Hsieh claims Ma contacted US over green card

ABANDONED RESIDENCY

The regulations state that if an LPR remains out of the US continuously for more than one year, the Department of Homeland Security takes the view that the residency has been abandoned.

In the eyes of the court, a person may lose LPR status even if they do not renounce their residency by signing an I-407 or have a formal removal hearing to determine abandonment, the regulations state.

Faced with continuous accusations from Hsieh, Ma acknowledged on Monday that he had obtained a green card in 1977 when he was living in the US, but added that the green card was automatically invalidated around 1985 when he applied for a visa at the AIT to travel to the US.

OLD PASSPORTS

When asked why the campaign team had failed to provide copies of Ma's non-immigrant visas before 1990, Luo said the passport was the oldest one they could find, but it did not mean that Ma had not obtained a non-immigrant visa from the US before 1990.

Wang said they were attempting to find Ma's older passports as proof and were also applying to the US for the records of Ma's US visits before 1990.

"We are unable to find information earlier than 1990 right now, but we can prove that Ma's green card has been invalid since 1990," he said.

The camp also provided copies of a non-immigrant visa issued to Ma's wife Chow Mei-chin (周美青) in 1996 to prove that she had also given up her green card.

Luo urged Hsieh to provide solid proof before making further accusations against Ma.

Ma declined to respond to questions on the issue yesterday.

Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠), a Hsieh camp spokesman, called a press conference later yesterday to rebut Ma's claims.

Shen said that the DPP had documents showing that Ma went to Belgium in 1993 that counter the Ma camp's claim that he did not go abroad between 1992 and 1994.

INSINCERE

Responding to the claim that Ma never went to the US using his green card, Shen said "that showed that Ma didn't reveal the fact that he was a US green card holder when he applied for US visas. Clearly, Ma has a problem with sincerity."

Leaving the US for more than a year did not mean that a card would be revoked and the holder would lose his permanent resident status, Shen said.

The US government does not deprive a green card holder of his or her permanent resident status unless a hearing is held, where the green card holder can present proof of why he or she did not enter the country during that period, Shen said.