Green Card Holder

[newblack 0]

How long can a Green card holder stay outside of the USA? A family member is being out for 19 months now and her mum is worried that she might not be let back in @ JFK.

[aleful 1,905]

How long can a Green card holder stay outside of the USA? A family member is being out for 19 months now and her mum is worried that she might not be let back in @ JFK.

no more than a year. unless she has a reentry permit to be abroad up to 2 years, she has lost her status as a LPR. she should return immediatly.

she might be able to come back, no one can tell what will happen at the POE.

[J&N* 68]

You can stay out of the US for up to 6 months with no consequence, as long as the person has a vaild green card and passport. Over 6 months contact with the US consulate is needed and the green card holder can stay out of the country for up to a year. Over a year the green card holder will forfeit their green card and not be allowed to re-enter the country.

[Harsh_77 718]

For most part of the year you are required to stay in US to maintain your LPR status.

She has already lost her LPR status, unless she had prior approval for staying out of the country for longer period of time, which is normally 2 years.

[katiemanny 64]

no more than a year. unless she has a reentry permit to be abroad up to 2 years, she has lost her status as a LPR. she should return immediatly.

she might be able to come back, no one can tell what will happen at the POE.

If she didn't apply for a returning visa or re-entry permit prior to her departure then she will be denied entry and probably the POE officer will parole her in the US to see an immigration judge who will decide what to do with her.

Edited April 27, 2011 by katiemanny

[newblack 0]

Thanks everyone for your responses

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

***** Moving from K1 to Travelling during... florum as question is about a greencard holder, not a fiance visa *****

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Simplified, a resident can stay out of the US for a maximum of 1 year without having to apply for an Reentry Permit in advance.

Up to about 6 months, the CBP officer at the P.O.E. usually doesn't get too worked up inquiring about the resident's absence. That's the default assumption, and it reverses at the 6-month mark. That means from 6 months all the way up to 1 year of absence, CBP will inquire about the resident's absence in order to determine whether or not the resident has abandoned his or her residency in the US.

If no Reentry Permit has been filed, the resident's residency is considered abandoned at the 1-year mark. He or she will not be let back into the country. In this case I suggest to apply for an SB-1 visa at the US Embassy/consulate in Nigeria. If the conditions that led to receiving residency in the first place still exist, then it will be issued. So the SB-1 is basically an entry pass to the US with the permission to file for AOS once there. Of course, if no basis for AOS exists anymore, no SB-1 will be issued.

Another hurdle is Nigeria itself. The consular people in Nigeria are known for being extremely difficult when it comes to issuing any visa to the US, so this will be no walk in the park. The first question your family member will have to answer is "why did you stay out of the US for so long?" It should be a reason beyond her control, i.e., she got very sick while in Nigeria, and couldn't travel.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Just Bob

[damilola 0]

WITHOUT THE REENTRY PERMIT,YOU CANT STAY MORE THAN 1 YR, IN HER BEST INTEREST,SHE SHOULD RETURN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF NOT IMIDIATELY