Can Immigration tell someone where they can or cannot live?

[sachinky 465]

They took away her 10 year what? Tourist visa? Or GC?

[Anh map 2,098]

She spends 4-5 months out of the year in Panama.She hadn't been back in three years prior to Julu because she was waiting for them to approve her green card.She did have a 10 year visa but the "lovelies" at innmigration took it away from her and said she had to apply for the green card.

Tourist visas are meant for visits. If she demonstrated that she was residing in the US then it's normal to have the toursit visa revoked.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Officially, yes--they certainly can tell a GC holder that he/she must show commitment to living in US (by spending more than 50% of time). Unofficially, they also have (through their refusal to change policies to handle aftermath of Reagan's 1986 scamnesty) power to also dictate whom the GC-holder (and also many temp-visa-holders) can marry.

[panamania79 2]

Officially, yes--they certainly can tell a GC holder that he/she must show commitment to living in US (by spending more than 50% of time). Unofficially, they also have (through their refusal to change policies to handle aftermath of Reagan's 1986 scamnesty) power to also dictate whom the GC-holder (and also many temp-visa-holders) can marry.

[panamania79 2]

They took away her 10 year what? Tourist visa? Or GC?

She is a widow of a Vietnam veteran and had a green card to begin with but never bothered renewing it.They gave her a torist visa in 2000.When she came here is 2006,they stopped her and took her visa away and said she had to apply for her green card all over again.In her interview,they had her file from 1968.Last June she went back to Panama,upon returning they told her she had to live here

[NickD 203]

She is a widow of a Vietnam veteran and had a green card to begin with but never bothered renewing it.They gave her a torist visa in 2000.When she came here is 2006,they stopped her and took her visa away and said she had to apply for her green card all over again.In her interview,they had her file from 1968.Last June she went back to Panama,upon returning they told her she had to live here

Wouldn't of had that problem if she applied for USC.

[panamania79 2]

Wouldn't of had that problem if she applied for USC.

You are 100% right but she didn't want to give up her Panamanian citizenship.

[peejay 327]

Wouldn't of had that problem if she applied for USC.

A GC holder also gets penalized for time spent outside the USA when figuring in eligibility for filing for US citizenship. Look at the US citizenship application forms. Time spent outside the USA does not go toward the 3 or 5 year residency eligibility requirement to file for US citizenship.

Really...should someone be considered a real permanent US resident if they do not actually reside in the USA? US-CIS cannot tell someone where to live, but if the person is not committed to residing in the USA then they are basically a tourist that wants to use a Green Card as an "at will" entry visa. If a permanent resident cannot even accrue enough in-country residency time to be considered a permanent resident, why should they be granted US citizenship? It seems like some folks look at US citizenship or a Green Card as a mere convenience that benefits themselves more than any real commitment to the USA.

It has nothing to do with the US government telling them where they can live. A foreign national either resides in the USA or they don't. In this regard...why should a foreign national be treated on equal terms with a US citizen?

In any case there is a form that Green Card holders can use to notify US-CIS of extenuating circumstances as to why they are unable to reside in the USA for extended periods. US-CIS can then determine if long absences are cause for abandonment of residency.

I recently had a friend of the family that lost his US residency when his 10 year Green Card expired. He just came to the USA once a year to file the extension form and visit his sons for less than a month. I don't recall the particular details, but he eventually lost his Green Card after 10 years. He's my friend, but I really don't consider him to be a real resident. IMO the US government is way too lenient in this regard. If someone chronically doesn't live in the USA for long periods of time then they aren't a resident IMO.

[Dakine10 5,452]

She explained to them that she has two houses down there and they told her to sell them!

Owning property is a separate issue from actually living there. USCIS should have advised her that her status is at risk if she spends too much time out of the USA.

They should not have told her to sell her foreign property, only that she shouldn't be spending so much time there.

[NickD 203]

You are 100% right but she didn't want to give up her Panamanian citizenship.

Panama is considered one of the ideal places to retire, know some USC's, natural born, that are not only retired and living there, but also getting their SS checks mailed to them down there. With a valid green card, and if she meets the residency requirements, she still can apply for USC. Is she a natural born Panama citizen? Really don't know if that makes much difference, wife is natural born in Colombia, naturalized in both Venezuela, and the USA. They don't seem to care in Venezuela, Colombia will always take her back.

Ha, I am a third generation American, but Italy wants me back, thinking about it. With Facebook, learning that I have family there.

[panamania79 2]

Panama is considered one of the ideal places to retire, know some USC's, natural born, that are not only retired and living there, but also getting their SS checks mailed to them down there. With a valid green card, and if she meets the residency requirements, she still can apply for USC. Is she a natural born Panama citizen? Really don't know if that makes much difference, wife is natural born in Colombia, naturalized in both Venezuela, and the USA. They don't seem to care in Venezuela, Colombia will always take her back.

Ha, I am a third generation American, but Italy wants me back, thinking about it. With Facebook, learning that I have family there.

It is a nice place to retire,it's starting to look like the new Florida though.I'm third generation also.If they don't give my SO his visa,I'm going back there to live!

To answer your question,yes,my aunt is a natral born Panamanian,but she's "old school" and doesn't want to hear about US citizenship.

Owning property is a separate issue from actually living there. USCIS should have advised her that her status is at risk if she spends too much time out of the USA.

They should not have told her to sell her foreign property, only that she shouldn't be spending so much time there.

They told her that she had to sell her property.She was only there for 4 months.

[Dakine10 5,452]

It is a nice place to retire,it's starting to look like the new Florida though.I'm third generation also.If they don't give my SO his visa,I'm going back there to live!

To answer your question,yes,my aunt is a natral born Panamanian,but she's "old school" and doesn't want to hear about US citizenship.

They told her that she had to sell her property.She was only there for 4 months.

Yes, they told her to sell the property. I'm saying they should not have said that. USCIS has no jurisdiction over property ownership.

What they really should have said is to stop spending so much time there, and not to use ownership as an excuse for being there so much.

We often take for granted that USCIS agents know what they are talking about at all times. In practice, if something doesn't sound right it's a good idea to verify it. They are human beings, and make mistakes just like everyone else, and sometimes more it seems

[Susita 175]

They told her that she had to sell her property.She was only there for 4 months.

That's so odd... a friend of mine is from Portugal, has her greencard, she owns a home there too and since she's a schoolteacher she goes back every year for the whole summer (approx 3 months) and no one has ever said diddly squat to her about selling her property or losing her GC.

Strange. I could see if it were 6 months or more.

[NickD 203]

Well, they make the rules, for USC and a five year wait, you have to meet the minimum resident requirements for USC, after that, they don't care, but do care about you paying taxes.

Seems like your aunts' problems are with the POE, can share that experience when my wife comes back alone as well as her friends, they love to target these women and give them a hell of a hard time. We just made reservations and returning to Miami, wife asked if I could find a different airport as they gave her one hell of a hard time. Just said you are forgetting that when I was with you, they wouldn't dare, and besides now, you have a US passport.

But we all have to face the fact that although we do have a US. Constitution engraved in stone, that's tossed out the window when coming back. At times I wonder why myself and others were forced to fight in a war for the freedom of people we never even heard about. Getting to the point where we have to fight for our own freedom in our own country. At other times, I even wonder, why I am coming back, but hey, this is my home and this is my country, screw the other bast@rds that are trying to take our freedoms away.