Green Card 2012/Reentry Permit Visa. HELP!

[Franck91 0]

Hi Everyone,

I'm writing to you guys as I need some understanding and advice regarding my situation.

I'm French and live in Australia. I have been through the DV Lottery 2012 and my US Immigrant Visa has been issued! I'm really happy about that as living in New York has always been in my mind since I was young.

Therefore, I have to enter the US before the 23rd January 2013 to activate the Green Card. However, I would like to stay at least 1 more year in Australia before moving to the US for work purposes and because I need more time to organize that move.

I will definitely go to Los Angeles to activate the Green Card but I need to find a way to be able to go back to Australia and come back to the US without having the physical Green Card. I would like to stay just 1/2 weeks in Los Angeles.

Questions:

1/Can I stay in Los Angeles for just 1/2 weeks in order to activate the Green Card and apply for a Reentry Permit Visa and go back to Australia?

2/Do I need to get the physical Green Card to be able to apply for a Reentry Permit Visa?

3/If so, will they accept my Reentry Permit Visa request?

What would be the best solution for me to activate the Green Card, go back to Australia for 1 year and come back to the US?

Besides, unfortunately my Australian girlfriend hasn't been selected for the DV Lottery which is a shame, but we are going to try to live together in New York anyway. I understand she will have to find a company that accepts to sponsor her through an E3 Visa. Has anyone been through this? Having a boyfriend/girlfriend that doesn't have a Green Card but you have managed to live together?

I would be so grateful for your precious advice as I want to be able to go through all this without having any issues.

Thank you so much :-)

Franck

Edited July 27, 2012 by Franck91

[Hypnos 6,578]

1) I believe it takes 1-2 months from entering on an immigrant visa until you receive your physical green card in the mail. Upon entry to the US your visa would be endorsed by CBP and that would act as a temporary green card until you received the real thing, however if you left the US how would you obtain the green card that was mailed to your US address?

2) I do not believe so, but don't quote me.

3) They have to grant your request for a re-entry permit (provided your I-131 is correctly completed and your filed the correct fee, etc.); that is not your issue. Your issue is that a green card is for someone who intends to live in the United States and you would not be living in the United States.

To put it another way, visits abroad for up to six months are usually not a problem; visits for a period of between six and twelve months usually require you to show CBP (when you are attempting to re-enter the country) that you have maintained your domicile in the United States. Ways to show this might include: an apartment lease you have maintained during your foreign trip, maintaining a US bank account, filing US taxes, etc. And then there is the big one, visits of between one and two years. You require a re-entry permit to even apply to re-enter the US after being out of it for more than a year, which you already know. You will also be required to show the same proof to CBP that you have maintained your domicile here.

Additionally, it currently takes about 3 months from the date of application to receive a re-entry permit, so you would likely need to wait at least that long before leaving the country. If you did not have any proof of maintaining a US domicile then you could well be denied re-entry to the US as few as six months after leaving. You would need to convince CBP that you always intended to return and can document this intention.

When you start to spend more time outside of the US than inside (so more than six months in any given year more than once) then this becomes a problem. At some point an alert CBP officer is going to notice this and give you a stern lecture about it, or perhaps you won't get the lecture and he will just go right up to denying you entry back into the country.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Hypnos

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

1. 1-2 weeks may not be enough to get the re-entry permit.

3. What are your reasons for applying for a permit? "Not being ready to move" is not a good enough reason- you had close to two years between the application process, waiting, then the 6 months visa validity to make arrangements. You must have good reasons to be approved for a re-entry permit, such as finishing a course in university etc.

[Franck91 0]

Thank you for your advice and answers.

The reason I want to stay longer in Australia is because my girlfriend and I have applied for a partner visa in australia as my working visa was expiring. This partner visa will allow me to stay another 4 years in Australia however I don't want to stay all that time as I want to move to the US.

I also want to stay longer here for work purposes, will that be enough to apply for a Reentry permit visa??

I have given an US address to receive my Green Card as my uncle lives in the US. Can I activate the Green Card, apply for a Reentry permit visa in Los Angeles, go back to Australia and ask my uncle to send me the Green Card to Australia by post?

I understand 1/2 weeks might not be enough but apparently your Reentry permit visa can be processed even while you are away from he US...is that true?

Thank you so much for your help!

[gnasa 3]

Regarding Re-Entry Permit (REP) - a US Legal Permanent Resisdent needs to be inside the US when USCIS receives the application and for biometrics, the LPR can exit in between these or after. Typically biometrics are scheduled 4-6 weeks after an application is lodged. Biometrics can be accelerated via congressmen or 'early walk-in', I've used both of these tactics successfully, but cant really say anyone should rely on them.

Regarding your need for a REP - Let's say you travel for a X-mas holiday to LA/NY/Kansas/or even Montana(it's nice) and activate your LPR status. Get you passport stamped right away with I-551 or schedule an infopass appointment for this. Return to Oz. GC will be sent to your/uncle's US mailing address. Technically I don't think GC's can be legally mailed, but honestly just FedEx to Oz and I doubt this will cause any problem. You stay and work and wrap things up in Oz for some more time - I would try to keep this under 6 months.

Here's why - Although the USCIS says a LPR has 1 year, at 6 months out a LPR is thought to have reasonable suspicion of abandoned residency (residency is a requirement of the GC). I'm not sure how they view an LPR who gets status, departs to wrap things up in home country and then returns within 1 yr.

I would encourage you to understand all the variables and the entire process of the multiple scenarios your considering and possibly compromise your preferred timeline by getting GC, go back to Oz for <6mo, return to US without going through the REP process.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Regarding Re-Entry Permit (REP) - a US Legal Permanent Resisdent needs to be inside the US when USCIS receives the application and for biometrics, the LPR can exit in between these or after. Typically biometrics are scheduled 4-6 weeks after an application is lodged. Biometrics can be accelerated via congressmen or 'early walk-in', I've used both of these tactics successfully, but cant really say anyone should rely on them.

Regarding your need for a REP - Let's say you travel for a X-mas holiday to LA/NY/Kansas/or even Montana(it's nice) and activate your LPR status. Get you passport stamped right away with I-551 or schedule an infopass appointment for this. Return to Oz. GC will be sent to your/uncle's US mailing address. Technically I don't think GC's can be legally mailed, but honestly just FedEx to Oz and I doubt this will cause any problem. You stay and work and wrap things up in Oz for some more time - I would try to keep this under 6 months.

Here's why - Although the USCIS says a LPR has 1 year, at 6 months out a LPR is thought to have reasonable suspicion of abandoned residency (residency is a requirement of the GC). I'm not sure how they view an LPR who gets status, departs to wrap things up in home country and then returns within 1 yr.

I would encourage you to understand all the variables and the entire process of the multiple scenarios your considering and possibly compromise your preferred timeline by getting GC, go back to Oz for <6mo, return to US without going through the REP process.

If you get the stamp in your passport, that acts like the actual card and depending on the date they put on it, you may not need the physical card. I would say you have some life altering decisions to make here in the next few months. You have received a GC to the US and dream of living in NY. Congrats on this. Yet you want to remain in Australia for another year with no ties to the US. I would spend less than 6 months in Austrialia as you will have no proof of maintaining residence to the US if you fail to get a re-entry permit. You will not be in the US long enough to get a SSN so you will not be filing taxes next year which is a requirement of being a LPR--since you are arriving in 2013 you do not need to file until 2014 but I thought I'd mention the tax thing as most people forget to do this and it is one of those items to show residency status.

My advice is to come to the US to activate the GC, apply for a SSN and receive the re-entry permit before returning to Australia. To do otherwise, IMHO, puts your newly received GC in jeopardy. Or as stated above, limit the time in Australia to under 6 months so you do not get questioned by CBP about maintaining LPR status. You will have to decide which is more important to you as I do not see anyway to accomplish your plan without leaving Australia early or loosing your GC.

Good luck,

Dave