Kochi: Attorneys in the US have cautioned Indian Green Card holders, particularly elderly individuals, not to succumb to pressures of US officials to sign Form I-407 which will srip one of permanent residency.
One cannot be coerced into surrendering permanent residency unless it is surrendered voluntarily, an Indian origin US Attorney Ashwin Sharma told Times of India.
Reports indicate that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were pressuring people to sign Form I-407 to ‘voluntarily’ surrender their permanent residency, Sharma said.
The elderly Indians who have tried to push back have been met with threats of ‘detention’ or ‘removal’ by the CBP officers to force them sign the Form I-407.
The crackdown is a result of executive orders announced by US President Donald Trump.
Green Card, or Permanent Resident Card, allows one to live and work permanently in the US, Ashwin Sharma, Sharma said.
He had handled several cases where elderly Indian Green Card holders were met with expulsion threats.
Another immigration attorney said that the Green Card cannot be revoked unless the holder ‘voluntarily’ surrenders it.
The attorney explained, a Green Card holder spending over 365 days out of the US is deemed to have ‘abandoned’ their residence.
Snehal Batra, managing attorney at NPZ Law Group, advised Green Card holders to refuse to sign the form at American airports. She further said that only an immigration judge has the authority to revoke a Green Card.
Those who spend winter months in India can produce documents such as ownership of property, tax returns, and employment to maintain that they have not abandoned living in the country.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Green Card holders living abroad for over 180 days are considered to be seeking ‘re-admission’.
While the risk of abandonment typically applies to those staying outside the country for over a year. Even shorter winter stays in India are now being closely scrutinised.
During the previous Trump administration, Form I-407 were distributed on planes, pressuring travellers to relinquish their Green Cards mid-flight.
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