In 2006 myself and my wife and two children were granted green cards through the diversity lottery program. We traveled in 2006 and in 2007 to USA and stayed there for short period of time. Since 2007 we have not traveled again to USA. In 2012 my wife gave birth to our third child but my third child - son does not have a green card. Now we want to relocate back in USA and use our green cards which will expire in 2017. Can we use our green cards to live, work and for our children to study in USA? Are our green cards still valid? I found in Internet we can apply for reentry permit, can we? How our third child can come with us to USA since he has no green card? What we need to do? We have relatives in New York and would like to stay with them at first. We are in Turkey right now. Thank you for your help!
You appear to have lost your right to permanent residence by not having returned to the country since 2007. If you and your family attempt to reenter the States with your green cards, you will likely encounter problems with Customs and Border Protection once it understands that you have been out of the country for so long. A reentry permit can only be legally applied for while you are in the country. As you no longer have a right to come to the US with your green cards, your third child also has no right to enter. It appears that you would have to go through the immigration process all over again in order to come to the US as immigrants.Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.
Since you have been gone for so long, the law treats you as having abandoned your permanent resident status. You have to maintain a permanent presence in the US to keep your green card. You may attempt to return using a returning resident alien visa. Here is a link with more information. Of course, your newest child will not be able to travel with you. You will have to file a petition for that child and wait for it to be adjudicated to bring the child with you (assuming you are granted the returning resident alien visa).
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_1333.html
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