My Mother-In-Law got her Green Card for the USA - now what?

[MisterBKK]

My Mother-In-Law (MIL) recently got her Green Card. She is in Thailand. They stamped her Thai passport with a VISA that is valid until December to travel to the US.

Questions:

Where do they send the notice and the green card? Her address in Thailand? Or here in America to her sponsor's address (her daughter)?

What if she does not travel to the US before December?

Any other issues with making sure the green card stays valid? Max days out of the country, etc?

The reason I ask these questions. My MIL is not a traveler and cannot travel alone. My wife will need to fly over there and bring her back to America. We have tickets to go to Thailand and come back in January. It would be great if we all come back together in January.

Thanks for all assistance,

Mr_BKK

You can read all the drama of my Mother-In-Law getting her Green Card from America here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/636547-cannot-get-us-visa-for-my-mother-in-law-any-help-appreciated/

[captspectre]

you should have gotten those answers BEFORE you applied! they are redily available, just have to look them up instead of asking other strangers for advice.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Take a wander through www.visajourney.com, lots of info here.

Re he enter before date, you can ask the Consulate to extend the validity of this so you and your wife can travel back to the U.S. with the MIL.

Here's some info on MIL's arrival in the U.S. and the Green Card:

http://www.immihelp.com/immigrant-visa/steps-after-immigrant-visa-interview.html

Lots more info available, address some of your Qs to Google.

Mac

[ggt]

Now What? Your life...as you have come to know it...has just changed forever...

[smotherb]

Now What? Your life...as you have come to know it...has just changed forever...

Oh, I thought the buffalo was getting the green card next, but maybe the brother will get it first.

[sead]

for a small fee every airline will take care of her and follow/walk her through everything

[uptoyoumyfriend]

the green card is for people who want to live in the us.many consider it a lotterie win.some actually won it in the lotterie!

it can get canclled when staying away for over six months.

[taxout]

And as I mentioned on the other thread, one of the first things she'll have to do after arriving in the U.S. is get a Social Security number and learn about her responsibilities to file various tax returns, like the 1040 and FBAR.

[Time Traveller]

If she already got her green card then why would they send her another?

[taxout]

She doesn't actually have a Green Card yet; she'll get a temporary Green Card when she first enters the U.S.

Edited July 14, 2016 by taxout

[MisterBKK]

Thanyaburi Mac - awesome link, that was what I needed. I wasn't sure if the green card would go to her Thai address or to me here in the US.

ggt - Very funny! Should be fun :-)

Taxout - good advice on the SSN and tax forms

Thanks everyone for the pointers!

[taxout]

I was about to post exactly the same. She'll undergo a formal interview on arrival, and if she can't demonstrate that she intends to permanently reside in the U.S., then Immigration simply doesn't have the authority to grant her admission as a permanent resident.

[sanukjim]

A US Green Card is the authorization to work and reside in the United States.and the holder does not need a Visa,just a reentry permit.Green Cards are issued in the US and the holder obtains a reentry permit BEFORE leaving Your MIL must have been one of the lucky ones (50,000) to get a Green Card through a "Lottery" they have every year.She has until December to use this or will loose it to another person.She will now have the right to live and work in The US and use the federal health benefits applied there. Congratulations.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

U.S. Re-Entry permit is intended for an alien who plans to stay out of the U.S. for more than one year, it allows re-entry for up to two years. This is primarily intended for folks who might need to work outside the USA for that period, or, for example, accompany a spouse who is working.

No Re-Entry permit required to enter the U.S. for up to one year, Green Card is sufficient. But, as noted by other posters, the U.S. Immigration people at port of entry do have the authority to rescind the green card if they determine that the holder actually is residing outside the USA, eg, is not a PRA, Permanent Resident Alien, in the States. This surprises, and catches, a lot of Thai who have green cards that they plan to use for U.S. visits only.

Note, while the current expiry date on the MIL's visa is December, it can be extended by the Consulate here, a not uncommon occurrence. Some years ago we had a Philipping guy with USAID in Vientiane who had been a pre-WW II Scout and was with the guerrillas during the Japanese occupation. He later got an Immigrant visa but kept extending it year by year for 10 plus years. He finally went to California when USAID/Laos shut down, May-June 1975.

"Among the first Filipinos to arrive in Laos who stayed the longest there, Celso Orense died Aug. 18, 2003 at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Sunset, Calif.

He was one of a batch of about 35 Filipinos hired by the U.S. Embassy in Manila and flown to Vientiane in December 1957 to help staff the American aid programs in Laos, then known as the United States Overseas Mission. They were lodged in four houses in Nahaidio, a short distance from what would sprawl into a compound of offices of the United States Agency for International Development, the successor to USOM.

"A new Communist government installed in 1975 terminated the foreign operations that employed the Filipinos. Most returned to the Philippines. Others dispersed to Australia, Canada, the Middle East and the USA.

Celso chose to settle in Los Angeles in 1975, followed the next year by his wife Bounchuay. A Thai and a former administrative assistant of USAID's Housing Department,"

Mac

[MisterBKK]

Thank you everyone for your concern, but maybe some of you misunderstand this thread.

My mother-in-law is coming to America to live now and the green card rules will be followed to the letter. She is not using the green card as a visitor, that would be dumb for all the reasons you state here, My issue that I was saying in the other thread is that we would have been satisfied with a 10 year VISA, where she could come visit and then decide later if she was interested in a green card. We all weighed the decision on having her reside in the US (and pay taxes, etc.) and decided that she should move here. This was a big decision and needed a lot of support from those in the US and those in Thailand.

Hope this clears things up.

Mr_BKK

[thaihome]

A US Green Card is the authorization to work and reside in the United States.and the holder does not need a Visa,just a reentry permit.Green Cards are issued in the US and the holder obtains a reentry permit BEFORE leaving Your MIL must have been one of the lucky ones (50,000) to get a Green Card through a "Lottery" they have every year.She has until December to use this or will loose it to another person.She will now have the right to live and work in The US and use the federal health benefits applied there. Congratulations.

The OP's wife is US citizen, therefore is allowed to sponsor her mother for a green card, no need to participate in the lottery. Also, she does not need a reentry permit unless she will be out of US for over a year. As other have said, she can extend the immigrant visa at the Bangkok US consulate if she cannot leave Thailand by December.

Curious what "federal health benefits" you think she will be able to use? She can get medicare only after working for some 10 years. Until that point, even if she is over 65 she will have to purchase insurance.

TH

[taxout]

Actually, it takes five years of actual residence to qualify for Federal-funded Medicaid in the case of a Green Card holder.

But some states fund Medicaid themselves and offer broader coverage. If living in New York, for example, the mother-in-law will be eligible on arrival for state-funded Medicaid, assuming she meets financial tests.

http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/ochia/downloads/pdf/guide-to-health-insurance-for-immigrants.pdf

(State-funded Medicaid offers the same benefits as Federal-funded Medicaid; the difference is just that the state doesn't get reimbursement from the the Federal government.)

Edited July 17, 2016 by taxout

[lannarebirth]

Your mother will receive her Green Card in the USA, through the mail, usually after reporting to the local USCIS office. Her passport will be returned to whatever address you provided on the prepaid mailing envelope you provided with her application. In her passport will be a ONE YEAR IMMIGRANT VISA. That will gain her entry to the US and at USCIS you'll do the final paperwork to process Green Card, which will arrive in the mail a week or so after that to the new address you provide to USCIS.