Green Card Archives - Sesini Law Group, S.C.

Can I lose my Green Card if I have been out of the US for 2 years?

Yes you can. There’s a presumption that you’ve abandoned your permanent resident status and you’re going to have problems coming back into the country by CBP and they may threaten or coerce you to try to give up your permanent resident status and if you don’t do that most of the time they’ll place you in removal proceedings.
I would suggest, one, don’t let CBP coerce you into abandoning your permanent resident status. It’s much better to even spend a night or two in jail and then when you are released, go see an experienced immigration attorney who does removal defense to try to get back your green card.

If your spouse is not eligible to get a Green Card in the United States. You have to initially file an immediate relative petition for your wife or husband. Then, once that I-130 petition is approved, you now become eligible to file a waiver for your spouse.
President Obama changed the processing of the waiver. It is now called the 601A waiver, or the provisional waiver. You can file that waiver in the United States before your spouse returns to the home country.
If you file the waiver and the waiver is approved, then we will send the spouse back and obtain her Green Card. For example, if you are from Mexico, the great majority of my clients come back within three to six days after their interview in Mexico. Other countries, it’s a little bit longer.
If the waiver is not approved, then we don’t send your spouse back to his or her home country because she won’t be granted the immigrant visa to come back. If you are in this situation, with an experienced immigration attorney, you can win these waivers.

As a permanent resident, you can apply for your spouse and children.
You cannot apply for your parents. Only a US citizen can apply for parents. However, for your spouse and for your children, they do go on waiting lists. It’s called the preference category.
For spouse and children under the age of 21, they’re in a 2A preference category.
Right now, for example, if you’re from Mexico, there’s probably about a two-year waiting period.
If you want to petition for a son or daughter that’s over the age of 21 and you’re from Mexico, the waiting period on paper, if you file today, is 20 years. In reality, it’s over 100 years. There’s a lot of issues.

You can obtain a Green Card if you have been in the United States for 10 years if you are in deportation proceedings.
Many of my clients are in deportation proceedings due to committing a crime. After serving their sentence, they are automatically taken to The Department of Homeland Security and placed into custody. If you find yourself in that position, you are eligible to apply for a Green Card in front of the immigration judge if you can satisfy the following requirements:
- You have to be a person of good moral character, which means that you can not have been convicted of an aggravated felony or a crime involving moral turpitude with a maximum sentence of one year or more and the sentence was six months or more.
- You also have to show that your deportation would result in an exceptional hardship to your permanent resident or citizen spouse, children, or parents.