Currently on B1. Can I reinstate a green card that I had previously?

[priorgc 0]

I'm an Indian citizen who got my GC in 2001 and then subsequently moved to India in 2005 for official reasons and stayed back due to family reasons. When moving, I'd applied for a Re-entry permit and also an application to keep the citizenship eligibility year count alive. I visited US in 2005 and 2006 again. I wasn't present in the US in 2007 when my REP expired.

Subsequently, I was advised by an immigration attorney to surrender my GC and obtain a B1 visa to come to US on personal or official trips. I did so in 2008. Now, I'm in the US temporarily till end of next week.

One of our other friends in the same situation and gave up green card (except that their kids are US citizens) came to the US temporarily yesterday. At the border post, the immigration officer asked them whether they surrendered their green cards and then commented that they could get their GC reinstated at any time by applying for a procedure and then appearing before a Judge. Is that true? If so, is it because they have kids who are US citizens?

I have a kid born in India through marriage to an Indian citizen after my move back to India and hence, my kid has a Indian citizenship. Can I also do the same? Is it possible to start the process while I'm in India or should I be physically present in the US to do that?

Assuming that I'm able to reinstate my GC, what does it mean to the immigration status of my wife and kids?

Sorry if this seems like a lot of questions, but I hope someone can answer them.

I've never overstayed or had any complications with Immigration so far.

Thanks,

Priorgc

[pontevecchio 12]

"then commented that they could get their GC reinstated at any time by applying for a procedure and then appearing before a Judge"

Sorry. That is not true.

[t75 1]

Even if your GC was reinstated, you would need to apply for theirs and there would be the wait for a priority date. It would not be a good idea for you to reinstate yours and then promptly move back to India to wait for theirs; it would look really bad for you to abandon your residency again.

[priorgc 0]

Thanks for the replies. So, it looks like coming via the H1B route again is the best way. This way my dependents can get H4 and can stay with me immediately. Is that right?