Expired Green Card

[feon1281]

I have a brother currently in Vietnam with the expired Green Card. He wanted to come back to U.S. My mother filed an I-191 form through the Travel Agency place to have the U.S Consulate/Embassy in Vietnam issue him a temporary Green Card or some type of paper work so he can come back to U.S legally. I was wondering if this is the right way to do it? Or what can we do? It has been almost a year since we filed the form. And I really doubt this will help or work.

 

[NYClex]

Well, it depends on the circumstances. An alien who has been a permanent legal resident (Green Card Holder) must keep his "domicile" (that basically means he must live) in the United States to be able to renew his Green Card. If the authorities do conclude that he had no longer the intention to live in the United States when he left, they will conclude he "relinquished" his domicile and the Green Card will not be renewed and he will not be allowed to reenter the country.

If he can show that his absence was only short term and temporary and he had no intention to relinquish his domicile, then he can file Form I-191.

It is pretty common that the USCIS needs months and sometimes years to work on a petition. You can check your application status on the USCIS website: https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp

 

[feon1281]

I follow the link that you've provided, they'd ask for the receipt number and I do not have it. I went to the USCIS today, and they found nothing on my brother's file. They said they have to order my brother's file and it should take about 3 weeks. I want to know what is the file for? and will this help?

 

[NYClex]

They need the file to find out what is going on with your brother's case.