How long can my wife go back to Germany?

[davidb79 2]

My then-girlfriend came to America last October. We'd been visiting back and forth for almost a year and, by that time, we were impatient and just wanted to be together. So, with no real plan, we got married and began the AOS process, and she received her green card back in March. We naively thought that she'd soon find a job and everything would fall into place. However, she is currently working on her law degree from a German university and that won't be finished until next summer (even when she is finished, I'm skeptical about the opportunities that will open here, but that's another topic). She has so far gotten no call-backs on job applications (we live in a small town so opportunities are few and far between, and being an immigrant almost certainly is not helping), and as I am not exactly raking in the cash with my job, we are struggling financially.

Were we to do this over again, we would have been patient and waited for her to finish university and us develop a plan before diving into this, but what is done is done and we need to figure out what to do from here. My wife is struggling with feeling worthless, having not earned more than a few hundred dollars in the 8 months she's been here. We only have one car so she sits at home all day studying while I am at work. I know she also intensely misses her family and friends back in Germany, and that being the case, I think the idea of going back temporarily has some appeal for her, as she could pretty easily find work and it would be easier to take care of university responsibilities. Then, when she finishes her degree next year, we'd be in a much better position to decide how to proceed, whether with her returning to America or me going to Germany. Putting aside the hardship of being apart which we have already dealt with plenty in the past 1.5 years and would have endured even more had we been smart in the first place and not rushed into marriage, the biggest problem is the fact that we already went through the process of getting her green card and we don't want that to be for naught.

From you folks, I want to ask 2 things:

1. Do you have any general advice as to how to tackle this situation?

2. If she does go back to Germany, how long can she be out of the US without forfeiting her green card or experiencing major problems upon returning?

[amykathleen2005 441]

Honestly if she can wait out the three years until citizenship she will not have to worry about leaving indefinitely. However, leaving for more then a few months time on a greencard might mean an abandoned residency.

[Little_My 464]

She can get a re-entry permit, which will allow her to be abroad for up to 2 years without abandoning her residency and losing her green card. However, I assume she currently holds a 2 year conditional green card? If she received the GC in March 2012, she will have to file for ROC between December and March, within the 90-day window before the expiration date of her current GC. She will have to come back to the US for that, at least to file and for biometrics, and there is a small chance of a new interview too, so you would have to plan around that.

The re-entry permit will protect her permanent residency status, but if she lives abroad for over a year (or in some cases over 6 months), her citizenship clock will be reset. Currently, she would be eligible to file for naturalization, if she wants to, in early 2015. If she gets the re-entry permit and stays abroad for extensive periods of time, that clock will most likely be reset to zero and start again once she returns to the US.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Little_My

[davidb79 2]

Thank you, Little My! That's exactly what I was looking for. We are currently not so concerned about citizenship because she is in no hurry to renounce her German citizenship. We may want to live over there some day, so, for now, we want to keep our options open, and thus, if the clock resets from her being abroad for too long, that's not a huge deal.

I don't think it should interfere with ROC either, as she only needs to be out of the country from this fall until next summer at the latest so she can finish up her degree and have an extended period to work in Germany. If the re-entry permit buys her two years, that's more than enough.

Can anyone tell me about the process of getting a re-entry permit? What papers do we have to file, and is it a very involved or expensive process?

Thanks!

She can get a re-entry permit, which will allow her to be abroad for up to 2 years without abandoning her residency and losing her green card. However, I assume she currently holds a 2 year conditional green card? If she received the GC in March 2012, she will have to file for ROC between December and March, within the 90-day window before the expiration date of her current GC. She will have to come back to the US for that, at least to file and for biometrics, and there is a small chance of a new interview too, so you would have to plan around that.

The re-entry permit will protect her permanent residency status, but if she lives abroad for over a year (or in some cases over 6 months), her citizenship clock will be reset. Currently, she would be eligible to file for naturalization, if she wants to, in early 2015. If she gets the re-entry permit and stays abroad for extensive periods of time, that clock will most likely be reset to zero and start again once she returns to the US.

[davidb79 2]

I looked it up and it appears that I-131, the same form that we used for Advance Parole, is also used to apply for a re-entry permit. In looking through the form instructions, I noticed this:

If you stay outside the United State for less than 1 year, you are not required to apply for a Reentry Permit. You may reenter the United State on your Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551).

That being the case, and considering the time-frame that we are thinking about (perhaps September to April, maybe a few more months into the summer, but definitely less than a year), it sounds like she might not need a Reentry Permit. Am I reading that correctly? If we don't apply for one, is there something else she should do to declare her intention to be abroad for less than a year and return in summer 2013?

[Dave&Roza 748]

I looked it up and it appears that I-131, the same form that we used for Advance Parole, is also used to apply for a re-entry permit. In looking through the form instructions, I noticed this:

That being the case, and considering the time-frame that we are thinking about (perhaps September to April, maybe a few more months into the summer, but definitely less than a year), it sounds like she might not need a Reentry Permit. Am I reading that correctly? If we don't apply for one, is there something else she should do to declare her intention to be abroad for less than a year and return in summer 2013?

If she is outside the US for more than 6 months and less than a year, it is up to the CBP person to determine if her LPR status has been abandoned or not. Since she will be a student, she will have a school address and a permenent address. She should take evidence of her ties to the US with her to show upon re-entry. Applying for a re-entry permit does show that she does not want to loose her LPR status, but it takes time and money. For less than one year it can be done. Just make certain she maintains her ties to the US including filing taxes on any money earned in Germany. She could come back to the US in December for the holidays and that would break up the time period. It would also go a long way to show she still has her residence in the US as most college students return home during breaks.

Good luck,

Dave

[davidb79 2]

Thanks, Dave. It seems like potential for trouble starts if she is out of th country more than 6 months. Will breaking that up with a winter visit prevent the problem, even if it's only a weeklong visit? Or will they still look at the fact that she was gone for 6 months in a 6.5 month time period?

If she is outside the US for more than 6 months and less than a year, it is up to the CBP person to determine if her LPR status has been abandoned or not. Since she will be a student, she will have a school address and a permenent address. She should take evidence of her ties to the US with her to show upon re-entry. Applying for a re-entry permit does show that she does not want to loose her LPR status, but it takes time and money. For less than one year it can be done. Just make certain she maintains her ties to the US including filing taxes on any money earned in Germany. She could come back to the US in December for the holidays and that would break up the time period. It would also go a long way to show she still has her residence in the US as most college students return home during breaks.

Good luck,

Dave

[Dave&Roza 748]

Thanks, Dave. It seems like potential for trouble starts if she is out of th country more than 6 months. Will breaking that up with a winter visit prevent the problem, even if it's only a weeklong visit? Or will they still look at the fact that she was gone for 6 months in a 6.5 month time period?

Since she is a student, all she would have to do is take proof that she is studying in Germany, but her perment residence is in the US. Breaking it up might help show that she is only studying and not living in Germany since during the break she is returning to her permenant residence. I do not see a problem either way as long as she takes proof that she is maintaining ties to you in the US and she is only studying. Just remember to file a joint tax return or she should file a tax return as married filing seperately if that has better tax advantages.

Good lcuk,

Dave

[aaron2020 11,651]

Just adding support.

As others have advised; your LPR wife can attend school in Germany and maintain her green card status. She will need to maintain her ties to the US - bank accounts, file joint US taxes with her husband, etc.

There are a number of LPRs or their LPR children on this forum who attend school outside the US and have used their green cards to return to the US during school breaks.

This is not a problem. The important part is maintaining ties to the US.

A re-entry permit is not a bad idea. She must be in the US for the biometrics. She can have it delivered to the US Embassy in Germany.