Conditional Green-Card holder not living in the USA I-751

[Mr. Twister]

Update on my situation:

 

Well, I accompanied my wife to her B2 interview in Beijing with our I-407 in our possession as well as the Green Card, fully prepared to bid "adieu" to that little piece of plastic.

 

What followed was a somewhat odd chain of events but a happy ending:

 

She was told she could not surrender the Green Card at the non-immigrant interview, but that she had to go upstairs to the Immigration department to do it. She tried to go upstairs, but was stopped and told she couldn't go up there without an appointment. So back to the non-immigrant department she went, and they gave her a blue card (passed the interview?) plus a green sheet saying they needed more information with some batch codes. They asked us to email a scanned copy of the I-407, even though we had the ACTUAL, PHYSICAL COPY RIGHT THERE!

 

Well, we went out to a shop in Beijing, made the scan, emailed it, then didn't hear anything for a few days. I emailed them and they told us the visa was approved and would be issued shortly. Less than a week later, it arrived in the mail with her shiny new B2 visa in it. In total, from interview to having the visa in our hands took about 2 weeks.

 

But, did any of you pick up on something interesting? That's right: WE NEVER ACTUALLY SURRENDERED THE GREEN CARD! I mean, we surrendered her status as a permanent resident, but we still have the actual card in our possession. A nice little souvenir, I guess.

 

Here's on thing I would like to know: I heard somewhere that B2 visas were issued in 5 year or 10 year incremements, and I've also heard (in this very thread) they are only good for 1 year. My wife's is a one year visa. Where did I get the idea of a 5/10 year B2 visa from? (B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation. dnoblett)

 

 

Well, so if anyone needs to know, this is probably not the approved path of converting a Green Card to a tourist visa, but in the end it all worked out. What I would probably do differently is schedule an immigration appointment in the morning and the B2 interview in the afternoon. But oh well, like I said, all's well that ends well.

Edited March 3, 2016 by dnoblett
B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation. (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Interesting - but it sounds like the green card won't do her any good anyway. My guess is that she would have to surrender it if she tried to enter the U.S. with it. My advice is for her to have the green card with her when she enters with the B-2 visa, and be prepared to surrender it if asked. Otherwise, she ends up with a nice little souvenir which is not even good for wrapping fish. DO NOT use the green card to try to overstay on the B-2, or for any other purpose.

 

The B-2 visa is issued for a 1 year duration.

 

B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation.

Edited March 3, 2016 by dnoblett
B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation. (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Yes per reciprocity visitors visas are a mult-use 1 year visas, this is because for most visitors to China, the Chinese government issues 1 year multi use visitors visas.

 

Anyway future renewals will not involve an interview, is a simple matter of visiting the CITIC bank, filling out a DS-160, paying fee and dropping the passport off at the bank.

 

http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/niv_renewal.html

 

B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation.

Edited March 3, 2016 by dnoblett
B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation. (see edit history)

[Mr. Twister]

Yep, I certainly don't plan on trying to use the Green Card. I'll take it with us when we go to America, just in case, but I don't plan on showing it to anyone in the government unless it is specifically asked for. Honestly, they would have no way of knowing we have it since we've already surrendered her status and we SHOULD have given up the Green Card with that, but it wasn't asked for.

 

I'm hoping we can just keep it and when we get her unconditional Green Card next year sometime, we can look back on the "original" and remember how far we've come.

 

Nice to know about the tourist visa, still wonder where I got the 5/10 year idea from, but it doesn't really matter. We may renew it once, if that, before we just get another Green Card.

Edited March 3, 2016 by dnoblett
B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation. (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Yep, I certainly don't plan on trying to use the Green Card. I'll take it with us when we go to America, just in case, but I don't plan on showing it to anyone in the government unless it is specifically asked for. Honestly, they would have no way of knowing we have it since we've already surrendered her status and we SHOULD have given up the Green Card with that, but it wasn't asked for.

 

I'm hoping we can just keep it and when we get her unconditional Green Card next year sometime, we can look back on the "original" and remember how far we've come.

 

Nice to know about the tourist visa, still wonder where I got the 5/10 year idea from, but it doesn't really matter. We may renew it once, if that, before we just get another Green Card.

 

You should expect to have to file a new I-130 and have her wait in China for that to be approved. Remember you've ABANDONED her permanent residence (the green card) in order to get the B-2. Don't expect them to ignore her status just because you still have the card.

 

However, you might just talk to an immigration attorney while she's in the U.S. on the B-2 to see if there are other options.

[dnoblett]

 

Yep, I certainly don't plan on trying to use the Green Card. I'll take it with us when we go to America, just in case, but I don't plan on showing it to anyone in the government unless it is specifically asked for. Honestly, they would have no way of knowing we have it since we've already surrendered her status and we SHOULD have given up the Green Card with that, but it wasn't asked for.

 

I'm hoping we can just keep it and when we get her unconditional Green Card next year sometime, we can look back on the "original" and remember how far we've come.

 

Nice to know about the tourist visa, still wonder where I got the 5/10 year idea from, but it doesn't really matter. We may renew it once, if that, before we just get another Green Card.

 

You should expect to have to file a new I-130 and have her wait in China for that to be approved. Remember you've ABANDONED her permanent residence (the green card) in order to get the B-2. Don't expect them to ignore her status just because you still have the card.

 

However, you might just talk to an immigration attorney while she's in the U.S. on the B-2 to see if there are other options.

 

I believe that is their plan, they have been living and reside in China, they got the original 2 year card because they kept getting turned down for visit visas. In their case they probably will qualify to apply for an IR-1 spouse visa through DCF when the time comes to move to the USA permanently. I believe this is what they mean by getting the unconditional green-card sometime next year.

[Mr. Twister]

 

 

Yep, I certainly don't plan on trying to use the Green Card. I'll take it with us when we go to America, just in case, but I don't plan on showing it to anyone in the government unless it is specifically asked for. Honestly, they would have no way of knowing we have it since we've already surrendered her status and we SHOULD have given up the Green Card with that, but it wasn't asked for.

 

I'm hoping we can just keep it and when we get her unconditional Green Card next year sometime, we can look back on the "original" and remember how far we've come.

 

Nice to know about the tourist visa, still wonder where I got the 5/10 year idea from, but it doesn't really matter. We may renew it once, if that, before we just get another Green Card.

 

You should expect to have to file a new I-130 and have her wait in China for that to be approved. Remember you've ABANDONED her permanent residence (the green card) in order to get the B-2. Don't expect them to ignore her status just because you still have the card.

 

However, you might just talk to an immigration attorney while she's in the U.S. on the B-2 to see if there are other options.

 

I believe that is their plan, they have been living and reside in China, they got the original 2 year card because they kept getting turned down for visit visas. In their case they probably will qualify to apply for an IR-1 spouse visa through DCF when the time comes to move to the USA permanently. I believe this is what they mean by getting the unconditional green-card sometime next year.

 

 

 

Right, that's exactly our situation.

 

Last time I did the DCF, it took me only 4 months from when I submitted our application in Beijing to getting the card in Guangzhou. As I have mounds of evidence to prove our ongoing marriage as well as domicile (we filed our taxes jointly, have shared bank accounts in the U.S., etc) I see no reason we would be denied the unconditional Green Card in due speed when the time comes.

 

To be honest, a small part of me still thinks we should have just filed the I-751, but there was just too much that could have gone wrong, plus this will make dealing with the POE easier for our planned trip to America later this year until we're ready to move back fulltime.

 

The other thing is, filing for a Green Card costs about the same as all the stuff you have to do for the I-751, so I do believe this is the best route for us at this time. As has been said on here, hopefully the U.S. government will give us some brownie points for going out of our way to play by the rules.

[Randy W]

Yes - I'm a believer in the "brownie points" concept - good for you!