Travel to US with greencard and no entry permit

[IndianJazz]

My mother got greencard in Feb 2019 and she went to india in July 2019 so she can wrap things but she had a surgery so I booked her March 2020 which airlines cancelled due to covid . After that she had covid and gall bladder surgery and now she is fine and got her two doses of vaccines. I have booked her flight for may 10th 2021 and want to know if I bring the paper work will customs let her enter. I didn’t apply for Re entry because I cannot do it from india. I want to know what is worst case scenario .

Below are the summary of her entry and exit from USA :

oct 2018 : entered USA

nov 2018: applied for GC

Feb 2019: Got GC

july 2019: went to india 

March 2020: booked her to come to USA ( before 1 year Gc requirement) but airlines cancelled due to covid

aug 202: gall bladder surgery

dec 2020: COVID 

march 2021: first dose of vaccine

April 2021: second dose of vaccine 

may 11, 2021: scheduled to travel to USA 

1. if she is refused entry can I use her visitors visa which is still valid

2. what should I say to customs officer so that she can enter in the USA and not send back . 
 

3. can customs have authority to send her back or I can to approach immigration court 

 

 

 

[JoeF]

She would need a Returning Resident SB-1 visa. Otherwise, she won't be able to return. And her visitor visa won't help, because she has shown immigration intent.

[pontevecchio]

"LPRs who have been outside of the U.S. for more than 365 days, will need to apply for a returning resident visa (SB-1)."

You should discuss the modalities with a law firm. 

[newacct]

The immigration officers at entry do have the discretion to waive her failure to have an acceptable document for a returning immigrant. So it's possible they will let her in (perhaps with a warning), and it's possible they won't. If they won't, they could pressure her into signing I-407 to voluntarily give up her permanent residency; if that happens, she should make sure not to sign that no matter what. If she doesn't sign it, they can give her a notice to appear in removal proceedings where an immigration judge in immigration court will make a final determination on whether she abandoned residency. If the judge agrees with her that she didn't abandon residency, they will let her in.

If she is trying to keep her green card, she should not try to enter on a visitor visa. (Besides, someone who has been in India in the previous 14 days won't be able to enter on visitor visa after May 4, and she doesn't meet any of the exceptions.)

Keep in mind that she will need to have a negative COVID test within 72 hours of boarding her flight to the US.

[DeshGuy]

@IndianJazz My mom is in a similar situation. Were you able to bring your mom successfully back to the US? I see that the travel date was May 11.