Green Card holder outside US 10+ months, severe health issues preventing travel

[ca1988]

Hello

I am a US Citizen (Naturalized in 2002) living in CA. My mother is 75-year-old green card holder Indian citizen. She went to India in February 2018 to wind down some accounts operated by late Father. She has been intending to return to US, but has been hampered by a series of severe health issues, including a stroke and joint replacement surgery. She has been bedridden for the last two months. As of today, December 31, there is a real possibility she might not be able to physically travel before February.

Do we have any options to retain her green card in case she is not able to travel? Is there such a thing as a health-related extension? I understand re-entry permit is not an option for her because she is already outside the USA.

Thanks in advance

GB

[newacct]

Hello

I am a US Citizen (Naturalized in 2002) living in CA. My mother is 75-year-old green card holder Indian citizen. She went to India in February 2018 to wind down some accounts operated by late Father. She has been intending to return to US, but has been hampered by a series of severe health issues, including a stroke and joint replacement surgery. She has been bedridden for the last two months. As of today, December 31, there is a real possibility she might not be able to physically travel before February.

Do we have any options to retain her green card in case she is not able to travel? Is there such a thing as a health-related extension? I understand re-entry permit is not an option for her because she is already outside the USA.

Thanks in advance

GB

There are two options:

1. Assuming her green cars is unexpired, she can just fly back to the US with just the card and try to enter. Although technically the card itself is only valid for re-entry after an absence of less than 1 year, the immigration officer at entry has the discretion to waive the documentary requirement and let her enter, potentially with a "warning", if he determines that she did not abandon residency. She should make sure to bring evidence that she maintained residence in the US, e.g. that she maintained a home in the US, her family stayed in the US, she filed US tax returns, etc., and also evidence for why her absence was temporary. If it was not too much more than a year, and especially if it is the first time, and especially if there was a good reason she could not return earlier, the officer will often let someone in in such a situation. If he decides to not let her in, he can ask her to voluntarily sign the I-407 form to give up her green card. This is voluntary and she can, and should, refuse. The officer has no power to revoke her permanent residency; instead, he will temporarily let her in and give her a notice to appear in immigration court for removal proceedings, where she can make her case to the immigration judge that she did not abandon residency. The immigration judge will often be sympathetic to the reasons why she couldn't return earlier. If the immigration judge agrees that she did not abandon residence, they will cancel the removal proceedings and let her in.

2. She could apply for an SB-1 returning resident visa at a US consulate abroad. This requires proving that she could not return earlier due to circumstances beyond her control, and is hard to get.