Green card abandoned, Applying fresh I130

[mandr1199 4]

Hi All

Wondering if anyone else has been in this situation.

I am a USC got married in 2006, wife got green card in 2008. Moved back to india in 2010. Stayed till 2014, planning to move back. Should I apply a new I 130 or ?

[Carla V 43]

As I understand yes, you have to start all over because the legal residency was abandoned if she lived outside of the US for so long

[aleful 1,905]

hi

ditto, and also you have to put her A# on forms that request it and her SS number. she won't get a new one but the same numbers because they are given for life

[Mark88 183]

She could try to get a SB-1 Visa (for returning residents). But very hard to get.

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/no/no-iv-sbivisas.asp

[Hypnos 6,576]

An SB-1 would likely not be worth the time and effort with such a minimal chance of success.

[mandr1199 4]

Hi Carla

Thanks for your reply. Did u or anyone u know had such an experience ?

Reason I ask is some attorney commented that my fresh petition will be cancelled, as their system indicated she allready has a green card. And also suggested I should go with an attorney. It sounded quite fishy to me.

I called uscis and they suggested a fresh application. I sent I 130 in Feb and I 129F in March 2014. Most ppl for those dates got Noa2.

I am kind'a stressing out .....

As I understand yes, you have to start all over because the legal residency was abandoned if she lived outside of the US for so long

[MUXAGIRL 69]

Very confusing situation here. Why would you send both I-130(for wife or relative) AND I-129f (for fiancé) to USCIS? It's just wrong! May be that's why you are not getting NOA2, because you have created such confusing situation in their database!

Also since you are already in India with your wife, why did not you think of direct consular filing, which is much faster as both USCIS and NVC are completely back logged now because of those undocumented immigrant children at the border.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

If India has Direct Consulor Filing, you will file an I-130 directly there. My husband and I did the same thing at the London Embassy last year and he was also a former GC holder who abandoned his residency.

[mandr1199 4]

I 129F is for k3 visa for wife or k1 visa for fiance.

Very confusing situation here. Why would you send both I-130(for wife or relative) AND I-129f (for fiancé) to USCIS? It's just wrong! May be that's why you are not getting NOA2, because you have created such confusing situation in their database!

Also since you are already in India with your wife, why did not you think of direct consular filing, which is much faster as both USCIS and NVC are completely back logged now because of those undocumented immigrant children at the border.

Yes I checked for DCF I have to be there for 6 months. I came back in Jan.

If India has Direct Consulor Filing, you will file an I-130 directly there. My husband and I did the same thing at the London Embassy last year and he was also a former GC holder who abandoned his residency.

[HawaiiJ 1]

We are in the same situation. 10 Year GC issued in 2008, lived in USA till 2011 and been in Thailand since then. We decided to move back to the USA only to learn due to the time out of the USA my wife's PR Status was considered "Abandoned" and either the SB-1 or new I-130 would be needed to start the venture to a Visa.

The SB-1 criteria was explained, criteria seemed very tough to qualify. The impression I came away with from a 1.5 discussion with USCIS was my spouse needed to have been unable to return to the USA in order to qualify for the SB-1. The exact example used to explain it to me was the last approval for SB-1 involved someone who had been in a comma and only had been away for a short time over 1 year, not the 3 years we have been out of the USA.

We decided to go via the I-130 route. Submitted via DCF and it was approved in less than 24 hours and we had the approval letter in hand from USCIS. We now are pausing for a week for the I-130 paperwork to make it to the IV section in the Embassy.

Your situation seems very similar to ours. If there's no compelling situation to qualify for the SB-1, it looks like the I-130 is definitely the route you will be heading via a DCF if you meet the filing requirements.

In order to file a new I-130 petition, my wife was required to submit her current and any old GreenCards she had possession of along with completing the declaration form to abandon her resident status along with any potential claims for the PR status based on the GreenCards..

Good Luck..