Seeking a new life in America

[Bevdeforges]

OK, but a green card is not citizenship. For that, he would have had to go through a separate process after having lived in the US for 5 years or more - and you would have probably been made a citizen at that time. You have no "claim" based on his having held a green card. (There are many expats in the US who do not or cannot take US citizenship, so they simply remain there on green card status their whole lives.)

Your social security number is more likely a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and does not entitle you to work in the US, nor to any benefits. The format for the two numbers is identical. Hang onto that number, as it can be converted to a SS number when and if you finally manage to move to the US.
Cheers,
Bev

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by zarya0

Well he has a green card that is for sure. (Permanent Resident Card). My social security number is still valid. I should be able to reclaim citizenship if he was a citizen, but he was a green card holder. I am not sure about the reclaim laws regarding green card holders.

If you had a green card (I-551) when you left, there is a chance that you could claim that you never intended to abandon your permanent residency and you could reclaim it. You are not going to manage this without legal representation and this will be expensive. Try Stuart I. Folinsky, Attorney At Law - Home -- abandonment is one of his specialties.

[zarya0]

EDIT: My father had the AA1 Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) Expires 2009. Furthermore I have a bad feeling about reclaiming my residency regarding the costs of this process. Attorney's like these cost 300-400 USD an hour. Just to get an evaluation it would cost me at least 400 dollars.

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by zarya0

I don't know if I had a green card, from what my father says I had a AA2 visa like my mother. I will have to talk to someone about that I guess.

Without having a green card, it's futile. Look in your passport for an I-551 stamp. Presence means you were once a permanent resident; absence means nothing.

A visas are diplomatic -- but if your father were a diplomat, your sisters wouldn't have acquired citizenship under jus soli -- so you have me confused there.

[zarya0]

Originally Posted by Fatbrit

Without having a green card, it's futile. Look in your passport for an I-551 stamp. Presence means you were once a permanent resident; absence means nothing.

A visas are diplomatic -- but if your father were a diplomat, your sisters wouldn't have acquired citizenship under jus soli -- so you have me confused there.

AA1,AA2, AA3 visas are old now. My father simply had a permanent resident card ( green card).

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by zarya0

AA1,AA2, AA3 visas are old now. My father simply had a permanent resident card ( green card).

If he had one, you would probably have had one, too.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by zarya0

Well I don't think I ever became a citizen.. I don't have any certificate or anything. Do you automatically become one after 5 years? In 1991 my family appliedthe IMMIGRANT VISA AND ALIEN REGISTRATION form for me and I moved over on the AA-3 visa. (Says expires 1992). I don't know which form for visa I then had.

My father had h1b. (My sisters born in the states have citizenship) Would this be a 100% citizenship if he was a h1b and not a citizen?
If he was a citizen I could be able to reclaim.

I did not have the h-4 visa either, because I had a SSN (still have it and it is still valid).

This is all very confusing. First you said your father had a green card, then you say he had H1B - which is not at all a permanent visa.

The AA-1 visa, from what I can tell, seems to have been the forerunner of the current "diversity" lottery. But if he moved you all back to Norway after seven years, I suspect he forfeited his immigrant status and any claim you would have at this late date to an immigrant visa. But contact the closest US Consulate and ask.
Cheers,
Bev

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

But if he moved you all back to Norway after seven years, I suspect he forfeited his immigrant status and any claim you would have at this late date to an immigrant visa. But contact the closest US Consulate and ask.

Being out of the country does not necessarily forfeit your permanent resident status.

The US Consulate is generally not a good place for immigration advice.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Fatbrit

Being out of the country does not necessarily forfeit your permanent resident status.

The US Consulate is generally not a good place for immigration advice.

Being out of the country doesn't necessarily forfeit your permanent resident status, but leaving the country to establish residence elsewhere for more than a few years or so could well do.

The Consulate is at least a place to start. Unless you've got a spare $300 - 400 to engage an immigration attorney for what could turn out to be a wild goose chase. A visa doesn't guarantee you'll be allowed to enter the US, either, but it's step one in going over there.
Cheers,
Bev

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Being out of the country doesn't necessarily forfeit your permanent resident status, but leaving the country to establish residence elsewhere for more than a few years or so could well do.

The Consulate is at least a place to start. Unless you've got a spare $300 - 400 to engage an immigration attorney for what could turn out to be a wild goose chase. A visa doesn't guarantee you'll be allowed to enter the US, either, but it's step one in going over there.
Cheers,
Bev

Time out is not an overriding factor with abandonment. You could be (and people have been!) out for 10 years and not lose it; you could be out for a week and that's the end of it. Much more to do with your intent and actions in pursuit of that intent.

The OP ( if indeed he did have it!) has minor age on his side -- dunno whether it's 21 or 18 since US immigration law is rather bipolar on this one.

The consulate will tell him to fill in a returning resident's petition, take his money, then promptly reject it.

I really don't know whether he would be successful but I do know that all may not be lost. The link I gave him is to an immigration lawyer who writes on this very subject on the web. I do know that he will not find out whether he has a case worth pursuing without such legal advice from a specialist in abandonment issues.