Background:
My husband and I are UK citizens and obtained our Greencards in 2004 through the diversity lottery (our 2 children obtained Greencards subsequently on their first trips to the US). Thus the whole family has greencards.
• We have resided in the UK and paid tax in the UK for the past 10 years (both children born in the UK)
• We understood that to maintain our Greencards we needed to enter the US every year and have consistently done this (2 weeks every year since receiving greencard)
• Our Greencards expire in Dec 2014
• We do not have any property / bank accounts / haven’t paid taxes / completed tax returns in the US (our only connection is to family (my husband’s brother and uncle) who are naturalised citizens)
• We do have social security numbers
• Reason for not moving to US earlier – Caring for elderly parents who could not cope alone and were not eligible to move (also, company role in US not available subsequent to financial crisis)
• My husband is in the process of negotiating a role in the US with his current company (US listed company). He does not have a formal offer yet – will be finalised in June this year - but it requires him to have a greencard status
• We understand that the 1 year rule has changed (recently a colleague in a similar position had their greencard threatened to be taken away because they had not physically moved)
Questions:
• We are planning to visit the US (Phoenix Arizona) in April (11 months since last entry) – Can the immigration officer take away our greencards at the border? Can this decision be appealed?
• What should we do / say if challenged by the immigration officers during our April visit (He may not have a firm offer of employment before going in April)? Is there anything we shouldn’t say / do?
• What options / actions can we take to ensure that we can keep the greencard until we move permanently in the summer?
• Do the border control (immigration) systems record when you were last in / out of the country? Is it a national system that they can add notes to etc?
My husband and I are UK citizens and obtained our Greencards in 2004 through the diversity lottery (our 2 children obtained Greencards subsequently on their first trips to the US). Thus the whole family has greencards.
• We have resided in the UK and paid tax in the UK for the past 10 years (both children born in the UK)
• We understood that to maintain our Greencards we needed to enter the US every year and have consistently done this (2 weeks every year since receiving greencard)
• Our Greencards expire in Dec 2014
• We do not have any property / bank accounts / haven’t paid taxes / completed tax returns in the US (our only connection is to family (my husband’s brother and uncle) who are naturalised citizens)
• We do have social security numbers
• Reason for not moving to US earlier – Caring for elderly parents who could not cope alone and were not eligible to move (also, company role in US not available subsequent to financial crisis)
• My husband is in the process of negotiating a role in the US with his current company (US listed company). He does not have a formal offer yet – will be finalised in June this year - but it requires him to have a greencard status
• We understand that the 1 year rule has changed (recently a colleague in a similar position had their greencard threatened to be taken away because they had not physically moved)
Questions:
• We are planning to visit the US (Phoenix Arizona) in April (11 months since last entry) – Can the immigration officer take away our greencards at the border? Can this decision be appealed?
• What should we do / say if challenged by the immigration officers during our April visit (He may not have a firm offer of employment before going in April)? Is there anything we shouldn’t say / do?
• What options / actions can we take to ensure that we can keep the greencard until we move permanently in the summer?
• Do the border control (immigration) systems record when you were last in / out of the country? Is it a national system that they can add notes to etc?