Dummit Fradin immigration attorney, Devon Senges, recently helped a young Venezuelan woman restore her stolen green card. However, the young woman’s story is a bit more complicated than her simply misplacing it. Learn how she was able to recover her stolen green card with the help of our determined immigration attorney.
In 2011, a high school student in Venezuela received her United States residency. She moved to the U.S. to live with her father who was already a U.S. citizen. After finishing high school in the U.S., she couldn’t decide on what her next step would be.
Around that time, her uncle back in Venezuela was sick and her aunt was struggling to care for him. So, in February 2013 the recent grad decided to travel to Venezuela. The plan was to help her aunt care for her uncle until she figured out her next move in life.
That was the plan until Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, died in March 2013. This sent the country into civil unrest. And overnight, the country’s economy collapsed.
The young high school graduate was stuck. She couldn’t afford a plane ticket home, so she had to stay in Venezuela until she saved up enough money. While she was stuck in Venezuela burglars broke into her house several times and stole her Green Card.
She ended up staying in Venezuela for four years. Finally, in 2017, she bought a plane ticket and flew home. But, when she arrived, immigration customs informed her that she was no longer a green card holder because she had abandoned her residency.
As a U.S. permanent resident, you cannot live outside the United States for longer than 6 months without maintaining a residence in the U.S. Otherwise, they will determine that you have abandoned your residency. And, they will revoke your Green Card.
Given the young woman’s circumstances, immigration customs allowed her into the U.S. on a temporary basis so she could see a deportation judge and argue her case. At this point, she turned to Dummit Fradin for help.
Dummit Fradin immigration attorney, Devon Senges, decided to try and get our client’s Green Card back by applying for a new one based on a ‘lost or stolen green card.’ USCIS argued that our client was not a permanent resident because she had abandoned her residency and therefore, they could not issue her a new card. Devon did not settle for this response and continued to push for her client.
As a result, Devon laid out the following argument in a letter to USCIS:
- Our client had not truly abandoned her residency due to extenuating circumstances outside of her control.
- The government had the burden of proving she was no longer a resident in court.
- Only an immigration judge could formally take her residency and USCIS did not have jurisdiction.
- Until then she was a lawful permanent resident, therefore, USCIS needed to print a new card.
Our immigration attorney knew it was a long shot, but she sent the request letter anyway.
To everyone’s surprise, the new Green Card arrived in the mail this week!
Do you need help recovering a stolen green card?
If you find you find yourself in a similar situation to our client, our immigration attorneys can help.
The immigration legal team at Dummit Fradin dedicates themselves to helping people with immigration issues. This includes deportation or petitioning for permanent residency or citizenship.
Our team will take the time to explain the process and keep you informed along the way. We also have numerous staff members that are bilingual in English and Spanish. Contact us today to schedule a consultation in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, or High Point.