Experience with reinstating a terminated IR-1 petition

[JasperHK 0]

Hi, I was hoping to see if anyone had any experience with reinstating a terminated petition.

 

I am a US citizen living abroad with my wife (>2 years marriage) and we intended to move back to the US several years ago and applied for the I-130 in late 2014.  We got approved quite quickly within 1 month, however later I was asked by my employer to stay in HK and my wife became pregnant, so we ultimately abandoned our plans to move.  I sent an abeyance request to the NVC about a year later in Aug 2015 - this was received but no further follow-up.

 

In Mar 2017 we received a termination notice from the NVC saying that we had a year to proceed with the application otherwise our case would be terminated.  At the time, I will still being asked by my employer to stay in HK so could not proceed.  In Apr 2018, I received the termination notice.  Now, after a hiring process that took longer than expected, I have finally secured a role with my employer back in the US and have the job offer letters to proceed with the application but my old case has since terminated.

 

It states the case can be reinstated if circumstances were "beyond my control".  I submitted a request to the NVC to reinstate my old case explaining the above (hopefully saving time instead of re-applying - my employer is keen to get me there in 2-3 months) .  I called NVC too and they said the determination whether to reinstate is made by the local consulate i.e. HK.

 

Has anyone had any experience getting a terminated petition reinstated - how long did it take and on what grounds?  Would you suggest I file the I-130 again and create a new case to save time in case it's not reinstated?  The application is $535 but if it saves several months of wait time then it might be worth it.  Any thoughts/views appreciated.

 

 

[Roel 7,193]

I deny think that taking a job is considered "beyond your control". It was your choice absolutely. 

 

Imo you have to start the petition from a scratch. 

[geowrian 22,338]

An I-130 doesn't actually expire. However, the registration can be terminated if there is no action on it for a year, and the underlying petition can be destroyed.

It may be possible to file an I-824 to retrieve it. No guarantee they can actually do so either (it partially depends if the underlying petition has been destroyed yet), nor the timeline.

It is probably better to just file a new I-130. Had the I-130 been for a visa category requiring the PD to be current, the I-824 approach may make more sense. But the spouse of a USC always has the PD current immediately, so the wait times probably aren't that much different.

 

I concur that keeping a job is not "beyond one's control". While it may not be optimal to do so, one can leave a position within a relatively short period of time (with very few exceptions, such as government employees in some countries...or so I've heard at least).  But you are free to make that case and go down that line if you so choose.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Choosing a job is not "beyond your control."  You made a choice.  It wasn't like you got sick or anything and couldn't continue.  

 

File the I-130 and  start over.  That's the quickest way.