Wife with probationary greencard overstayed in the Philippines

[Agustin 0]

Hello,

 

I'm hoping someone can offer me information or suggestions on what to do at this point. My wife (pregnant at the time), daughter and I traveled to the Philippines in late February of this year. She wanted to be with her family when she gave birth and was supposed to stay there just a couple months after the birth, well under the 6 month that she could have been outside the country on her probationary greencard. Well, in early March the Philippines went into lockdown and she could not leave and I could not travel back to be with her. By the time I had enough info on getting her back to the US she was too far along in the pregnancy to fly. Our son was born and by that time the US Embassy was shutdown and not processing CRBA's or passports. In October of this year the US embassy re-opened but I wasnt aware until November, so I lost almost a month of time in prepping all the needed documents for the CRBA and Passport application for our son. It is now January 2021 and she is way past the 6 month timeframe. 

 

I'd like to ask if anyone knows if USCIS or the immigration officials are taking Covid19 into consideration at the point of entry and if they will not permit my wife to re-enter the US if she were to return after one year of being outside the country (I say one year because by the time the US embassy processes and issues our sons documents it looks like it will be one year). Should we even not try and return to the US and just consider the greencard lost and begin an application for a K3 visa? I've made so many attempts and wasted hours on the phone attempting to speak to someone at USCIS, emails I have sent come back with generic responses.  Is there anything an immigration attorney would be able to do that a regular person can't? So far I have prepared all paperwork for my wifes K1 to her greencard app to our daughters CRBA and passport, more recently our new sons paperwork as well. I feel comfortable completing forms and gathering docs, but question is attorneys have other avenues of communication with USCIS. 

 

I appreciate all helpful feedback and thank you all in advance.

[aaron2020 11,651]

When does your wife's conditional green card expire?

Edited January 2, 2021 by aaron2020

[Agustin 0]

9 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

When does your wife's conditional green card expires?

The greencard expires June 12, 2021.

[milimelo 4,505]

I don’t see a problem here - you have your child’s passport? Book them flights back to the US. 

[Allovertheworld 355]

I have always heard it was 1 year being out of the country was when a greencard was considered abandoned

 

I don't see any problem either, I would try to get them back to USA asap

[Agustin 0]

11 minutes ago, milimelo said:

I don’t see a problem here - you have your child’s passport? Book them flights back to the US. 

Not yet, The paperwork is scheduled to be delivered this Monday, January 4. It's taken almost 2 weeks due to the holidays. I sent the paperwork via FedEx this past December 18, apparently Covid has affected delivery timeframes combined with the holidays, its taken quite some time.

[Crazy Cat 41,982]

6 hours ago, Agustin said:

She wanted to be with her family when she gave birth and was supposed to stay there just a couple months after the birth, well under the 6 month that she could have been outside the country on her probationary greencard.

Green Card holders can remain outside the US for up to a year.  But, she needs to get back to the US before the one year mark.

[Allovertheworld 355]

6 hours ago, Agustin said:

Not yet, The paperwork is scheduled to be delivered this Monday, January 4. It's taken almost 2 weeks due to the holidays. I sent the paperwork via FedEx this past December 18, apparently Covid has affected delivery timeframes combined with the holidays, its taken quite some time.

 

Lets hope come January 21st their isn't some type of travel ban to the USA from Philippines

 

Or more likely is Duterte will try to do something stupid like declare war on the USA  or more than likely he may lockdown Philppines from entry and exit  from the country all together.

 

 

[Hank_ 9,174]

11 hours ago, Agustin said:

Hello,

 

I'm hoping someone can offer me information or suggestions on what to do at this point. My wife (pregnant at the time), daughter and I traveled to the Philippines in late February of this year. She wanted to be with her family when she gave birth and was supposed to stay there just a couple months after the birth, well under the 6 month that she could have been outside the country on her probationary greencard. Well, in early March the Philippines went into lockdown and she could not leave and I could not travel back to be with her. By the time I had enough info on getting her back to the US she was too far along in the pregnancy to fly. Our son was born and by that time the US Embassy was shutdown and not processing CRBA's or passports. In October of this year the US embassy re-opened but I wasnt aware until November, so I lost almost a month of time in prepping all the needed documents for the CRBA and Passport application for our son. It is now January 2021 and she is way past the 6 month timeframe. 

 

I'd like to ask if anyone knows if USCIS or the immigration officials are taking Covid19 into consideration at the point of entry and if they will not permit my wife to re-enter the US if she were to return after one year of being outside the country (I say one year because by the time the US embassy processes and issues our sons documents it looks like it will be one year). Should we even not try and return to the US and just consider the greencard lost and begin an application for a K3 visa? I've made so many attempts and wasted hours on the phone attempting to speak to someone at USCIS, emails I have sent come back with generic responses.  Is there anything an immigration attorney would be able to do that a regular person can't? So far I have prepared all paperwork for my wifes K1 to her greencard app to our daughters CRBA and passport, more recently our new sons paperwork as well. I feel comfortable completing forms and gathering docs, but question is attorneys have other avenues of communication with USCIS. 

 

I appreciate all helpful feedback and thank you all in advance.

Probationary green card?   I am guessing you mean a 2 year conditional green card (do NOT be outside the country beyond the expiration date of the card).    

 

One can be out of the USA with a green card up to 1 year (be back in the USA before that date), (if gone over 6 months, this time will be deducted from the timeline for applying for naturalization).

 

"If you are a lawful permanent resident (green card holder), you may leave the U.S. multiple times and reenter, as long as you do not intend to stay outside the U.S. for 1 year or more."

 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-820?language=en_US    (when looking for answer, go to the source for the facts)

 

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Hank_