Previous GC - New Visa Required

Here is my somewhat unusual situation:
1) I am Canadian married to a US citizen, father of two minor US citizen.
2) I was previously in the US on a green card for 5 years. I have been out of the US for 9 years now. (The GC expired in 2004 but I never returned it when I left the US to return to Canada in 1999)
3) I hold a PhD from a US university and I now have a job offer from a University to start in September. The job offer is for an initial appointment of 3 years but would get converted to a permanent position at the end of the first year.
4) If my family and I move to the US, it is clearly with the intent to stay permanently and ultimately for me to seek a GC again.

What is the recommended approach for this since there does not seem to be time now for much else than a TN status? Will my previous GC help or hurt me?
Thanks.
drr777

Not sure if there are any problem, given the fact that you have a GC b4.

But one thing you can or might want to do is to do a H1B.
Since you are working for a University(education institute), the H1B cap is exempted. You are not subject to the cap.

It is still your option.

Sounds like K-3 entry to me, if you're married to a US citizen there's not much other option. USCIS are going to assume you're going to stay permanently even if you're not, and from the sounds of it you are anyway. You need to apply for employment authorisation on this form: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-765instr.pdf after you've entered. Supposed to take 90 days. Seem to remember it took a bit longer than that when I did it, they approved it within 90 days but the card didn't show up at the service centre for me to pick it up until about a month later, and you need the card to fill out the I-9 when you start work, although that's not a tremendously big deal. Especially if you still have your SSN card, as that together with a Canadian or US driver's licence is sufficient for Form I-9.

If you never filed a 1040-C with the IRS when you left (or 1040s every year), you may face penalties for the period that your card was still valid. Permanent residents are required to file a 1040 every year.

WOW. I can deal with immigration but the IRS! Not sure I want to go there. I did a quick search but it is difficult to get a clean interpretation of all the things going on. The yearI moved back to Canada, I filed a 1040NR clearly marked Dual Status as I spent less than half the year in the US. I thought that this was the requirement under the Tax Treaty between Can and US. I have not been in the US for 30 days or more in a year since then, I have not earned more than the minimum above which citizens and residents living abroad get taxed, and I did not have a net worth of $2million or more (and unfortunately still dont!). How do you figure I get out of the 1040-C 1040-S mess?
D.

Here is an entry from an IRS brochure, where I do not appear to be too far off with respect to my tax behavior! (though I did not submit an 8833)

What if I ’m living in another country? Do I have to pay taxes to both the U.S. and the country where I am living?

A green card holder is considered to be a resident of the U.S. for U.S. income tax purposes and is therefore subject to U.S. taxes on worldwide income. If there is no income tax treaty between your country of residence and the U.S., you must pay taxes to both countries. You generally will get a tax credit against either your U.S. taxes or your foreign income taxes, depending on your particular circumstances, so you will not be subject to double taxation. If the country where you are living has an income tax treaty with the U.S., the treaty may contain so-called “tie-breaker rulesâ€

K3 visas are currently taking about a year to process, I wouldn't really consider that an option if the job offer is to start soon! Add to that the 3 month wait for an EAD, and well.

Aren't universities exempt from the cap on H1 visas?

Another option, which will take a few months still, but not as long as the K3 is for your husband to petition thru the US consulate in Canada (if he is a legal permanent resident in Canada) and you apply for the green card thru Montreal. This option (commonly referred to as DCF - direct consular filing - on other forums) usually takes 3 to 5 months I think.

See www.visajourney.com for info on marriage based DCF.