Living in Non-USC's country for a few years

[charlie & yeng 0]

Hi,

I'm from Singapore and my husband is the USC.

We are just doing some initial research into going to live in Singapore a few years, just so we have some extended time with my family. We would intend to vome back to the US after those few years.

If I'm not intending on applying for Citizenship yet, are there any serious implications for going for 2-3 yrs? I understand that I'd have to apply for a re-entry permit, would that be it?

Thanks

...yeng

[zyggy 9]

Hi,

I'm from Singapore and my husband is the USC.

We are just doing some initial research into going to live in Singapore a few years, just so we have some extended time with my family. We would intend to vome back to the US after those few years.

If I'm not intending on applying for Citizenship yet, are there any serious implications for going for 2-3 yrs? I understand that I'd have to apply for a re-entry permit, would that be it?

Thanks

...yeng

Yes... you could lose your Permanent Resident Status. A re-entry permit does noit help you if you have abandoned your residency. If you pull up stakes and go to another country, there is a real risk of the CBP or USCIS determining that you have abandoned your status.

A better suggestion is for you to wait until you naturalize, then go over to SIngapore for a few years. Once your a citizen, you're always a citizen...

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I agree.... if you go to live in another country for 2-3 years you will be abandoning your residency and whould have to start all over again....

Once you are a citizen there is no restrictions on how long you can stay abroad for....

kezzie

[hcj 0]

Hi,

I'm from Singapore and my husband is the USC.

We are just doing some initial research into going to live in Singapore a few years, just so we have some extended time with my family. We would intend to vome back to the US after those few years.

If I'm not intending on applying for Citizenship yet, are there any serious implications for going for 2-3 yrs? I understand that I'd have to apply for a re-entry permit, would that be it?

Thanks

...yeng

Yeng -- I have a bit of a different viewpoint on this, which is that I do not believe we should let immigration dictate our lives.

There are things you can do to maintain your residency even while living abroad for 2-3 years, although of course nothing is guaranteed. Along with the re-entry permit, you should maintain your bank accounts, credit cards etc in the US. Maintain an address of some sort, even if with a friend or relative. Keep your property if you own any. Continue to file your taxes as a "resident". Come back to the US for visits. If possible to be "transferred" to Singapore with your or your husband's job, that would be fantastic. Just some examples, I suggest you pay for a consult with an immigration lawyer for more tips if you really decide to do this.

Hopefully by doing XYZ you will preserve your residency. However, even if the worst happens and you lose your GC -- that's not the end of the world. You'll just apply for an immigrant visa based on your marriage. That can be done from abroad, you won't have to be separated. It just takes a few months of planning, that's all.

[charlie & yeng 0]

Hi,

I'm from Singapore and my husband is the USC.

We are just doing some initial research into going to live in Singapore a few years, just so we have some extended time with my family. We would intend to vome back to the US after those few years.

If I'm not intending on applying for Citizenship yet, are there any serious implications for going for 2-3 yrs? I understand that I'd have to apply for a re-entry permit, would that be it?

Thanks

...yeng

Yeng -- I have a bit of a different viewpoint on this, which is that I do not believe we should let immigration dictate our lives.

There are things you can do to maintain your residency even while living abroad for 2-3 years, although of course nothing is guaranteed. Along with the re-entry permit, you should maintain your bank accounts, credit cards etc in the US. Maintain an address of some sort, even if with a friend or relative. Keep your property if you own any. Continue to file your taxes as a "resident". Come back to the US for visits. If possible to be "transferred" to Singapore with your or your husband's job, that would be fantastic. Just some examples, I suggest you pay for a consult with an immigration lawyer for more tips if you really decide to do this.

Hopefully by doing XYZ you will preserve your residency. However, even if the worst happens and you lose your GC -- that's not the end of the world. You'll just apply for an immigrant visa based on your marriage. That can be done from abroad, you won't have to be separated. It just takes a few months of planning, that's all.

Thanks for your replies. I wonder if the country you come from makes a difference in how immigration assesses the situation. It would be nice to think that immigration would honor a genuine marriage relationship between the 2 people and appreciate the couple wanting to experience the non-USC's home country for a spell. I would be interested to hear from others who have done this.

[meauxna 15]

There is also a Returning Resident's visa for people who wind up out of the US for longer than the validity of the re-entry permit.

I don't think you will find the experiences yo are looking for here at visajourney---the group is not old enough.

You can do some searching of the entire archive of alt.visa.us.marriage-based via google/groups. That group is the original 'fiance visa' group (ca 1997) and has more old timers around now. I'm sure I've seen similar stories there over the years.

PS: I don't think the immigrant's country of origin matters. We opted to wait the few years until natz before taking off. One more month to go!