Considering my options, not wanting to risk losing my PR

[wooden heart 4]

Hi all,

I apologize if this has been discussed before or if there are pertinent links I should be reading instead. I will happily take any redirection.

I have been living in the US sine June 2, 2012 when I entered on a K1 Visa. I got my EAD/AP on September 28, 2012 and received my 2 year Green Card on May 24, 2013.

My husband and I have been invited by a Christian community development agency to join their team in Vancouver, Canada, sometime this year. Eventually, we are interested in doing this overseas.

Would I be risking too much by moving back to Canada (NOT permanently) but still trying to keep ties in the US? US citizenship is my goal. I know I have to be in the US 1.5 years out of 3 to qualify for citizenship; when did that 3 years officially begin? How DO you live outside of the US while being a US Permanent Resident? (We have family in Seattle and could easily spend a fair bit of time there).

are there other options worth considering? I know there is a special visa for US Permanent Residents who will be Religious Workers/"missionaries" in another country. Is this what I should consider?

Thank you so much for your time and consideration

Naomi

[Cathi 5,794]

You cannot live outside the US if you are a PR, you have to spend more time in the US than out. No way around it until after you become a citizen.

[Removed030114 48]

You cannot live outside the US if you are a PR, you have to spend more time in the US than out. No way around it until after you become a citizen.

This is not entirely correct. You can file form I-131 before you depart the US and apply for a re-entry permit. This document will allow you to stay outside the US for up to two years. Be careful however as it cannot be renewed. If you do not have the re-entry permit and you remain outside the US for more than six-months you will run the risk of losing your LPR status up and including deportation.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/B5en.pdf

Edited February 8, 2014 by CNTrav

[nightingalejules 678]

The clock starts on the 3 years when you officially became a permanent resident. There's an extremely weird mathematical formula to calculate that year and a half minimum time in the us. It seems like you could easily mess it up by accident.

If there's a specific missionary exception, that sounds like your best option. But if I were you I'd try to postpone this mission until you get citizenship. You've got a lot of time and money invested in this process already, and believe me, you don't want to have to start all over on an IR-1. Especially not with how long I-130s are taking now.

I think you ought to stick it out until you naturalize. Then you can come and go as you please!

[wooden heart 4]

This is not entirely correct. You can file form I-131 before you depart the US and apply for a re-entry permit. This document will allow you to stay outside the US for up to two years. Be careful however as it cannot be renewed. If you do not have the re-entry permit and you remain outside the US for more than six-months you will run the risk of losing your LPR status up and including deportation.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/B5en.pdf

Thanks for the helpful link. Realistically, we could still go back to the States a couple times a month; would it still be wise to apply for an I-131? Or just confusing to border guards?

Edited February 9, 2014 by wooden heart

[aaron2020 11,651]

Apply for the re-entry permit.

[Sandra G. 5,075]

The Law States:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter5.html

Employed Abroad in Religious Vocation

LPRs who go abroad temporarily for the purpose of performing the ministerial or priestly functions of such religious denomination, or of serving as a missionary, brother, nun, or sister for a religious denomination organized in the United States may treat such time abroad as continuous residence and physical presence in the United States for naturalization purposes.

LPRs must have been physically present and residing within the United States for an uninterrupted period of at least one year in order to qualify.^[16]