Green card holders stuck abroad have right to return

QIf my mother stays in India for more than a year, will she lose her immigrant status? My mother is a permanent resident. She is 77 years old with multiple serious health conditions that put her in a high-risk category should she get COVID-19. She traveled to India in February with plans to return in August, but couldn’t get a flight back. Now she wants to stay in India until she can get a vaccine.

Sujaya, San Jose, Calif. Customs and Border Protection should admit your mother when she returns to the United States. That’s true even if she is abroad more than a year.

COVID-19 has kept many permanent residents stuck abroad. Some have had trouble getting flights. Some, like your mother, are afraid to fly for fear of catching the virus.

I expect CBP to be generous in granting entry to permanent residents who end up spending more than a year abroad as the crisis eases.

In any event, the law is clear that if green card holders like your mother had no intention of abandoning their U.S. residence, they have the right to return. If questioned by immigration officials at the airport your mother must explain why she could not return to the United States.

QThe U.S. consul denied my visitor visa request. I want to visit my twin U.S. citizen sons who live in the United States. I had a green card, I left the United States soon after my children were born. What are my options?

Adrian, Medellin, Colombia I’m afraid your chances of getting a visitor visa are slim. Ironically, your having U.S. citizen children living in the United States is a negative factor when a U.S. consular officer considers your visitor visa request. The officer will think that you are planning to use the visa as a way to get to the United States so you can stay with your children.

You can apply again for a visitor visa, but to get it you’ll need especially strong ties to your home country, such as a good job and ownership of property or a business.

Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project. Send questions and comments to questions@allanwernick. com. Follow him on Twitter @ awernick.