Refiling I-130 for a Former Chinese LPR Who Abandoned Status via I-407 — Consular Processing Strategy Under PM-602-019 (May 2026)

IMMIGRATION LAW · SONG LAW FIRM SUCCESS STORY

Client Profile

• Nationality: Chinese. Man in his fifties (anonymized). Spouse is a U.S. citizen (naturalized in 2014).
• Family: one U.S.-born child (U.S. citizen).
• Immigration history: entered the U.S. on an F-1 in 1999, obtained an H-1B in 2002, married in 2003, obtained LPR status through an EB-2 I-485 approval in 2009. The family returned to China in 2015 to run a business. LPR expired in 2019. In November 2025 the client formally abandoned LPR status via Form I-407 at the Shanghai consulate; a B-1 was approved shortly after.
• Financial: U.S. holdings of more than $100,000 in cash, investment, and pension accounts. Continuous U.S. tax filings throughout.
• The family plans to return in 2027 so the child can enter a U.S. middle school.

Case Background

In late August 2026 the client retained Song Law Firm for the family's long-term reentry strategy centered on the child's 2027 middle-school enrollment. The main issues: (1) how an earlier I-407 abandonment interacts with a new I-130-based IR-1 route; (2) how USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-019, published May 2026, affects adjudication of this file; (3) whether to file from inside the United States or from China; and (4) how the family's financial posture (no U.S. earned income, but more than $100,000 of U.S. assets) affects the I-864 affidavit of support.

Legal Issues

First — I-407's downstream effect. Under 8 CFR 1.2 and USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 12, Pt. C, Ch. 3, filing and approval of Form I-407 is simply an administrative record of voluntary abandonment. After abandonment, future admissibility is adjudicated as if the person were a fresh immigrant or non-immigrant applicant. Past LPR status is not itself a ground of inadmissibility, and voluntary abandonment does not trigger INA 212(a). What can arise, however, is a post-filing dispute at a consulate or at the border over whether the abandonment was truly voluntary and informed, so that question has to be addressed up front.

Second — preference category. Because the spouse is a U.S. citizen and the marriage, celebrated in 2003, is well past the two-year mark, this is an IR-1 (immediate relative) case, not CR-1. IR-1 petitions are exempt from numerical limits, so there is no priority-date wait.

Third — PM-602-019 (May 2026). The policy memorandum tightened I-130 bona-fides scrutiny for beneficiaries with past LPR abandonment, directing officers to require a detailed account of why status was abandoned and why reentry is now sought.

The facts here are supportive: 23 years of marriage; a shared U.S.-citizen child; a prior EB-2 adjustment; and a clean, lawful reason to return (education of the child). Each element reinforces bona fides.

Fourth — filing venue. Three options exist.

(A) U.S. filing with USCIS, consular-processed after approval through NVC.

(B) Direct Consular Filing (DCF). DCF is no longer available in Shanghai (or essentially anywhere in China) following the 2019 restriction.

(C) In-country filing at a USCIS international field office — in substance the same as U.S. filing after the closures of recent years, so Chicago Lockbox or Elgin, IL, is the standard route for a U.S. citizen residing in China.

Fifth — Affidavit of Support. The USC petitioner must file I-864. A USC petitioner residing in China with no U.S. earned income has three tools: (a) a joint sponsor who is a USC or LPR living in the United States; (b) counting the beneficiary's U.S. assets (investment, bank, pension) under the 5x income-to-asset formula; (c) a memorandum documenting the plan to resume U.S.-based income.

Song Law Firm Strategy

Song Law Firm selected the U.S. USCIS filing route and built the following plan.

• Stage 1 — Marriage bona fides. 2003 marriage certificate, 2009 joint I-485 approval, child's U.S. birth certificate, joint tax returns 2015-2026, joint Chinese lease, joint accounts, insurance, family travel and photo portfolio.
• Stage 2 — I-407 explanation memo. Document the business reasons for sustained residence in China; make clear that the November 2025 abandonment was voluntary and informed; frame the 2027 return as a child-education decision.
• Stage 3 — PM-602-019 compliance. Pre-answer every item the May 2026 memo flags for scrutiny — length of prior LPR status, U.S. residence history, U.S.-China asset and income flows before and after abandonment.
• Stage 4 — I-864 strategy. Secure a U.S.-resident USC or LPR joint sponsor (an adult relative who meets income thresholds). Supplement with the client's U.S. assets under the 5x formula. Document the funding source for the child's education separately.
• Stage 5 — Consular processing. After I-130 approval, complete DS-260, I-864, and civil documents at NVC. Prepare the Shanghai consulate interview with concise written statements, in English and in Mandarin, addressing voluntariness of abandonment, bona fides of the marriage, and the reason for reentry.

Current Status

• Initial consultation complete in mid-October 2026. Song Law Firm issued a comprehensive legal memorandum.
• Marriage bona fides package in progress. Child's birth certificate, joint lease, and joint tax filings secured.
• Joint-sponsor candidates under review. The U.S.-resident child is a minor; adult family members in the U.S. who meet the income thresholds are being evaluated.
• Target I-130 filing in November 2026 at Chicago Lockbox. Adjudication typically runs 10-14 months; consular interview is anticipated in late 2027 to early 2028.
• The child's U.S.-citizen status allows immediate reentry at any time; the parents' reentry follows consular approval. The filing timing is calibrated to the child's middle-school enrollment calendar.

Lessons

• A past I-407 abandonment is not a disqualifier for a new petition. The two questions to separate are (1) the voluntariness of the earlier abandonment and (2) the bona fides of the new filing.
• IR-1 is exempt from numerical limits; the family's long marriage and prior EB-2 history reinforce bona fides and reduce RFE risk.
• PM-602-019 (May 2026) demands additional documentation for applicants with prior LPR abandonment. Front-loading those answers into the filing memo cuts RFE risk substantially.
• DCF in China is effectively unavailable. Chicago Lockbox filing with downstream NVC/consular processing is the standard route.
• I-864 is the pressure point when the USC petitioner has no U.S. earned income. A joint sponsor, the 5x asset formula, and a resumption-of-income memo together solve the problem.
• When the U.S.-citizen child can enter at any time but the parents' reentry depends on consular adjudication, filing timing has to be calibrated to the school calendar as part of the overall family plan.