tipex

so last year was sent my green card and found that they had my date of birth wrong on it. I rang them and sent it back to them, This was while i was still there, this was my holiday and also to activate my visa.
I came back to England knowing i got 1 year before i make the permanent move.
I have been sent appointments from tampa to do the biometrics again but i said i was not back till Sept, they said this was fine but i had to put it in a letter, which i did.
When i go in September do i go in as a visitor or as a resident and would they stop me at customs again to do the biometrics there again.
I will be applying for an esta just incase.
Many thanks in advance

Noorah101

Just to understand completely....you entered the USA last year on an Immigrant Visa, realized there was a mistake, applied for a replacement, mailed your wrong green card back, and then left the USA, correct?

Not quite. Your permanent move WAS the one where you entered the USA using your Immigrant Visa. After that, you are a US Permanent Resident, and USA is your permanent home. Therefore, you went back just for a visit to the UK. Although it seems that you'd be safe leaving the USA for up to 1 year so soon, it probably wasn't a good idea. I don't know how long you've been outside the USA now, but hopefully not longer than 6 months, and hopefully not close to 1 year. You could have abandoned your US PR status during that time, if you haven't kept up ties to your permanent home in the USA.

If you entered the USA with an Immigrant Visa, then you are a Permanent Resident. You should have an endorsement stamp in your passport that says you are a US PR for 1 year. So no, you won't be coming to the USA as a visitor. You'll be returning home to the USA after a temporary visit abroad.

No, you won't get your biometrics done at the POE. You'll have to visit the ASC at the address on the appointment letters you've received.

Why? You're not a visitor, so no need for ESTA.

Depending on how long you've been outside the USA, you can expect to be taken to secondary at the POE and given a stern lecture, or you could be told you abandoned your PR status and that you need to visit an Immigration Judge to plead your case.

I take it your replacement green card has not shown up in the mail at your US address yet? (Edit to add: I realize this sentence makes no sense now, because USCIS is waiting for the biometrics to be done before they can start working on the replacement card).

Rene

Kittenheels66

Thanks for the reply,
The IV issue date was 4th May 2011 and the IV expire date 3rd Nov 2011, At the bottom it states "Upon endorsement serves as a temp I-551 evidencing pernament residence for 1 year" Thats what it says on my passport. The customs officer said we had a year from the date we left the US to renter. We needed the year to wrap everything up.
I rang ASC about appointments i received and told them i was in the UK and explained why, they just said put it in a letter and return it to them and as long as i am back within the year i'm fine.
In total we would be out ofg the US for approx 11 months from the date we left which was Sep 2011.

Noorah101

I take it "Kittenheels66" and "tipex" are related somehow?

The IV issue and expire date has no relevence anymore...the visa has been used, and you are now a US PR.

Being outside the USA for 11 months is REALLY pushing it. But wait a minute...it's now only March 2012. If you left the USA in September 2011, you've only been outside the USA for 6 months, not 11. My advice is that you should return to the USA ASAP and attend your biometrics appointment. That way, you're spending less time away from the USA, and you can get the ball rolling on your replacement green card. They are waiting for you to do biometrics before issuing the replacement.

What ties are you maintaining in the USA while you are away?

Let's say you stay outside the USA all 11 months. Then you return to the USA and it takes a couple of weeks to do your biometrics appointment. Then it takes 6+ months to get your replacement green card. In the meantime, you've turned in your incorrect green card, and your temp stamp in your passport has also expired. You won't have any proof of your PR status. You'll have to make an InfoPass appointment to go in person to get another stamp in your passport.

What needed to be done in the UK for 11 more months, that couldn't be done from the USA? Sounds like you weren't really ready to immigrate back in May 2011 when you got your Immigrant Visa.

You say "we". Who is "we"? If one of you were remaining in the USA while the other one goes back to the UK to tie up loose ends, that would be better than having both of you visiting back in the UK for such a long period of time.

Rene

Bob

Hope you've filed your US taxes to the IRS...gotta a couple weeks left to do it if you haven't.

tipex

nope, didn't think i needed to cause i wasn't living there.
Do you know what forms i need and also i have no ss card does that matter,when i went for my ss card they said you had to be in the country for 2 weeks i think, which we were not.

Noorah101

It doesn't sound like you are maintaining any ties to the USA at all. Are you?

All people with US PR status (such as you have) are required to file a US tax return each year, and must report worldwide income. You have until April 17 to get it mailed in to IRS, or ask for an extension to filing.

www.irs.gov.

Regarding your SS card, did you tick the box on the Immigrant Visa application form which says you want a SSN? If so, it should have automatically come in the mail to your US address within a few weeks after your arrival in the USA. If you did not, then it's true that you should wait until about 10 days after your arrival before going to apply in person.

So let me get this right...

1. You entered the USA on an Immigrant Visa in September 2011
2. You spent less than 2 weeks in the USA
3. You returned to the UK in September 2011
4. You've been back in the UK continuously since September 2011
5. You did not get any State ID, Drivers License, or SSN in the USA
6. Your plastic green card came in the mail in less than 2 weeks after you entered the USA using your Immigrant Visa...it was incorrect so you sent it back and applied for a replacement, but didn't stay in the USA long enough to do biometrics, so nothing will get done on that case until you return to the USA and have your biometrics done
7. You plan to continue to stay outside the USA until August 2012 (making it a total of 11 months outside the directly after a less-than-2-week stay after your arrival on the Immigrant Visa.

You are treading on very thin ice.

Rene

Noorah101

Kittenheels and tipex....are you the same person, or are you related somehow? It sounds like the same poster using 2 usernames.

What ties are you maintaining back in the USA, which is now your permanent home? Can you prove to the POE officer that your stay abroad was meant to be temporary?

Rene

tipex

First of all , kittenheels is my wife and my computer went down yesterday, she answered for me.
No , cant prove nothing except told by the poe officer there was nothing to worry about so long as i was back within a year and also from asc in Tampa.
We were also told that if we needed more time we just had to fill out a form and this could be extended to 2 years.

tipex

just read on immehelp that upto a year you are alright but may get stopped and asked about why it took a year. Over a year yo need a re entry permit and that's ok for upto 2 years.

JSL8610

I haven't read up on the rules of abandoning status but I don't think there's an exact cut-off of 'X amount of time is fine and Y is too much'. More, the officer at the PoE must ask themselves 'has this person maintained their US residence?'. Time spent out of the country is one important factor in determining this, but it is not the only one.

EDIT: Although the PoE officer does not have the power to determine that. You would appear before an immigration judge before the final decision is made, if there is a problem at all.

Regards,
James

Noorah101

I suggest you read up more on "abandonment of PR status" and stop listening to the POE officer, the ASC center, and any other government agency. Abandonment of PR status is easy to do, even if you've been outside the USA less than 1 year, if you have not taken action to preserve and continue your ties to the USA. At the moment, it sounds like you have zero ties to the USA.

Others are making it sound way too easy to do what you are planning to do. It is not as simple as you are thinking. For example, "if we needed more time we just had to fill out a form and this could be extended to 2 years". That form must be filed from inside the USA, you have to be in the USA for the biometrics associated with that form, and it only *helps* if you need to temporarily stay outside the USA for up to two years...it does not prevent abandonment of PR status altogether. You still must maintain your ties to the USA. You still must prove your stay abroad is temporary.

But, the answer to your original question on this thread is still....you are a US PR, not a tourist, so you will enter using the 1-year PR stamp in your passport.

Thank you for the clarification of usernames, too. Two usernames are not allowed, so thank you for explaining that you are two different people.

Rene

Bob

You need to sort that out sharpish if you want to show ties that you are in fact a permanent resident in the US.

You were living there, that was the whole point of using the visa to enter the US to get the Greencard.

The UK was just a visit.

You might want to spend time having a consult with a US immigration lawyer to go over things for you, so that you understand your circumstances and the potentials for abandonment issues that may or may not be a problem.

tipex

thank you all

lansbury

That stamp is not valid for one year from the date you leave the US, it is valid for one year from the date you first arrived and the stamp put in your passport.