Mistakes that can cost you your green card

According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), certain mistakes, committed deliberately or inadvertently, might cost immigrants their green cards. In certain cases, such immigrants might also face deportation.

The USCIS has laid down that mistakes, whether accidental or intentional, that can lead to an immigrant losing the green card include –

• Moving to another country with the specific intention of residing there permanently.
• Staying abroad for a long time, without providing any proof that the trip is a short-term visit. The green card will be canceled automatically if an immigrant’s overseas trip lasts beyond a year, or if the immigrant takes up permanent residence in another country. If either of these situations arises for any reason, the USCIS recommends that the immigrant apply for permission to re-enter the US.
• Declaring status as “non-immigrant” on US tax returns.
• Failure to declare income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state income tax authorities.
• Not registering for the US military’s Selective Service System, if the immigrant is a male between the ages of 18 and 25.

As per the USCIS, the above-mentioned factors could be taken as an abandonment of permanent residence status by the immigrant.

US permanent resident card, or green card as it is more commonly known, can be lost through either – status abandonment, committing mistakes, or deportation order by an immigration judge.

A deportation order automatically cancels the US green card of an immigrant.

Immigrants facing deportation should get legal help as regaining the permanent resident status again after a cancellation of the green card is quite difficult.

With the current long waiting list for US green cards, there is all the more reason to exercise caution and refrain from doing anything to jeopardize your permanent resident status in the US. In December 2019, there were over lakh Indians waiting for the US green card.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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