What happens to a petitition under F2A category if the petioner is transferred abroad for work?

[Athena June 37]

My husband is a legal permanent resident in the US, and we filed an I-130 petition in August for me to be able to join him there. He would be eligible for citizenship in February 2013 and our plan was to upgrade the petion when he becomes a US citizen.

He originally came to the US nine years ago to work for an American company. He is still with the same employer, but due to a merger last year they now have an office in Sweden and he collaborates closely with the Swedish team. In order to further strengthen the cooperation between the American and Swedish colleagues, my husband's management would like to send him to Sweden for a year or two. He currently visits the Swedish team a few times a year, and we assume that if he were to work in Sweden, he would be required to travel to the US to meet with his boss and the American team every few months.

We are of course thrilled about the possibility to have a home together and put an end to our long-distance marriage, but at the same time we worry about the consequences. What would this mean for his status as a permanent resident and how would him being in Sweden affect our pending I-130 petition? Should he apply for a re-entry permit even if he were to visit the US every three to four months? Would my husband lose his eligibility for citizenship? He has visited me frequently over the past years but never for longer than two weeks at a time, and I am certain that he already has the required 30 months of physical presence in the US. However, would it be a problem if he spent most of his fifth year as a permanent resident abroad? I have looked at the instructions for Form N-470 (application to preserve residence for naturalization purposes) and unfortunately it doesn't look like he would be eligible to preserve residence via filing this form.

Furthermore, when my husband would eventually return to work in the US, would our current I-130 petition still be valid or would we have to start the process from the beginning again? This is important as I would assume that even if my husband could not become a citizen in 2013 as planned, our priority date would become current during our time in Sweden.

It may well be that we'll like Sweden so much that we'll want to stay there, but before making the decision to move, we would like to know the consequences for our future. Has anyone been in this situation or know where we could look for advice?

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

What would this mean for his status as a permanent resident and how would him being in Sweden affect our pending I-130 petition?

Your petition will not be affected. (case #s, priority dates not changed)

Should he apply for a re-entry permit even if he were to visit the US every three to four months?

A reentry permit would not be necessary. The green card holder should maintain ties to the USA (financial accts., auto, house, apartment, library , gym, DL, file taxes,

maintain a US address etc. )

I re-entry permit is required if the applicant should reside over seas more than one year.

correct

Would my husband lose his eligibility for citizenship? He has visited me frequently over the past years but never for longer than two weeks at a time.

Would it be a problem if he spent most of his fifth year as a permanent resident abroad?

No his continuous residence based on what you said should not be affect... tho he should try to not spend more than 6 month in the 5th yr.

I have looked at the instructions for Form N-470 (application to preserve residence for naturalization purposes) and unfortunately it doesn't look like he would be eligible to preserve residence via filing this form.

correct... he would not be able to file the form. he's not required to be there wrking over seas by the US govt etc.

[Athena June 37]

Many thanks, Ricardo! So in theory this could work. We'll still have to look into how he could maintain sufficient ties to the US as keeping his current apartment in the US is not financially possible, but he could use another US address (office or a friend) if that's allowed. The tax issue could also turn out to be problematic as we wouldn't want him to pay both US and Swedish taxes.

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Many thanks, Ricardo! So in theory this could work. We'll still have to look into how he could maintain sufficient ties to the US as keeping his current apartment in the US is not financially possible, but he could use another US address (office or a friend) if that's allowed. The tax issue could also turn out to be problematic as we wouldn't want him to pay both US and Swedish taxes.

i found this for you. it touches briefly on tax return regarding maintaining ties to the usa

http://www.antaoandc.../i-keeping.html

Edited December 5, 2011 by RICARDO4EVA2

[Athena June 37]

This is very useful, thanks!!!