I am a U.S. citizen who has been married to a Chilean national since 1991. My wife had a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) Status from 1992 until 2005 when her Resident Alien Card (Green Card) expired. We returned to Chile in 2002 and lived there until 2022. I have recently returned to the US and am in the process of fling a Petion for Alien Relative (I-130) so that my wife can obtain LPR Status again and join me in the US. MY QUESTION: Is it a requirement that she file an Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status form (I-407 form) before filing the Petition for Alien Relative? We were unaware of this I-407 form until yesterday and want to make sure we are not omitting a step before submitting the I-130 form. Any helpful guidance would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. During our 20 years in Chile, we filed US tax returns as a married couple since, according to the IRS rules, a non-resident spouse of a US Citizen can be considered as a US resident for tax purposes.