SB1 Visa - need your input please

[JOSELINE 0]

My sister(age 10 at the time of return) and I(age 12) had the status of Green Card at the time of departure(2008). We departed from the US with two year re-entry permit with the intention to return back.

My parents have applied for re-entry permit and they did not get it when we depart(Reason why they did not get it is that they had not completed biometric as due to technical glitches in the system on the scheduled date)

My parents did not allow us to return to US even though we wanted to return and willing to stay with my mother in law who is a US citizen.

I found out about SB1 visa recently and would like to apply for SB1 Visa. Do you think our case is valid and have a chance to get SB1 visa? Your thoughts please

[Hypnos 6,576]

Very unlikely.

[Unlockable 7,314]

Hi

 

A couple of questions for clarification. Are you still in your home country? So you have been in your home country for the past 10 years?

 

An SB1 visa is authorization permanent residents to leave the US for a period of up to 2 years. If you have been out of the US for 10 years then you likely have lost your PR status and an SB1 won't help at all.

[JOSELINE 0]

yes we are in our home country. We recently came to know about the SB1 visa . We came to India, our home country with two year parole visa. Since we are minors, we could not go return before the expiry date

[Unlockable 7,314]

So you and your sister received the SB1 but your parents didn't before they left the US?

 

The issue I see here is that 10 years is well past the 2 year time to be out of the US. Like I said before, you may lost your permanent residency status. If it is deemed you have abandoned your permanent status, then an SB1 won't help. I understand that this was out of your control because you were a minor, but your parents would have had the responsibility to maintain status.

 

You will likely need to find another path to the US.

 

[JOSELINE 0]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

 

Sorry I was not clearly explained the situation. When we depart, myself and my sister got the two year parole visa but my father & mother did not get the parole visa when we depart. Recently, I came to know about the SB1 Visa and would like to apply for it for me and my sister? do you think this is a valid case and the visa officer consider our situation and grant the approval for sb1 visa?

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, JOSELINE said:

Thanks for your prompt reply.

 

Sorry I was not clearly explained the situation. When we depart, myself and my sister got the two year parole visa but my father & mother did not get the parole visa when we depart. Recently, I came to know about the SB1 Visa and would like to apply for it for me and my sister? do you think this is a valid case and the visa officer consider our situation and grant the approval for sb1 visa?

You were clear  

 

Even with the 2-year reentry permit approved in 2008, you are still well past the maximum time allowed to be eligible for a SB-1, plus you would have to prove that your entire time outside of the US (from 2008-present) was completely out of your control.

Edited July 30, 2018 by Going through

[JOSELINE 0]

Got it. I came to know about the SB1 visa recently....well my bad luck! Thanks for your input 

[Mark88 183]

As others mentioned before, you would have to proof, that the circumstances to return home to the US were beyond your control for the last 10 years, and you had tried to return to the US in the last 10 years too. I see zero chance of this happening in your case, since it does seem you have been living the last 10 years a normal life (espcially since you would have to explain how a temporary visit back then turned into a 10 year stay). All this would lead to a denial of the SB-1 visa.

 

Quote

Under provisions of immigration law, to qualify for returning resident status, you will need to prove to the Consular Officer that you:

• Had the status of a lawful permanent resident at the time of the last departure from the U.S.;
• Departed from the U.S. with the intention of returning and have not abandoned this intention; and
• Are returning to the U.S. from a temporary visit abroad and, if the stay abroad was protracted, this was caused by reasons beyond your control and for which you were not responsible.

Source: https://de.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/sb-1-returning-resident-visa/

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  Your hard spot would be showing you intended to return.  I assume your parents didn't maintain an address all these years.  It looks like they left and changed their mind about returning and as your parents made that decision for you to. 

[JOSELINE 0]

Got it sir. Just to curious to check. I could not return to US as my father did not get the re-entry permit & he was not willing to send us back to US as we were minor.. I recently came to know about the SB1 Visa(I joined college this year and in our college, we have a program where a student can study 2 years in India and one year in US(Concordia College New York ) to get a degree). I was interested to join the program. During the discussion, the university officials talked about the SB1 visa. Then I googled and found more about this visa.

 

Do you think the visa officer consider this reason to approve the visa?

 

Thanks

Joseline

[Mark88 183]

2 minutes ago, JOSELINE said:

Do you think the visa officer consider this reason to approve the visa?

Do you have proof, you wanted to return to the US in the last 10 years? If you can show them stacks of paper making every effort to do so, then you MIGHT have a shot. But if you don't, I wouldn't count on it.

[JOSELINE 0]

Yes. My parents didn't maintain an address all these years. They changed their mind(why?--it is because my father took us to India to help his dad who was suffering from cancer. After his father's death, he had to provide social & emotional support to his mom as her visitor visa was denied..). Moreover, he was suffering from mental stress related problems as he stayed in hospital for almost 3 months to support his father. So he made that decision for us too eventhough we wanted to return before the expiry date to continue our schooling in US.
 

[JOSELINE 0]

No I do not have any proof other than the two year parole visa. Also, I did not know about the SB1 Visa till beginning of this year

[Sm1smom 252]

3 hours ago, NuestraUnion said:

Hi

 

A couple of questions for clarification. Are you still in your home country? So you have been in your home country for the past 10 years?

 

An SB1 visa is authorization permanent residents to leave the US for a period of up to 2 years. If you have been out of the US for 10 years then you likely have lost your PR status and an SB1 won't help at all.

 

No, an SB1 is NOT an authorization for a LPR to leave the US for a period of upto to years, that is a re-entry permit. SB-1 is a returning resident visa applied for at an embassy by a LPR who has stayed outside the US for over one year or beyond the validity of a re-entry permit. SB-1 May help if the OP is able to convince the consulate the stay was beyond her control.