country when she was a minor. She never left of her own accord. May be someone has an answer along these lines. Just a thought!

I would agree with that,but she has first to enter the states,then get a lawyer to help her for renewal her green card

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I am thinking that there may be some kind of law that lets her back in the states on the basis that she was made to leave the country when she was a minor. She never left of her own accord. May be someone has an answer along these lines. Just a thought!

No, there's no special exception for minor permanent residents. The same rules apply. If they are absent from the United States for more than one year without a reentry permit then they've abandoned their permanent residence. Those exceptions for things that don't kick in until you're 18 have to do with penalties, such as an automatic ban for overstay. Abandoning permanent residence isn't a penalty imposed by the US government. It's a choice by the permanent resident. The argument that she abandoned her residence through no choice of her own won't hold water. The same argument can be made that she originally became a permanent resident through no choice of her own. Both choices were made by her parents on her behalf, which is their legal right to do.

[aaydrian 479]

Can't reinstate her green card and even if there was a 0.001% chance she could, almost 20 years have passed (6 years after becoming an adult) so she has more than abandoned her desire to live in the states.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello guys,

I have a curve ball for you. My sister in law had a green card when she was 4 years old. Her parents decided to leave the country and never came back and now her Green Card has been cancelled. I am wondering is there a way that she can have the GC Reinstated now when she is not a minor. She never relinquished the GC of her own choice! Is there a procedure that can be followed to get her the green card back?

Please Advise!

It does not matter that "she never relinquished the GC on her own." As Jim has pointed out, she didn't acquire it on her own - it was a decision made by her parents. Additionally, her parents can make legal decisions for her when she was a minor. They legally choose to move her out of the US and cause her to abandon her GC. It was within their rights to make that legal decision for her.

She can try to get her GC back, but she is unlikely to get it.

Edited April 6, 2012 by aaron2020

[karin_brenig 18]

short answer: no

long answer:

I am (or rather, was) in the same boat.

My father worked in the USA for a year, back in 1960, when the US still happily accepted immigrants and handed out greencards to anybody who wanted one.

My entire family (mom, dad, and three young children) each got a greencard back then.

I still have mine. It is really green! A piece of laminated cardboard, with a black-and-white baby picture of me, and my details written on it with a mechanical type-writer.

On the back of the card it says, that it will become invalid if I leave the US for more than 12 months, or if I leave before I turn 18.

1960 was not the only year my dad worked in the USA.

He did it again in 1976, again for one year, again taking his family - 4 kids by then - with him.

The USA had already become stricter in 1976.

None of us received a greencard. Everybody got their own temporary visa.

Since I was going to college, I had a J-1 visa in 1976.

None of that was considered relevant when my husband applied for my greencard in 2005.

We had to start from scratch.

[Boiler 46,116]

Apart from paying her US taxes, what else has she done to show that she has not relinquished her US residency?

[aleful 1,905]

Hello guys,

I have a curve ball for you. My sister in law had a green card when she was 4 years old. Her parents decided to leave the country and never came back and now her Green Card has been cancelled. I am wondering is there a way that she can have the GC Reinstated now when she is not a minor. She never relinquished the GC of her own choice! Is there a procedure that can be followed to get her the green card back?

Please Advise!

ditto to everyone, it doesn't matter that she was a minor. the same thing happened to me. I left the USA when I was 11 because my dad died and my mom, a widow of 2 decided to return to Argentina and I lived there for 25 years. I had a GC since I was 3 years old.

My mom came back to the states and remarried. I married and divorced in Argentina, and then came back and entered on a tourist visa. Thank God that the 245i law came and my mom filed a petition for me, from scratch and I had 5 1/2 years of waiting in line just like anybody else until I got my GC again.

the only thing you maintain is the A# and SS number

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Apart from paying her US taxes, what else has she done to show that she has not relinquished her US residency?

I see your angle here, but it won't work. She'd have to prove that she never intended to abandon her residency when she left, and intended to return to the US in a timely manner, but unforeseen circumstances beyond her control prevented her from returning. She was a minor when she left the US, so her own intentions become irrelevant, and the intentions of her parents take over. This means she'd have to prove her parents intended to return in a timely manner, but unforeseen circumstances beyond their control prevented them from returning. The OP hasn't mentioned anything that would even remotely imply this was the case.

She's not getting an SB-1. Her parents closed that door long before she turned 18.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

As a minor in the US your parents are charged with making legal decisions for you unless the courts have considered you emancipated. So they will decide what state you live in , what house of worship you will go to and if you are going to leave the US and give up your green card. As a small child the choice wasn't your sister in laws to make it was her parents. They decided to give up the green card for the entire family. The choice was theirs for themselves and all minor children. Immigration wise that is the end of the story.