Parents GC renewal after being out of US for 10 years

[s11 14]

Hello,

 

Asking this on behalf of a friend:

My friend's parents and he moved to US through family based GC. They were sponsored by his aunt. My friend stayed in the US and now a citizen. His father continued coming to the US from 2008 to 2016 to maintain PR status but his mother only came once to US on GC. Now, they (his parents) want to renew their GC and move to the US. 

 

Question:

Can they(parents) apply for a Returning Resident (SB-1) immigrant visa or i-407? or does he need to petition again for their GC? 

 

Any help/guidance is appreciated. 

 

Thanks a lot in advance! 

Edited August 22, 2020 by s11

[milimelo 4,546]

Doubtful SB-1 would work in this case. 

[s11 14]

I have my doubts too about SB-1 since : 

 

Step 1 - Qualifying for Returning Resident Status

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 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.

 

His parents decided to stay in their parent country because his grandmother was sick and on wheelchair. His grandmother died early this year so now they are thinking of renewing their GC.

For his father, can they try SB-1? 

For his mother,  I-130 looks like the only possibility since she's out of US for more than a decade. 

 

[SalishSea 18,117]

The mother will need an entirely new visa.  It is basically starting over and doing the process they did the first time around.

[jan22 3,056]

SB-1s would not be approved for either person in a case like this, sorry. 

 

The father has not apparently entered the US since 2016, and under scrutiny would appear to have never really established residency since he seems to have only entered occasionally to maintain the appearance of being a permanent resident.  For example:  Did they ever establish a home in the US?  Did he ever work in the US?  Did he work in his home country after getting the GC?  Did he use services in the home country (e.g., medical) that require you to be resident in the country? Taken as a whole, the decision would have to be that he is not really returning to his US residency, as he chose to live in his home country.  The case for the mother is even more clear in terms of never really having established a residency in the US.

 

Add in that it was at their choice, not for a reason that was beyond their control, and it becomes even more clear that SB-1s will not be possible.  You only qualify as a returning resident visa when you are returning after a temporary trip abroad, where the stay became longer because of reasons beyond your control and for which you were not responsible.

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by jan22

[s11 14]

okay makes sense! thanks for your reply. 

can his parents apply for tourist visa or is going via i-130 the best route? 

 

[geowrian 22,338]

8 minutes ago, s11 said:

okay makes sense! thanks for your reply. 

can his parents apply for tourist visa or is going via i-130 the best route? 

 

Do they want to visit or live in the US? That would determine what visa applies.

[SalishSea 18,117]

9 minutes ago, s11 said:

okay makes sense! thanks for your reply. 

can his parents apply for tourist visa or is going via i-130 the best route? 

 

This makes it sound like they would travel to visit and then try to adjust within the US.  This is immigration fraud, since the original post states that they want to live here.    Please follow the rules and do things the right way so that it doesn't ruin the chances of legitimate tourist visas for other people.

1 hour ago, s11 said:

Now, they (his parents) want to renew their GC and move to the US. 

 

Why would you think that a tourist visa would be appropriate in this situation then?

[jan22 3,056]

8 minutes ago, s11 said:

okay makes sense! thanks for your reply. 

can his parents apply for tourist visa or is going via i-130 the best route? 

 

Depends on their purpose -- do they want to reside in the US or just visit?  The visa used should match the purpose. 

 

Since you indicated in the first post that they wanted to "move to the US".  If that's true,  their son should petition for them and they should use immigrant visas, not tourist visas, to enter the US.

[Boiler 45,993]

Obviously there are some things a LPR is required to do, what else have they done to maintain their status

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Yeah, there’s not going to be any “renewal”. File new i130s - very little point wasting time and money on an SB1 imo. I’d be surprised if they were to be granted tourist visas anyway. 

[s11 14]

Thanks all for your replies.

 

From what I understand, they haven't done much to maintain their LPR status, they visited US for a week or two once a year. They also paid SSN taxes for a while, not sure how much and for many years. 

 

Let me try to explain their thought process better: 

Their initial plan was to apply for SB-1, move to US and see if they want to move permanently. Now that it's not possible, they are exploring options. 

Their idea is to be in the US for like 6 months or so, see if they like it and that's why they are considering tourist visa. If eventually they want to be here permanently, they'll go back to Russia and their son will apply for GC.

 

So questions: 

(1) is this even possible? applying for a tourist visa after submitting GC? 

(2) if they ever decide to go for GC after tourist visa - (so, GC -> abandonment of GC -> tourist visa -> GC again,) can it be considered visa fraud or can it cause any other immigration related issues? 

 

[s11 14]

17 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

This makes it sound like they would travel to visit and then try to adjust within the US.  This is immigration fraud, since the original post states that they want to live here.    Please follow the rules and do things the right way so that it doesn't ruin the chances of legitimate tourist visas for other people.

Why would you think that a tourist visa would be appropriate in this situation then?

Honestly, I recommended them I-130 in the beginning but their lawyer said, SB-1 is possible otherwise tourist visa is an option. So out of curiosity i did some research but couldn't find a lot of information on SB-1 so thought of asking here. 

 

When I talked to them, their plan is now to come visit US and if they want to immigrate, they'll go back and their son'll file I-130 for them, if that's possible after their status i.e. GC -> abandonment of GC -> tourist visa -> GC again. 

 

[Boiler 45,993]

Permanent Residents of the US are taxed on their world wide income, have them been filing and paying taxes?

 

Sounds like they need to formally abandon their PR status and seek a B. not sure what impact the tax situation will have, something to discuss with their CPA.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

4 minutes ago, s11 said:

Honestly, I recommended them I-130 in the beginning but their lawyer said, SB-1 is possible otherwise tourist visa is an option. So out of curiosity i did some research but couldn't find a lot of information on SB-1 so thought of asking here. 

 

When I talked to them, their plan is now to come visit US and if they want to immigrate, they'll go back and their son'll file I-130 for them, if that's possible after their status i.e. GC -> abandonment of GC -> tourist visa -> GC again. 

 

So there are no tourist visa appointments in Russia right now anyway but before covid the wait time at Moscow for a tourist visa slot was 300 days. I don’t think it was quite as long at the other consulates. That’s a long time to wait to see what the outcome is - before you even get to a 6 month trial period if approved, and then another year or so after that for a i130 -> visa process. 
how old are these parents? Still working?

Edited August 23, 2020 by SusieQQQ