SB-1 due to Corona

[ivantran85 1]

My mom has 10 year green card. She is 60 years old, has a house, bank account , in the US. My mom has been out of the USA for 10 months now. She went to visit her kid and grandkids in Vietnam, and stuck in Vietnam due to Corona. We understand that if my mom stay out of US for more than one year without reentry permit, she could be denied entry to US by CBP, and getting into immigrant court removal proceeding. Here is my option.

Option 1 - apply for sb1 visa, wait in Vietnam until the vaccine has found, and then come back to the US

Option 2 - come back the US now to avoid being out of US for 1 year, the risk of getting corona is high. We dont want that

Option 3 - dont apply for SB-1 visa, stay in vietnam until the vaccine has found, come back to the US and pray the CBP will let us in. Worst case is my mom will be put in immigrant court removal proceeding

 

Which option should we take. Thank you so much for you all.

 

 

 

[SalishSea 17,836]

Ultimately, as a family you have to make choices that you're comfortable with and that are safe.  However, I personally wouldn't base any immigration/GC related decisions on a potential vaccine.  Vaccines take years to get to market.  

[milimelo 4,481]

Why wasn’t she on any repatriation flights? 

[geowrian 22,337]

Seems like the options are fundamentally understood. Option #2 has the least immigration risk. Option #3 would be the next closest.

Although I would not wait for a vaccine...that could be quite a while.

 

Note that the order in #1 is wrong. It would be wait, THEN visa, then come back to the US.

Note that the risk of getting Corona is not necessarily "high". The exact precautions one takes and where they live would be the biggest factors of risk...not all parts of the country are the same.

[ivantran85 1]

My mom lived in DC. So the risk is there. I'm just worried that she will get the corona during the flight. But after getting home, tell her to stay inside until the vaccine is out of the question.

 

[African Zealot 1,455]

32 minutes ago, ivantran85 said:

My mom lived in DC. So the risk is there. I'm just worried that she will get the corona during the flight. But after getting home, tell her to stay inside until the vaccine is out of the question.

 

You can’t eat your cake and have it. Nothing is without risk. The vaccine for HIV has still not been found, almost forty years after the disease was identified. The risk of acquiring COVID in Washington DC is not high. You cannot make up facts. Less than 2% of residents of DC have gotten infected.

 

Permanent residency is granted with the expectation that the applicant would make the USA his/her home. Waiting an indeterminate time for a vaccine to be found in my opinion doesn’t demonstrate a genuine desire to live in the USA. If put in immigration court I expect the applicant to have the ruling go against them.

[retheem 566]

23 hours ago, ivantran85 said:

My mom has 10 year green card. She is 60 years old, has a house, bank account , in the US. My mom has been out of the USA for 10 months now. She went to visit her kid and grandkids in Vietnam, and stuck in Vietnam due to Corona. We understand that if my mom stay out of US for more than one year without reentry permit, she could be denied entry to US by CBP, and getting into immigrant court removal proceeding. Here is my option.

Option 1 - apply for sb1 visa, wait in Vietnam until the vaccine has found, and then come back to the US

Option 2 - come back the US now to avoid being out of US for 1 year, the risk of getting corona is high. We dont want that

Option 3 - dont apply for SB-1 visa, stay in vietnam until the vaccine has found, come back to the US and pray the CBP will let us in. Worst case is my mom will be put in immigrant court removal proceeding

 

Which option should we take. Thank you so much for you all.

 

 

 

Well, the way i see it is this simple; if she doesn't come back within a year, she may be referred to an immigration judge when she comes back because she stayed out of the country as a green card holder for more than 1 year. Unfortunately, you and your family have to decide what is important here. Sorry pal.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by retheem

[ivantran85 1]

It's just that the confirmed case US keep hovering around 20k and the death rate is around 2k daily. Which is freak my mom out. I mean I hope that by October, the infection rate will slow down and keep it that way. I guess my mom will have to come back by October to be safe. Maybe booking her business class if that help a little bit.

[ivantran85 1]

If my mom come back right now, which she will be out of US for 7 months, can she still getting into the US? without any trouble with CBP

thanks

[Lil bear 4,218]

1 hour ago, ivantran85 said:

If my mom come back right now, which she will be out of US for 7 months, can she still getting into the US? without any trouble with CBP

thanks

A period of 6-12 months out of the US is likely to prompt some comments /questions by CBP but not anything more. .... unless it  is part of a bigger picture... frequent repeated absences ...  which prompts the CBP officer to consider that the LPR may have abandoned residency.