Signed up to this forum after surfing looking for people with similar US Green Card frustrations.
Some history first. I transfer to the US on a company sponsored L-1 work visa. Getting the visa was dead easy but it’s got more and more complex to roll that visa into a green card ever since. I think the biggest hurtle is our company changed legal firms shortly after I arrived and about half way through the 2.5 year process, the individual in our Human Resources department managing the transfer quit and another person picked up the pieces.
Now, to back up even further in history, about 18 years ago, while traveling on business, I was disallowed entering the US for some unknown reason. Went through a pile of red tape which revealed no reason for the inadmissibility. No conviction, no record ….dead clean. Ended up with some sort of crossing card incase I ever had another problem….which I never did. I always carried the card but never used it. Then one day while on business in the UK, I had my briefcase stolen. Lost wallet, passport and the crossing card. Never got the card replaced because I never used it and never had another problem. Never even thought of it as a big deal.
So now back to relocating to the US under my L-1 status. Got here no problem; bought a house; car; another car; moved and imported a pick up truck and motorcycle as well as a full 50-foot moving van of personal belongings. Got social security cards without any problem, drivers license and started the green card process. This was about the time the legal firm changed and everything started to go sideways.
While answering some standard questions to this firm for green card processing it came out that I had been disallowed from entering the US once. Keep in mind on average I’d travel to the US maybe once a month for over 10 years and only ever had a problem the once. I informed them of the crossing card and how I lost it and just never replaced it. Well in their minds this was a huge problem. They said before I could apply for a green card I would have to get a replacement crossing card. They said I would not be allowed back into the US if I left. Having a region of US, Central and South America, this wasn’t an option not to mention head office in Canada and family. They then reapplied to have my green card interview moved to the US from Canada. Why, because they said if I came to Canada for a green card, I would not be allowed back into the US? From a travel standpoint, I’ve basically ignored their suggestions and cross back and forth over the US boarders between 2 to 4 times a month ever since. Like before, no problems. I send the idiot managing my case a blackberry email every time I cross just to prove a point.
Now it starts to get interesting. Because of the delay in relocating my green card interview to the US, it won’t happen before my L-1 expires next spring. The legal firm’s idea of resolving this was to arrange to get me a 3-year authorization to work card but that’s not acceptable to reenter the US if you leave. But now, I wouldn’t have the L-1 so I really would have a problem. I did my own investigation and found out you need a reentry permit which is obtained with an I-131 form. After much arguing with this firm, I finally convinced them to request the reentry permit. But, the backlog on issuing those is estimated to be about a month further out than the date on my L-1 as well.
I would be Ok to work in the US without leaving with the 3 year work authorization card, but the problem in south Texas is they have boarder patrol checkpoints on the highways. Non US citizen without a visa or reentry permit is a no no and they will deport you. Oh yea and confiscate your assets when you go. So, it sounds like the safe option will be to leave the US when the L-1 expires and then come back when the reentry permit is issued. I think the delta will be about a month.
Hope this isn't the stupidest chain of events involved with trying to get a green card and welcome stories from others who’ve gone through or going through similar problems.



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