Can the COVID-19 epidemic of American green card holders return to the United States?

Now some green card holders have left the country for nearly half a year. Although they want to return to the United States as scheduled, the COVID-19 epidemic has spread in the United States and they are afraid to come back. They are in a dilemma. Immigration lawyers said that the legal definition has not changed. If you leave the country for more than half a year, it means that the green card holder has the intention to give up the permanent residency in the United States. Although the epidemic situation in COVID-19 is special, people had better think twice.

If the green card holder has been abroad for more than half a year and has not applied for a re-entry permit before, will he be stopped by officials of the Department of Homeland Security when entering the United States? Lawyer Xu said that the legal definition is clear, and leaving the country for more than half a year is regarded as giving up the permanent residency in the United States. Although the parties can prove that they have not given up, it is difficult to convince them to live overseas for a long time.

If they don't return within the time limit, officials of the Department of Homeland Security will think that the people concerned have no intention of living in the United States. Despite the COVID-19 epidemic and the travel warnings issued by the State Council, green card holders should live in the United States.

At the time of entry, officials of the Department of Homeland Security judged according to the specific circumstances that if the evidence was accepted, they could enter the country smoothly. If the evidence is not accepted, and it is determined that the parties have insufficient evidence to show that they will continue to live in the United States, officials of the Department of Homeland Security will ask the parties to sign and give up their green cards, otherwise their passports and green cards will be confiscated, and then the case will be handed over to the immigration court. Xu Junliang said that the operation of the immigration court is very slow now, and it may take five years to queue up. At that time, it was impossible to leave the country without a passport.

Lawyer Xu said that if you really want to live in the United States for a long time, you should come back urgently instead of not coming back. Although administrative orders are issued in some cases, they cannot go beyond the law. So far, no unit has come forward to say that it can be exempted from leaving the country for half a year because of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Lawyer Wang said that the theory of half a year is everyone's experience, and the green card is to prove the intention of permanent residence. If the green card holder has not returned to the United States for more than six months, the Department of Homeland Security officials can "assume" that the party concerned will give up the green card; If it exceeds one year, it will be "recognized" to give up the green card. The parties can refute the evidence, but they need to provide reasonable reasons.

He mentioned that COVID-19 is an unprecedented event in history, but the immigration law clearly stipulates that even if the COVID-19 epidemic is one of the reasons explained by the parties concerned, under normal circumstances, immigration officials or officials of the Department of Homeland Security will act according to the rules.

Even if you really want to stay overseas and can't return to the United States within the specified time, the reasons given by the parties must be limited, not indefinite. For example, "the plane will be grounded until the end of April, and I will come back in May 1", but "I don't want to take care of my sick parents overseas", but I can't give an accurate date and a reason for how long I will take care of them. In a word, Wang Zhenbang said that people should judge according to the situation and don't take risks.