Wife'S Green Card Revoked! Now What?...

[yeeowww]

Approximately 2+ years ago, my wife made a trip back to Los Angeles for her scheduled removal of restriction on her 2 year Green Card. We had been living in Chiang Mai from the time it was issued to her but went back to California each year for other reasons than simply to validate her residency. On that trip back she went solo and by that point had been out of the USA for approx 14 months. Upon entering the country at LAX, she was taken into a separate room and interrogated for over 2 hours! They finally allowed her to continue entry into the county however not before they had confiscated her Thai Passport and released her with a temporary entry permit telling her that a hearing date would be setup. She continued travel to Denver where my brother lives and went to her biometric appointment where no mention of the incident was ever made or brought up. After conferring with my brother at who's house she was staying, he scanned the forms given to her by Immigration, emailed them to me and told me his take on it was that she would just have to play "wait/see". As the hearing would not be conducted for many months, I told her to get back to Los Angeles, go to the Thai Consulate and explain the entire situation to them. I believed it was not right nor legal for Immigration to confiscate her passport, but then what do I know? Thai Consulate in L.A. issued her a travel document and she was able to fly back to Thailand in short order. Once here she got a new passport and has been here ever since. We received her hearing date which we chose not to go to as I have no intention of ever living in the USA again. The hearing came and went, her Green Card was of course revoked and we have never addressed the problem again.

Now an opportunity has come up where we would like to take a 2 week trip back to California. Her status for travel to the U.S. at this point is completely unknown to us and I sure don't want to go down to the Embassy here in C.M. and be subjected to the runaround and money grabbing they typically do and then be denied a tourist visa. Has anyone else been thru this situation and if so, what would the best option be for taking this trip? We were married 6 years ago in the USA and then again 5 years ago in Thailand once we got back here. We have a business here for 4+ years now, own our home and no kids. Any suggestions would be welcome.

[gotlost]

Travel to the US impossible until she gets a new visa in her passport. So unfortunately you know what that means> A trip to the US Consulate in Chiang Mai.

[sbk]

Not sure why she didn't go to the Embassy and relinquish the green card as required, it would have made her life and future visits to the US much easier to obtain. Now, she will have to go to the Consulate and, I suspect, given her status and the choice to let it lapse in this manner, she will find it extremely difficult to get a B1/B2 visa even.

[VisasPlus]

If you have a US Green Crad you cannot, I believe, remain outside of the US for more than 6 months without obtaining a further visa from a US Embassy or Consulate overseas. If you do stay outside the US for more than 6 months, then the Green Card can be revoked.

You can, seemingly, apply for the Green Card to be reinstated. See this link. http://www.ehow.com/how_6034390_reinstate-green-card-after-revocation.html

I, personally, have no experience of this process, so good luck if you down this road.

[daboyz1]

Can't use a green card as a tourist visa. 6-12 months out of the US, good chance of getting it revoked. 12+ months it will be revoked for sure. Green card is a permanent resident card. If you don't maintain permanent residency they will revoke it.

From USCIS website:

Maintaining Permanent Residence

Maintaining Permanent Residence You may lose your permanent residence status if you commit an act that makes you removable from the United States under the law in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If you commit such an act, you may be brought before the immigration courts to determine your right to remain a Permanent Resident.

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

• Move to another country intending to live there permanently. (You need to maintain domicile in the USA)
• Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
• Remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
• Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period.
• Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns.

[sbk]

There is no need to have it revoked if you wish to remain overseas. Simply travel to the Embassy or Consulate and sign a document relinquishing it, this shows to the INS (or whatever its called these days) that you are acting in good faith and gaining a future B1/B2 visa is not difficult. However, OP's wife has already burned her bridges on this one, so given the problems here the only solution is to go to the Consulate and ask for advice on the matter.