Markus M

Hi all,
I wonder if someone can clarify my doubts. Suppose a GC holder has been living abroad for a few years but has so far managed to keep the LPR status, and had a reentry permit (now expired). If this person is charged with abandonment of LPR status at the POE because of this travel pattern, what are the possible immediate outcomes?

a) the person can be detained until a hearing is set
b) the person can be paroled in and stay in the US while waiting for the hearing;
c) the person can voluntarily relinquish the GC on the spot (voluntary departure?)

Is the above correct? (Specifically, are a,b,c all definite possibilities? Did I leave out other possibilities?)

Do they really detain people for this? (of course, assuming the person hasn't broken any law and isn´t lying)

If one voluntarily relinquishes the GC (assuming this is possible), can one be admitted in on a tourist visa?

Thank you.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You don't give any real details to answer your questions other than in a general way.

They usually do NOT detain unless there is something else happening -- convictions, past visa fraud, etc etc. Plain Jane abandonment -- no.

They can allow you to abandon voluntarily if they wish and the LPR so wishes.

Yes, it is possible to file an I-407 with a consulate in conjunction with application for a B-2 visa. In fact, it is possible to get a B-2 visa withOUT relinquishing your LPR status. Unlikely, but possible -- the FAM expressly says so.

Markus M

Thank you for the answer. some details:
- the person is a university professor from Europe
- he's had a reentry permit for two years, now expired
- he's applied for a new reentry permit, but needs to travel to the US before the applications will be considered
- has regularly filed taxes as resident, maintained an address, bank accounts, credit cards etc.
- on the last entry at the POE, at secondary inspection he was warned about the consequences of abandonment, including the possibility of detention.
- 100% law abiding citizen, no convictions of any sort

The main concern is being detained or not allowed to leave the country until a hearing, or anything disruptive like that.

Noorah101

You probably mean law-abiding person, since he's not actually a USC.

I don't think anyone will be able to give you a guarantee or even a percentage of what might happen. Each case is looked at on an individual basis, by the POE officer on duty that moment. If the POE officer thinks he may have abandoned PR status, the person can be detained. There are no guarantees either way.

When you say he applied for another re-entry permit, he had to have been inside the USA to do that (re-entry permits can't be applied for overseas). So I don't think he's actually completed an application for a re-entry permit yet.

He might want to go to the US Embassy and ask about a "returning resident" visa.

Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Interesting. Hiring an attorney experienced in abandoment law before his return might not be a bad idea.

On the re-entry permit application which he filed the last time he was in the US, how long ago was it filed? You don't say.

Markus M

I believe the reentry permit application was filed in September 2007 while in the US. They are currently processing applications filed in June 2007.

Markus M

Thank you for your post. Well, he's a citizen of another country, but yes that's what I meant.


I'm not asking so much for guarantees, but what is the standard procedure in such cases.

Yes, he applied while he was in the US.

Noorah101

If the re-entry permit was applied for in Sept. 2007 while he was inside the USA, then he doesn't have an expired re-entry permit. He has one which is in the process of being issued.

Rene

Markus M

As I mentioned, the first permit is expired. The second one is in the process of being issued.

Noorah101

Right. So he has a current re-entry permit in the works, he just doesn't have it in hand yet. That will be helpful in proving he did not intend to abandon his PR status.

Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

BTW, has she been filing her US income tax returns on her foreign income? When a LPR spends a lot of time abroad working and then fails to file the required US tax returns, this is considered strong evidence of abandonment.

Also, it the academic position abroad pre-date the green card? Can it be said to be temporary. One of the mother cases on abandonment [Huang] involved this.