Perm. Green card holder moving to Australia

[Juliet 0]

Sorry if I am not posting in the correct folder - just not sure where this should be posted.

I am an Australian citizen married to a US citizen, living in Arizona. We have been married for 6.5 years. A month after we got married, we applied for a green card, which I got, went through the whole process, and now have a permanent green card (conditional status was removed 3 years ago).

Here's my question/ dilemma. My father (who lives in Australia, as does the rest of my family), was recently diagnosed with cancer. My husband and I are moving to Australia in the next couple of months (after he gets he Australia spousal visa approval) to be with him. I don't know how long we are going to be there, but we are anticipating at least 5 years, as we are taking our 4 animals, selling our house, etc, etc.

I know that I am going to lose my green card - what can I do? There is always the possiblity that we will come back here to the States....what should I do? I do not have time to apply for citizenship, and I don't want to give up my Australian citizenship in order to do that anyway.

Comments, suggestions, advise are MORE THAN WELCOME!

Thanks in advance

Juliet

[Joel Halfwassen 0]

Citzenship first...Unless the laws for Austraila have changed recently you will not lose your Austrailan citzenship...ever. If you are born in Austraila you will always be concidered an Austrailan citizen. You can have US citizen ship AND Austrailan citizenship at the same time. To give you an example I was born in Canada and was naturalized as a US citizen through my father, who is an American veteran, at the age of 5. So I have both US and Canada citizenship with passports for both countries. It should be the same for most Britsh Commonwealth nations. I have several Austrailan friends who have dual citizenship this way.

As for your Green Card...I don't know, but I am going to make an guess. You should have an expiration date on your green card. Until it expires I would imagine that you are welcome to come and go to and from the US up until that time. If you do not live in the US by the time it expires then you might have an issue. I could be wrong.

Joel

[Juliet 0]

Citzenship first...Unless the laws for Austraila have changed recently you will not lose your Austrailan citzenship...ever. If you are born in Austraila you will always be concidered an Austrailan citizen. You can have US citizen ship AND Austrailan citizenship at the same time. To give you an example I was born in Canada and was naturalized as a US citizen through my father, who is an American veteran, at the age of 5. So I have both US and Canada citizenship with passports for both countries. It should be the same for most Britsh Commonwealth nations. I have several Austrailan friends who have dual citizenship this way.

As for your Green Card...I don't know, but I am going to make an guess. You should have an expiration date on your green card. Until it expires I would imagine that you are welcome to come and go to and from the US up until that time. If you do not live in the US by the time it expires then you might have an issue. I could be wrong.

Joel

Hey Joel,

Thanks for replying....my greencard expires in 2015 - so I guess you are right - I have time!!!

FYI - I am in Phoenix too - Ahwatukee to be exact!

Cheers!

Juliet

[Lunamel 0]

Hi Juliet

Permanent residents who leave the US for an extended period, or who can't show an intent to live permanently in the US can lose their green cards, regardless of the expiration date on the document. I'm not an expert on the rules, so perhaps someone who knows more than me will answer. You can also find further information about the rules on the uscis website (www.uscis.gov).

You might have more luck posting your question again on one of the other boards, such as the citizenship board, as you'll probably get more responses there.

Good luck!

[shirlJ831 0]

good luck I hope all goes well

[meauxna 15]

Juliet,

Too bad that you hadn't found out more about naturalizing ---as indicated, you do NOT give up your Australian citz if you become an American as well. You have both.

It's not the end of the world, however.

You are giving up most ties to the US, by the looks of it. It's not appropriate for any of us to guide you in how to maintain your PR beyond what is written at uscis.gov, but I could refer you to a lawyer who specializes in the topic if you want.

If/when you decide you want to come back to the US, you go to the consulate in Sydney and do a fairly quick process for an Immigrant Visa and you'll become a PR again when you enter. There is also something called a (SB-1?) Returning Resident's visa that you could look into. A re-entry permit (form I-131) is valid for a max of two years, so I don't know that that would help you out.

Look at this DCF Guide---this would be the process for getting an immigrant visa to return with in the future, but for right now, there are links on the topic of domicile which directly relate to you maintaining your PR status.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=dcf

Best wishes for your dad and your family.

[Joel Halfwassen 0]

meauxna is right...a lawyer on this topic would be the way to go.

meauxna - I don't doubt what you are saying. It makes sense. However, what I am not finding is the regulations on the topic. From what I am reading there are all kinds of rules and regulations on becoming an LPR up to going from an CR to an IR, but after that I am not seeing anything on the topic of MAINTAINING LPR status. Can you provide some guidance?

Joel

Edited July 9, 2006 by Joel Halfwassen

[meauxna 15]

meauxna is right...a lawyer on this topic would be the way to go.

meauxna - I don't doubt what you are saying. It makes sense. However, what I am not finding is the regulations on the topic. From what I am reading there are all kinds of rules and regulations on becoming an LPR up to going from an CR to an IR, but after that I am not seeing anything on the topic of MAINTAINING LPR status. Can you provide some guidance?

Joel

hi Joel,

One of my favorite, but most overlooked, links is this one:

Now That You Are A Permanent Resident

It discusses, briefly, how PR status can be maintained while out of the US.

Maintaining Permanent Residence

Maintaining Permanent Residence You may lose your permanent residence status if you commit an act that makes you removable from the United States under the law in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If you commit such an act, you may be brought before the immigration courts to determine your right to remain a Permanent Resident.

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

-Move to another country intending to live there permanently.

-Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

-Remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

-Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period.

-Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns.

On the newsgroup alt.visa.us.marriage-based we have been reminded time and again that PR status can be lost in as little as one day, depneding on the individual circumstances, and that EVERY case is individual.

Similar rules apply to USCs on the topic of domicile, which is why I recommend them to the OP. I ws out of the US for nearly 3 years without abandoning the US as my principle residence--the concept is called 'temporarily resident abroad'. In this OP's case, the things that her USC spouse does can be helpful to her case.

Hope that gives you a start. You can search the avumb group (via google groups if you like) for posts from Folinskyinla with the word 'abandon' or 'abandonment' for more info.