Permanent Residency Renewal of 10 years green card

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sara

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Hi,
I am so depressed and worried these days about my situation, I would really appreciate your reply.
I came to usa as a permanent resident in 2003 at age of 16 along with my mom, I started high school here, after 10 months my mom chose to go back as she felt miserable because we had no help and she was not able to speak english or drive in order to work, she went back and started asking my uncle to send me back, since i was a minor so my uncle sent me back but he did one favr and got me re-entry permit b4 i left. I started college there and in 2006 i came back only for one week and again got re-entry permit and went back copmleted my B.S and came back in 2008. Since then I am living and working here in US paying all my taxes. I chose to live here and came back even though my uncle said they can not even pick me up from air port and i have to do every thing on my own, which i did because i love thins country.
The only thing is when I came in 2006 I was here only for one week (aug 20th to aug 28) and I filed for re-entry permit and went back and my permit was issued in nov 2006 and was valid till nov 2008, and my gratuation was in nov 2008 too, so i came back after my gratuation. so even though my re-entry permit was valid when I came back but I stayed abroad TWO YEARS AND THREE MONTHS.
I was elligible to apply for citizenship in nov 2013, however there was a note on M-476 that if you have are-entry permit it gives you 364 days towards your contineous residency so i filed for citizenship in dec 2012 and it was denied. According to the IO he could only consider that one year towards my residence if my IR could hv been here or I would have paid taxes while I was out.
Now my green card is expiring in june 2013 and I already e-filed for re-newal but I am losng my sleep over it by thinking that what if they reject my green card re-newal due to same reason that even though I had re-entry permit, I have abandoned my residency.
Please please if any one knows any thing kindly let me know as I cant live any where else, I would rather die than leaving from here
 
can someone please give me any kind of general opinion of what you think, I am so desperate and only reason I posted my concern here is that almost all issues were answered for other members
 
Sara, with all due respect, it's Friday night ... we're all volunteers here :)

With that said, you really should call an immigration attorney - there is a chance that you will be deemed to have abandoned your residency.
 
You worry for nothing!

SARA:

Relax. You are losing all that good sleep for nothing and you'll give yourself an ulcer before too long worrying like this.

First of all, you are confusing what constitutes a Break in Continuous Residence with Abandoning Permanent Residency. Your application for Citizenship was denied not because you were deemed to have abandoned residency, but because you did not satisfy the 5-year continuous presence requirement which would have automatically made you eligible for Citizenship.

You are deemed to have abandoned residency if you voluntarily claimed non-residence status in order to be exempt from paying income tax or if you failed to file state of federal income tax returns because you considered yourself to be a non-resident alien. And also if you were to cut your Green Card in half and send it to immigration with a note saying "You can keep your residency!"

You should also note that you are able to counter the contention of the break in residency by showing that during your absence:
• You did not terminate your employment in the United States or obtain employment while abroad.
• Your immediate family remained in the United States.
• You retained full access to your United States abode during your absence.

But the worst case scenario here is not going to be the denial of your Green Card Renewal Application (which you will be granted), but the fact that you will just have to make sure that you maintain continuous residency in the United States for four years and one day from the date of your last return to the U.S. in order to resume your residency in order to become eligible for Citizenship once again.

So just maintain residence for the next four years and one day, and then apply for Citizenship. And stop worrying.

fredrikklaw
 
If this is important to you, I suggest you consult a GOOD immigration law attorney near you.
In fact, talk to three or four, then decide. The initial consultation is free and you can ask these kinds of questions. Immigration laws are complex and are volatile. You need to invest in yourself, if it's important to you.


sara said:
Hi,
I am so depressed and worried these days about my situation, I would really appreciate your reply.
I came to usa as a permanent resident in 2003 at age of 16 along with my mom, I started high school here, after 10 months my mom chose to go back as she felt miserable because we had no help and she was not able to speak english or drive in order to work, she went back and started asking my uncle to send me back, since i was a minor so my uncle sent me back but he did one favr and got me re-entry permit b4 i left. I started college there and in 2006 i came back only for one week and again got re-entry permit and went back copmleted my B.S and came back in 2008. Since then I am living and working here in US paying all my taxes. I chose to live here and came back even though my uncle said they can not even pick me up from air port and i have to do every thing on my own, which i did because i love thins country.
The only thing is when I came in 2006 I was here only for one week (aug 20th to aug 28) and I filed for re-entry permit and went back and my permit was issued in nov 2006 and was valid till nov 2008, and my gratuation was in nov 2008 too, so i came back after my gratuation. so even though my re-entry permit was valid when I came back but I stayed abroad TWO YEARS AND THREE MONTHS.
I was elligible to apply for citizenship in nov 2013, however there was a note on M-476 that if you have are-entry permit it gives you 364 days towards your contineous residency so i filed for citizenship in dec 2012 and it was denied. According to the IO he could only consider that one year towards my residence if my IR could hv been here or I would have paid taxes while I was out.
Now my green card is expiring in june 2013 and I already e-filed for re-newal but I am losng my sleep over it by thinking that what if they reject my green card re-newal due to same reason that even though I had re-entry permit, I have abandoned my residency.
Please please if any one knows any thing kindly let me know as I cant live any where else, I would rather die than leaving from here
Click to expand...
 
fredrikklaw said:
SARA:

Relax. You are losing all that good sleep for nothing and you'll give yourself an ulcer before too long worrying like this.

First of all, you are confusing what constitutes a Break in Continuous Residence with Abandoning Permanent Residency. Your application for Citizenship was denied not because you were deemed to have abandoned residency, but because you did not satisfy the 5-year continuous presence requirement which would have automatically made you eligible for Citizenship.

You are deemed to have abandoned residency if you voluntarily claimed non-residence status in order to be exempt from paying income tax or if you failed to file state of federal income tax returns because you considered yourself to be a non-resident alien. And also if you were to cut your Green Card in half and send it to immigration with a note saying "You can keep your residency!"

You should also note that you are able to counter the contention of the break in residency by showing that during your absence:
• You did not terminate your employment in the United States or obtain employment while abroad.
• Your immediate family remained in the United States.
• You retained full access to your United States abode during your absence.

But the worst case scenario here is not going to be the denial of your Green Card Renewal Application (which you will be granted), but the fact that you will just have to make sure that you maintain continuous residency in the United States for four years and one day from the date of your last return to the U.S. in order to resume your residency in order to become eligible for Citizenship once again.

So just maintain residence for the next four years and one day, and then apply for Citizenship. And stop worrying.

fredrikklaw
Click to expand...
Thank you so very much sir, I feel much better now. Actually I already been in USA for more than four years and one day, (since November 2008 till now), but the only thing which I did not know was the three conditions you explained above, as none of them applied to me. Once I get my green card I will apply for citizenship after august 2013
(three months before five years from the date I came in last time). Thank you so very much once again for your time and opinion. May God bless you.
 
hank you so very much sir, I feel much better now. Actually I already been in USA for more than four years and one day, (since November 2008 till now), but the only thing which I did not know was the three conditions you explained above, as none of them applied to me. Once I get my green card I will apply for citizenship after august 2013
(three months before five years from the date I came in last time). Thank you so very much once again for your time and opinion. May God bless you.
 
Thank you for opinion. I actually just discussed it with one attorney (online pay as you go one) as because of weekend no one was really available, and I was told there is nothing to worry about, I should be simply able to get my green card at home after I appear for finger prints. If not they can not deny the renewal without interviewing me for the grounds of my absence. If I do get an interview letter then I will for sure get the attorney.
Second I just found out that you can actually check if your green card is valid or not from uscis self e-verify app, and after checking that my status is valid.
So as of now I feel better and hope for best.
Thank you so very muck .
Regards,
Sara
 
Now learn 100 answers!

My pleasure, entirely!

Now all you have to worry about is memorizing/learning the answers to 100 questions from amongst which you will be asked a few at you Citizenship interview.

Here is the first one: Who is the current president of the United States of America?

Best Wishes

fredrikklaw
 
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