LPR or no LPR????

[redskins47chaos 6]

Hey VJers, so I made a topic a month or so ago about my situation but would like to clarify it once and for all:

-I (the non USC spouse) entered the US in September 2012 on a K1 Visa

-We got married on October 6 2012

-I applied for AOS in December 2012

-I received my EAD in February 2013

...we changed our plans and decided to go back to France for a little while. Please note that I did not apply for AP with my EAD card. We left the US on July 8 2013.

-I received my GC in the US on July 24th, it says on the card that I'm a LPR since: July 20, 2013

We are now wanting to go back to the US. We thought the GC would be considered abandoned and we'd have to re-apply for a whole new visa. Basically we had my mother in law (she received the GC) send back the card to our local USCIS office with a note explaining the situation...I also sent a letter to our local office but never got a response. Anyway, when I enter my case number on the USCIS website, it says the card was undeliverable and will be hold for 180 days bla bla bla...

My wife and I finally called the USCIS from France and explained the whole thing. Well the lady said that she'd have the GC mailed back to our US address and that my mother in law could send us the card in France and that I could re-enter the US without a problem because if I have the card in hand I am a LPR....which is total BS! I even explained that I left without AP and everything but she said they wouldn't see the date I left the country at the POE.

Question: What the heck do we do and who do we believe??? Am I a LPR or not?? How do we know if our application is abandoned or not???

We are quite confused....Thank you for reading and helping us solve that complicated and unusal case

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You definitely abandoned your case and are not a LPR, but the agency who decides this doesn't know it yet, which is surely frustrating.

When they figure it out, your LPR will be taken away. So if you try to use your LPR status, or apply for ROC or citizenship, at some point down the line they will figure it out and your LPR will be officially taken away.

You could probably get in to the US with your GC for the short term, but eventually it will be found out and you'll be stuck.

So if I understand, your question is how to go about getting a new spousal visa?

For everyone else, let me underscore and beg everyone to please apply for AP. It is free, and if the OP had applied for AP then she would be a LPR and not be in this mess. All the price of filling out one form, say 10 minutes of work.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

My idea is to use the GC to go to the US, once you get here, make infopass and ask for the supervisor, show them the dates, show them how they messed up, and ask what you should do.

Worst case you have to file a I-130/I-485 application.

Anyone see a flaw in that plan?

[newlyweds2010 208]

My idea is to use the GC to go to the US, once you get here, make infopass and ask for the supervisor, show them the dates, show them how they messed up, and ask what you should do.

Worst case you have to file a I-130/I-485 application.

Anyone see a flaw in that plan?

Wouldn't this be lying to an immigration officer to obtain an immigration benefit (entry into the US with an invalid Green Card selling it for a good one)? Just thinking out loud.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Wouldn't this be lying to an immigration officer to obtain an immigration benefit (entry into the US with an invalid Green Card selling it for a good one)? Just thinking out loud.

I don't know, she has the GC. It sounds like she tried to get rid of it but the embassy isn't being cooperative. Maybe it's a jurisdiction thing and USCIS needs to be the one to take it away, not an embassy.

I really think that at naturalization they would look at the dates and figure it all out. I am reminded of that recent thread where someone's N400 was denied because USCIS messed up the dates on the GC.

[newlyweds2010 208]

I don't know, she has the GC. It sounds like she tried to get rid of it but the embassy isn't being cooperative. Maybe it's a jurisdiction thing and USCIS needs to be the one to take it away, not an embassy.

I really think that at naturalization they would look at the dates and figure it all out. I am reminded of that recent thread where someone's N400 was denied because USCIS messed up the dates on the GC.

My guess is that entering on that GC would be misrepresentation. It is quite obvious to me that she is not an LPR any more (or better, she never was). I agree with you that sooner or later they will realize that they should have not received the card. Possibly even the officer at the POE will have access to her record of exists and entries, check the dates, and figure it out. The only reason why she got the card is that her exit was so close in time to when they sent the card, that they did not match the two pieces of information.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

But the embassy told her she was a LPR. She is doing what the embassy says.

(thinking out loud too).

[newlyweds2010 208]

But the Embassy is Department of State, USCIS is Department of Homeland Security (not sure who would have the last say about someone's immigration status, but I guess the DHS).

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Check your EAD card very very carefully Did they give you a combo card ?

If not you left before AOS was approved. Most likely you will be refused entry and have to pay your way back to France on your own. They will have access to your departure and GC data when you arrive. Just because someone at the embassy gave you bad advice does not make it legally binding on USCIS. Isn't it also illegal to mail a green card out of the country ?

[didopage 337]

Definitely not a LPR. It's just a matter of time until they figure out the dates.... Sooner or later (naturalization interview, as Harpa said).

I would not use the GC to enter the US though...

(I think the OP is a "he" )

[didopage 337]

BTW, it's not the first time that they are misinformed at the embassy. The woman at the first booth for K-1 says to everybody that they won't be able to leave the US for 2 years once they enter the country with the K-1 visa... Total bullsh**. And she's been saying that for years.

[redskins47chaos 6]

Yes lol, I'm a dude! Just to clarify a couple things, I never talked to the embassy! When I said "local office" I meant the USCIS in Kansas. And I called the US USCIS number from France...So the whole you can use the GC to re-enter thing comes from the USCIS and not the embassy. I am not going to risk it and use the GC but is there any way I could talk to a real CBP officer and see what they say. How the heck do I abandon my current GC and apply for a new visa??? Do I just mail a new petition and assume everything will go smoothly?

Thanks for you help guys!

[milimelo 4,477]

To answer your question - you're not an LPR - never have been.

The way to abandon your GC is to send it back to USCIS (address is on the envelope it came in) and declare it was issued after you have already left the US and thus abandoned the AOS process. You can look it up, there's a reference to it in adjudication manual in USCIS.

To start an immigrant visa (CR-1) process, follow the guide http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

[redskins47chaos 6]

To answer your question - you're not an LPR - never have been.

The way to abandon your GC is to send it back to USCIS (address is on the envelope it came in) and declare it was issued after you have already left the US and thus abandoned the AOS process. You can look it up, there's a reference to it in adjudication manual in USCIS.

To start an immigrant visa (CR-1) process, follow the guide http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

I did just that! I had my mother in law send the GC back to the USCIS office with a note explaining that I left the US... and that's when I saw online with my case # that they were holding the card because it was "undeliverable". So the USCIS wouldn't abandon the card because as the lady explained I should've had it delivered to me...I understand she doesn't know what she's talking about but how do I get them to understand lol If even they don't know what the normal procedure is, what do I do?

[jhm3 15]

If you can't get USCIS to take the Green Card back and you want the thing off your hands (preferably with documentation showing that you abandoned the status, so you have a clean slate going forward), one option would be to make an appointment at the US embassy and surrender the card there.

http://france.usembassy.gov/iv-green-card-abandonment.html

The staff might be confused, though, as you would be giving up an apparently valid Green Card not because you have no intention of returning to and residing in the United States but so that you can start the process all over again!