Brief
Facts - The petitioner, a Pakistani national, argued that despite multiple long
absences from the United States, she did not intend to abandon her status,
which also served as the foundation for her husband's and child's entry into
the United States.<format changed>
The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the petition for review,
holding that intent alone is insufficient to maintain LPR status and that her
extended periods in Pakistan, including her final trip that lasted a year and
three months, supported the BIA's finding that she had abandoned her LPR
status. The court also noted that the petitioner, at the end of a long and
exhausting international flight, fearful of losing her LPR status, had lied in
one instance to border officials about the date of her last visit to the United
States.
Circuit
Judge Jane B. Stranch dissented, noting among other things that errors by U.S.
immigration officials were responsible for at least some of the delays in her
returning, and that the petitioner's daughter in Pakistan had emotional and
physical problems that compelled her to spend time in Pakistan to care for her.
The
main lesson learned from Lateef v. Holder is that waiting outside the US
with your loved ones, until they can immigrate to the US, can result in
abandonment of your green card. Due to the tremendous backlogs in the
family-based immigration system, it can take years before an LPR can sponsor a
spouse or child to the US, thus compelling the LPR to be absent from the US
until such time that the family members are issued immigrant visas. The case highlights
the tensions between a global world involving frequent travel, and where
families live apart in different countries, and an insular immigration system.
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