First of all heartiest congratulations on running such a nice website.

I have a query. I am a citizen of India and a lawful permanent resident of the United States as I have my green card(issued in 1980). I was here in the US about 25 years back(1980-1983) when I was a child. Due to some familial problems, my parents and I had to return to my home country after staying here for 2.5 years and couldnt come back to the US for next 25 years. During the course of time, we changed houses in India and there were a lot of things we thought we lost. My green card was among them. But I always had a dream of coming here back and I passed my USMLEs. This time I came here on a visitors visa as I didnt have my green card handy while I was taking my exams. Recently in the lot of old things, my parents found their and mine green cards back, intact. We have found every document related to our stay in the United States for two and a half years during that time, including our green cards. I want to ask, how can I reclaim to have my green card renewed so I can again attain the status of a lawful permanent status of the US. I would be extremely grateful if you could help me out in this matter.

Looking forward to your reply

You probably have not lost your residency.
You will however have to apply to your nearest Embassy or Consulate for permission to re-enter the US as an immigrant. You should not just arrive at immigration and expect to be let in even though, if your green card was issued back in 1980, it probably does not have an expiry date.

However, I would caution you that an attempt to enter the USA as a returning resident will require you to show that you have filed a US tax return as a US resident and paid any taxes due for every year since you ceased being a student.

Post edited by: Politically Correct, at: 2007/11/03 19:03