Retaining Green Card - Father of 2

cdwicklow

Hi All,

Any helpful feedback, tips, advice would be greatly appreciated as I had considered it a lost cause until finding this forum which has given me some slight hope for a positive outcome yet.

I have done my best to keep this short and possibly failed but without enough detail I couldn't expect much in the line of help so if you can read through this you have my full and sincere gratitude.

I moved to Atlanta 11 years ago after marrying an American here in Ireland where I was born & raised. We since built our family and I have 2 daughters (8 & 5) who are literally my world.

Fast forwarding and skipping allot I found myself back in Ireland 14 months ago. My wife was dead set on a divorce and I basically had nowhere to turn at the time but back to my family in Ireland and what has yet to feel like home again. My plan was to get through what was a huge loss and return to Atlanta with enough savings for temporary accommodation etc until I could find a job so that I could stay close to my kids permanently.

It sounded feasible but time went on with no sign of any work. I managed to make a trip back for Christmas to see my kids and to essentially reset the 1 year time limit on remaining outside the States. Back in October 2013 I got a break and got a contract position that would give me what I needed to get back to my kids and set-up by May 2014. I made another trip back this past Christmas again to see my girls and to reset that clock with the plan of returning for good in May but was told at immigration that my green card was no longer valid as I overstayed the one year limit on the basis that short trips do not count. I was allowed in one last time on my green card with instructions to get the 2 year permission for absence before I left again or that was it. I did everything possible but in the end I had enough money for 10 days and couldn't make it stretch 2-3 months on top of application fees. After abandoning my return flight to ireland clinging to straws that i could make it work I had no choice in the end but to accept an offer to borrow enough to get back to ireland.

Crushed doesn't come close to describing the state in which I arrived back. My family was/is my life and being there for my kids and still playing a father like role in their life is what had kept me going all of the time leading up to then. I was beyond the requirements for applying for U.S citizenship at the time when my marriage fell apart and now I can only be a visitor to a country that feels like home.

My green-card technically expires November 2014 however from everything I have learned I have already been deemed to have abandoned my residency status making this date non relevant.

Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts that may be helpful would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

silja

Are you saying you have a job waiting for you in the USA starting this month?
Is there anything written in your passport about the last entry being your last one allowed? Witha job waiting for you, I'd probably take a chance and see if they let you in again. Your other option might be a SB-1 "returning resident" visa, where you'd need to convince the embassy that you did not abandon your greencard, but were unavoidably detained in Ireland for longer than you planned. This is usually due to a death in the family or some such but worth a try.

InTheTrees

Eugh. Sorry for your troubles. What was all that "resetting" the GC stuff?

Time for a Lawyer.

Generally it seems there isnt much in the United States that cant be fixed by a good attorney, but that means $$'s so it really does come down to how much you're prepared to spend. You would need an Immigration specialist.

There could well be some form of hardship appeal, or way of having your file reviewed, but you really would need professional help for that. You could even make it worse by trying to do it yourself.

Are you divorced yet or are you still married? What the custody arrangement? Are you paying support? Did you have an attorney for that?

The first thing I would do is try phoning and talking to a human being at an immigration office in the US. If thats possible and you can get beyond the recorded information. You may have to stay on hold for a long time. But those people can be a good source of info.

MadsL

11 years! Why on earth did you not apply for citizenship????

InTheTrees

MadsL wrote: »

11 years! Why on earth did you not apply for citizenship????

Tax is the usual reason.

As far as i know...

Dave1442397

InTheTrees wrote: »

Tax is the usual reason.

As far as i know...

Citizenship has no effect on taxes.

I applied just before they doubled the fee, which is now $595 + $85 for fingerprinting.

spideog7

Dave1442397 wrote: »

Citizenship has no effect on taxes.

While I don't thing the tax issue mentioned in InTheTrees original post is the case, there are certainly some minor taxation differences for US citizens vs residents.

As a US citizen you have to file (and potentially pay) US taxes even if you leave to live in a foreign country, residents do only if they retain their residency.

There are also ramifications for estate taxes between married couples if one of them is not a US citizen (and the US citizen spouse dies leaving a large estate).

That's all slightly off topic but the OP should be aware that you may now be liable for an 'exit tax' since your Greencard was revoked. You will need to file an 8854 with the IRS.

I know people who've lived as permanent residents in the US for many years and never felt the need to become citizens.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Dave1442397 wrote: »

Citizenship has no effect on taxes.

This is not correct

Dave1442397

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

This is not correct

Ok, citizenship had no effect on my taxes. I was a permanent resident for 20 years before applying for citizenship.