INS Legal Opinion on Eligibility for Lawful Permanent Residents for Adjustment of Status

Paul Virtue, INS Acting General Counsel, states that the Act "does not preclude a lawful permanent resident from abandoning his permanent resident status and returning to the United States with a new immigrant visa" if the beneficiary has an approved visa petition and an immigrant visa is available.

It is interesting to note that implicit in the discussion and answer to question D is the notion that unless the permanent resident alien abandons his or her permanent resident status he or she cannot qualify for a new immigrant visa. That conclusion appears to be at odds with the recent views of the Visa Office, expressed in a letter dated April 9, 1990 from Jerome C. Ogden, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services to New York City attorney Leon Wildes. The question there arose in the context of the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986.