travelling outside of the United States 6 months or a year?

[milleniumgirl 0]

hello everybody, i have founf several answers so I´m a little bit confused, how long can one be outside of the United States being a lawfull permanent resident (10 years card)?one web site from the governement says that i can be up to one year outside of the United States without any trouble, but if i need to be outside of the States more than one year then I´ll need a document to re enter.

Now,there is this another website which says that you need a document to reenter the States if you are outside for a period of up to 6 months....which one is correct?

id really appreciate your feedback.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

As a green card holder, you are allowed to reside in the USA permanently, but you are also required to reside here permanently. Now, even a Green Card holder is allowed to travel, take vacations, visit people in her home country, or attend conferences, perhaps even take care of an ill family member. The key here is that you cannot abandon your residency while doing it.

So if being asked to demonstrate that you have not abandoned your US residency, you'd show that you still have a house or apartment, a car with current registration and insurance, a dog or cat, and basically everything a resident these days has.

Up to 6 months absence from the US, the CBP Officer at the airport will usually not be too interested in where you were and why. Yet, at the 6-month point, your residency clock STOPS. If you were away longer than 6 months, it is very likely that they will dig a bit deeper and may require you to show evidence that you still maintain your residence.

Once a year has passed, you have formally abandoned your residency unless you have applied for a Reenty Permit BEFORE you left the USA. Also, at the 1-year mark, you residency clock (which stopped at 6 months absence) will set back to ZERO. What that means is that on the day you come back to the US, you start over with day 1, like you never were a resident before. That is important if you're planing in becoming a US citizen.

To be safe, therefore, you should plan not to stay away longer than 6 months, unless you have a very good reason (in the eyes of the US Government) and can fully document why you were abroad while maintaining your US residence.