UK citizen trying to return to US

I am a UK citizen living in the UK with my Husband and son, who are both US citizens. I was married to my husband in 2000 in the US and lived there as a permanent resident until August, 2008 when we moved to the UK for my husbands work. After a year and a half, my husbands company laid him off and we now would like to return to the US.

The problem is that I have been out of the US over 1 year and did not file any paperwork with the US home security to say we would be returning. I am told that I will have to re-file as a new immigrant and it could take over 9 months before I can return to the US! Is there any other way around this restriction? Can I accompany my husband to the US and file my immigration paperwork there? My husband needs to return to the US immediately to seek work and we are not sure how we can make this happen.

Not too sure, but my husband's a UK citizen and this is something we've discussed at length because we are planning a move to the UK next year (he's decided to get his US citizenship before we leave here just in case we ever need to return).  In researching options, the US Gov't site basically states what you are saying...that you'll have to reapply for permanent residency and I know that can take a long time.

Aside from contacting an immigration lawyer, you can always go to the US Gov't website: www.uscis.gov.  They have it laid out, so things are pretty easy to understand.

Good luck.

My understanding is that you would have had to apply for a reentry permit before leaving the US in order to retain your permanent resident visa.  The standard is actually 12 months even if you do apply for the reentry permit. See the FAQs at the embassy website.

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/faqs/faq_visa_iv.html#spouses

If you tried to enter for permanent residency now it is likely that you would be denied entry (i.e. DON'T TRY).  You're essentially placed back in the position of applying for your visa again.  There is a temporary visa that might allow you to await the permanent resident visa in the US though http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/kapply.html

and you probably should talk with a US attorney to handle your application since you're on a limited timeline.  The US consulate has a list of american attorneys in the UK that you can contact:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/acs/scs/attorneys.html

One word of advice however - Don't pay any attorney for the "initial consultation" unless you've already gotten the feeling that you want to work for them.  A decade ago we paid someone on the list 300 pounds and she never sent us the paperwork.  I had to get a different attorney (who did not require that payment) who was much better.  So call them and get a feel for the way they work.

Good luck!

I've not come across this but you might also find more information and others who may have gone through this as well at www.visajourney.com

Good luck!

check out British Expats as well.  They may also be able to advise.

Or http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/?

As your US citizen husband is resident in the UK, you have the advantage of filing directly to the London consulate for your new US residency.  The process is called Direct Consular Filing and you'll find more about it here:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

As your US citizen husband is resident in the UK, you have the advantage of filing directly to the London consulate for your new US residency.  The process is called Direct Consular Filing and you'll find more about it here:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

You may want to consider filing in this manner before your husband goes, as it is considerably quicker than him filing for you from the States.

Thanks for the excellent tip Rebeccajo! I had no idea that we could file in the UK. The hassle to file in California is compounded by the vast amount of people applying.

I've read about that DCF as well.  I am the American while my husband is a Brit and we're looking to move to the US as well.   I have read in numerous places that you can file the i-130 and the i-485 together, but do you know if that's only in the US or should you send the i-485 to London as well?    Also will the i-130 give the Brit permission to work or will they need to file the i-765 as well? 

I myself am looking up all this info at the moment and will reply back if I read anything more on the matter.  I just thought you might want to look into all that too since we seem to be in similair situations.  If there's anyone out there that could answer those questions though that would be really helpful.

Good luck with everything!