21
There is no need to physically relinquish your green card. From Maintaining Permanent Residence:
You may also lose your permanent resident status by intentionally abandoning it. You may be found to have abandoned your status if you:
Move to another country, intending to live there permanently.
There is no need to spend the money and time to fly to the ...
15
Are you sure that the relocation back to Europe is permanent? If not, you may be able to retain US Permanent Resident status for up to six years by applying for a re-entry permit. The permit is normally valid for 2 years but can be renewed twice.
While this option may offer useful flexibility to many individuals, the downside to this is that the person ...
13
If you're not looking to use a lawyer, I suggest you go with the suggestion to apply for a green card for your mother-in-law based on her being the parent of a U.S. citizen. The process is straightforward enough to not need a lawyer. You just need to read the instructions carefully, and have patience, while keeping on top of the process.
The State ...
13
As an lawful permanent resident (LPR) you are expected to take up residence in the US and you are not allowed to do so in another country. You are allowed to leave the US temporarily, there is no legal definition how long temporary is.
If you leave the US:
for one year or more your green card will no longer be a valid document to reenter the US.
for ...
12
The priority date is based on the place of birth of the applicant (or spouse, if they're different and the queue for one is shorter than the other). Moving/acquiring citizenship in another country doesn't affect it. See the USCIS:
Chargeability is usually determined by country of birth. Exceptions
are made to prevent the separation of family members ...
11
The US State Department has this to say about Iraqi birth certificates:
Alternate Documents: Family Book "Qayd 57" issued by the Nationality Directorate (Mudeeriyat Al-Jenssiyah)
Comments: If the Ministry of Health has no record of the subject's birth, either because the birth was never registered, or because the record was lost (i.e. during a fire, ...
11
As someone who had gone through a similar situation, I know it can be difficult to find the correct answer. The answer given by @sitic is a very good one.
In my case, I came to the USA with the green card just before my last semester at college. I stayed in the country for a month and flew back to my previous country to finish that semester. I stayed ...
10
The answer may heavily depend on the circumstances but in general a speeding ticket won't be an issue according to instructions to I-485:
NOTE: Unless a traffic insident was alcohol or drug-related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was a fine of less then $500 ...
10
Is renouncing one's US citizenship approximately equally administratively complex as renouncing one's US lawful permanent resident status (i.e., giving up one's green card)?
Not at all. You can relinquish permanent residence quite easily, even by mail, and there is no fee. Renouncing citizenship requires appearing before a consular officer and a hefty fee,...
9
There are many paths to both a Green Card and Citizenship, including employment based, family based (e.g. marriage) and various special interests.
Since you are in the US on an H1B, you are likely employed, and if you are lucky your employer will sponsor you for a Green Card. It is a long and fairly complicated process. You should contact your HR department;...
9
You certainly don't need to spend that kind of money. For US citizens, parents are pretty high on the list to get green cards. The service centers that process the I-130 forms now report 5 months. After that, there's more processing in Iraq, but I wasn't able to quickly find out how long that would take.
Here's the appropriate website: Bringing Parents to ...
9
Thanks for all your answers. I probably wasn’t as explicit as I needed in my question but now that I’ve been through it I want to share my experience.
As of this Summer you can no longer abandon LPR status and more importantly residence at a US embassy or consulate.
You have 2 options
1) mail form I-407 to USCIS
2) abandon your green card at a port of ...
8
It is unlikely that the fact that your parent holds a US green card will have any bearing on your application. In fact, if your parent does not currently reside in the US, their status of "permanent residency" could certainly be called into question (but also wouldn't affect your application).
This happened to somebody I knew in Canada many years ago. He ...
8
Once you get your visa, it is valid for six months. Visas will only be issued during the financial year (October-September period) for which the lottery was held. Once the visa expires, if you didn't enter the US and convert it to a green card (i.e.: got a stamp on it at the port of entry) - it expires, and your win vanishes, you will no longer be qualified ...
8
You do not need a passport to enter the US when you have a Green Card.
See https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/international-travel-permanent-resident for the official text:
What documents do I need to present to reenter the United States?
If seeking to enter the United States after temporary travel abroad,
you will need to ...
8
No, neither having money in a bank account nor earning work income qualifies a person to immigrate to the US. You generally must be petitioned by a US citizen or permanent resident relative, or petitioned by a US employer who plans to employ you, to legally immigrate to the US (though there are some self-petitioning employment-based categories).
There is ...
7
The State Department's Visa Reciprocity and Country Documents page lists what documents are acceptable from each country. For Iraq, it seems that a birth certificate from the Ministry of Health, or, alternatively, a "Family Book" from the Nationality Directory, are acceptable.
7
Adjustment of Status will get permanent residency much faster. Since they are in the Immediate Relative category with no wait for visa numbers, I-130 petition and I-485 for Adjustment of Status can be filed concurrently. The two applications will be approved together in a few months, all while staying in the US. Consular processing would require first filing ...
7
Between 1 and 15 years
It depends on number of factors:
if your employer is paying for premium processing
if your application is subject to additional auditing
your nationality
green card preference class
There are 3 phases
Labor Certification (aka PERM)
Preparation by attorneys (including getting papers translated if necessary etc). A couple of months. ...
7
You can file the petition while you are in India, but you have to intend to re-establish domicile in the US concurrently with, or before, your wife enters the US.
Yes, a standalone I-130 filed from outside the US goes to the Chicago Lockbox.
Your wife will go through Consular Processing in India. I-485 is for applying for Adjustment of Status in the US, ...
6
Based on the information in the Application for Social Security you should be able to receive one 7-14 days from the moment the application is filed.
16 Show an address where you can receive your card 7 to 14 days from now.
6
The Diversity Visa Program (aka Green Card Lottery) is currently closed. When it is open you must apply online. Information can be found at the US Dept of State
Entries for the DV-2015 DV program must be submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov
between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Tuesday, October 1, 2013, and noon, Eastern
...
6
Scammers for the Diversity Visa Program are legions. The official webpage Diversity Visa Lottery Scams from the Federal Trade Commission gives some interesting information that you might find useful:
Scammers try to trick people who enter the Diversity Visa Lottery.
Scammers might:
charge you money to help you apply
promise to increase your ...
6
None of these sites is reliable. Diversity visa sign up process is free, done through the US government website (ends with ".gov"), and is only open in October-November.
"Applying" through all these sites doesn't guarantee you anything other than money out of your pocket for something you can easily do yourself for free. Moreover - there's no way to check ...
6
No, she'll have to apply for a visa of course but there's no specific limitation on ex-permanent residents from visiting.
However, you should have cancelled the green card instead of ignoring the USCIS, as she's still liable for taxes in the US and her status is in limbo. The proper way, IMHO, would be to go to the US consulate and officially surrender the ...
6
I think you're asking the question a bit too late, since she has already changed her name in the US. The new name is right there - on the marriage certificate. Now, you need to bring all the rest of the documentation up to date with the new name.
6
Unless you have an Advance Parole, or you have H1b/H4/L1b/L2 status, leaving the US while your Adjustment of Status (I-485) is pending will cause your Adjustment of Status to be automatically abandoned.
For people without H or L status, this basically means that they need to wait until they have Advance Parole (or green card) before they can leave the US. ...
6
To get a working visa, a prospective employee has to find a job with an employer that meets the qualifications for visa sponsorship. After some years in the working visa status, the employee may become eligible to apply for permanent residence. In other words, someone who comes on an H-1B visa, for exmaple, cannot get a green card before working in the US ...
6
First of all, nobody you will run into in daily life will ask you "How are you legally here". Local police and other regular officials generally do not (unless maybe if you are in Arizona or one of those states with the crazy laws) deal with or understand immigration law (with is federal law and very complex). The only situation you might run into in the ...
6
Here is what I am aware of.
Actions to take ASAP:
Replace/update your SSN card. This can be done at your local social security center. See https://www.ssa.gov/
If employed: ask the employer to update the I-9
If you have some accounts at banks, insurance, mortgage: inform them about your residency status, as in some places you may be eligible for lower rate ...
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