working over sea with my green card

[adekin 0]

First, I want to apologize if I am not posting in the right section, I could not find any about this subject so I stayed in my original section ( I came here as a visitor).

I just got my welcome letter and should get my green card in my mailbox very soon.

My husband has the opportunity to work in Nigeria for his US company and bring me with him to work there. This is a really good job with a lot of vacation time ( usually 20 days vacation for every 65 days worked)

It would be temporary, max two year , which is how long the project will last. I would be working for a US company, but not on US soil.

As my residence will still be USA after this project, is that ok for me to go work there?

I could re-enter the US twice a year if it is necessary but I would like to enjoy traveling to different country ( France, North Africa etc..) while I am located in Africa.

I tried to look it up online, but could not find any references about what are the rules to make sure you keep your 2 years green card valid etc...

Does anybody know anything about it?

Thank you!

[ikarus 1]

Here is an interesting link to read related to this...pay attention towards the bottom of the page where it recommends as to what to do if you're plannning on being employed abroad, such as paying us taxes, having checks deposited into us bank account, etc.

http://www.visalaw.com/06feb1/2feb106.html

And from another link:

http://www.workandliveabroad.com/article_i...p?articleid=275

There are certain steps that you can take to ensure that you retain your immigrant status, if you are planning to stay temporarily out of the U.S. One of the most important things you should do is to maintain evidence or proof of your residence in the U.S., or show that you truly intend to reside in the U.S., such as:

1. File U.S. tax returns.

2. Maintain a U.S. address (either actual or in care of a relative in the U.S. Merely having a P.O. Box does not show you have a residence in the U.S.)

3. Make sure you enter the U.S. at least once a year, although the more often you enter and stay in the U.S., the better it is for you.

4. Maintain a valid U.S. driver’s license.

5. Keep U.S. stocks and bonds.

6. Continue to use U.S. credit cards.

7. Continue any club memberships in the U.S.

8. In any correspondence, make reference to your temporary assignment abroad.

9. Maintain bank account in the U.S.

Edited March 17, 2009 by ikarus

[adekin 0]

Here is an interesting link to read related to this...pay attention towards the bottom of the page where it recommends as to what to do if you're plannning on being employed abroad, such as paying us taxes, having checks deposited into us bank account, etc.

http://www.visalaw.com/06feb1/2feb106.html

And from another link:

http://www.workandliveabroad.com/article_i...p?articleid=275

There are certain steps that you can take to ensure that you retain your immigrant status, if you are planning to stay temporarily out of the U.S. One of the most important things you should do is to maintain evidence or proof of your residence in the U.S., or show that you truly intend to reside in the U.S., such as:

1. File U.S. tax returns.

2. Maintain a U.S. address (either actual or in care of a relative in the U.S. Merely having a P.O. Box does not show you have a residence in the U.S.)

3. Make sure you enter the U.S. at least once a year, although the more often you enter and stay in the U.S., the better it is for you.

4. Maintain a valid U.S. driver’s license.

5. Keep U.S. stocks and bonds.

6. Continue to use U.S. credit cards.

7. Continue any club memberships in the U.S.

8. In any correspondence, make reference to your temporary assignment abroad.

9. Maintain bank account in the U.S.

Thank you so much!! I had a hard time finding informations about it...

Thank you!!!

[himher 634]

We are in the same situation. Before we left, we officially changed our address to my parents house, aka we parked/registered vehicles there, changed insurance etc, filed change of address with CIS (sponsor and immigrant), changed address with banks, credit cards, address our cell phones, home phone (vonage, it's portable). We still file as residents (taxes) because I pass the "physical presence" test, we are only in the US 1 month per year. I (the USC) am the one working, my spouse is here on "not authorized to work" status. Even so, we are still nervous about what is going to happen when we lift conditions, even though so far other expats in this location have PR spouses and so far there is no case that we know of where a PR has lost residency.

[adekin 0]

We are in the same situation. Before we left, we officially changed our address to my parents house, aka we parked/registered vehicles there, changed insurance etc, filed change of address with CIS (sponsor and immigrant), changed address with banks, credit cards, address our cell phones, home phone (vonage, it's portable). We still file as residents (taxes) because I pass the "physical presence" test, we are only in the US 1 month per year. I (the USC) am the one working, my spouse is here on "not authorized to work" status. Even so, we are still nervous about what is going to happen when we lift conditions, even though so far other expats in this location have PR spouses and so far there is no case that we know of where a PR has lost residency.

That is good to know!

Plus if we go there I will be working as well so I guess it is good to show that the only reason i am out of the US is because I am temporary working over sea for a US company