A US permanent residency card, commonly known as a "green card," is proof of one's legal residency and eligibility to apply for full citizenship in the US.
The card, issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) under the Department of Homeland Security, attests that its holder, a lawful permanent resident (LPR), has been officially granted immigration benefits such as permission to reside and take employment in the US.
The US immigration law stipulates that a LPR can apply for US citizenship after five years of permanent resident status through the process of naturalization. The waiting time for someone married to a US citizen is reduced to three years.
Green card holders must maintain permanent residence status in order to avoid losing that status.
Once a green card is taken away, it cannot be reissued unless applicants start the whole process over, and their absence from the country would weigh against them, immigration lawyers say.
There are at least six ways one can lose LPR status other than becoming a US citizen under section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the USCIS Web site says.
One way to lose LPR status is by moving to another country with the intent to live there permanently.
Another is to remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa.
A third way is remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa.
In the aforementioned cases, in determining whether a person's status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
Cara Jobson, an immigration attorney based in San Francisco, said an individual could also lose their LPR status if he or she committed certain crimes. In those circumstances, they would lose their green card after a hearing before an immigration judge who determined that they were removable from the US, Jobson said.
The last two ways include failing to file income taxes while living outside the US for any period or declaring oneself as a "nonimmigrant" on his or her tax returns.
Tao Lin (
Lin said, however, filling out an I-407 form is not the only way to relinquish one's green card because if a "LPR is out of the US continuously for more than one year, the US Department of Homeland Security takes the position that residency has been abandoned."
If the person wishes to abandon his LPR privileges and relinquish the card in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taipei official Web site said, one must present the old and new passport and green card to the Immigrant Visa Unit Information Window No. 8.
However, US immigration law is complex and the situation is not necessarily black-and-white, one immigration lawyer said.
In the case of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a key question is whether he effectively gave up his green card when he entered the US on a non-immigrant "B" tourist visa in the 1980s.
On this question, Thomas Fan, a leading Washington immigration lawyer, said that entry on a tourist visa was the same as forfeiting a green card.
"If you are a permanent resident in the United States, when you come back to the United States you don't have to have a visa," Fan said.
"If you come back to the United States, and before you come back you go to a US consulate to get a B [tourist] visa, you are a tourist to the United States, and you are not a permanent resident any more. That's a de facto statement saying you are not a permanent resident," Fan said.
However, one lawyer, Yang Ta-yu of Des Moines, Iowa, cites a different consideration in the Ma case. Yang said when Ma came to the US on a visa, he was representing the government under then president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
If a person entered the US as a Taiwanese official, "it would not be good to use the American LPR [legal permanent resident card] to come in," he said.
In that case, "since I am a Taiwanese official, I would use my Taiwanese passport. So, if I get the pertinent visa, I don't necessarily lose my LPR because I got that [visa]," Yang said.
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
The Philippines would likely be involved in any conflict over Taiwan due to its proximity to the democracy claimed by China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, reiterating a stance that risks angering Beijing. “In the Philippines, we do not have a choice because Taiwan is so close to the Philippines and we have almost 200,000 Filipino nationals living and working in Taiwan,” Marcos said in an interview with Japanese media in Manila on Monday. The Philippine leader’s comments come ahead of a state visit to Japan next week, where he is to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss security
RSS