Green Card, moving abroad with I-131?

[shewshain 0]

Hi,

I came to the US under a J-1 Visa for a 18 months job. During this period, I got married and my american wife and I applied for AOS. I have just received my green gard today. My job will be finished at the end of the year.

My wife and I are considering to move to France, because I received a very good job offer there. With this position, I might have to travel occasionally to the US for business purposes (e.g. participation in a conference every 6 months) or personal reasons (meet friends)

We don't know if we are going to come back to live in the US.

As a consequence, what do you recommend to do?

• Should I file a I-131 reentry permit?
  • If yes, will I have to file that everytime I come back?
  • Do I have to be fingerprinted again?
  • Do I have to be in the US until the I-131 process is over?
• Should I cancel my green card and travel with an ESTA anytime I am coming back?
• Is it going to be easier/harder to reapply for a green card if we decide to come back to the US after the green card is voided/expired?
• What about taxes in each situation?

[aleful 1,905]

hi

you cannot live forever abroad, you can use it only twice, max 4 years

the GC is for living in the US

it makes no difference if you lose the GC for being out of the country, the process is the same, you will get a 10 year GC for being married to a USC for over 2 years

[Ian H. 207]

You can use the reentry permit, but you have to maintain ties to the US during this time so that you don't risk your LPR status. LPR's and citizens are subject to filing US taxes even if abroad, up to a certain amount, I believe like $90k is exempt. Keep in mind that if you lose your LPR status or give it up, you will have to start over from scratch if you want to reenter the US as an LPR.

[basybab 1]

That is a good situation to be in. You can just file your 131 but have to wait a couple of weeks to do the fingerprint and then depart to France, they can mail the card to the embassy in Paris for pickup. You can also file and then go back to the US when the fingerprint time comes, you are going to have to buy a ticket for that and ask a couple of days off from your conmpany, which shouldnt be so difficult in France.

BTW: Which field is your work in? and do you mind sharing details of salary? I am also considering such a move.

[shewshain 0]

Thanks for all of these answers.

We have already decided to leave the US on december 22nd. It means less than two months from now... Is there anyway to make the fingerprints happen faster? Do I have to get fingerprinted agains since I had an appointment last july?

But I guess, my main concern is : do I have to file an I-131 if I decide to come to the US for temporary personnal/business trips? Is there any chance to have my access refused at the immigration during one of these trips (and be sent back to France)?

Ian H., what do you mean by "ties" in the US? My wife's family is leaving abroad, so I don't know if I will have more "ties" here.

[Ian H. 207]

As an LPR, you are given that status with the presumption that you will live permanently in the US. If you are considered to have abandoned that status by the US government, your GC will be taken away.

A reentry permit allows an LPR to reenter the country after a year, up to 2, I believe abroad, but the LPR has to maintain ties to the US in order to keep his LPR status. Remember that LPR's aren't guaranteed reentry like a USC is. Ties would include, filing taxes, maintaining a residence, bank account, credit cards, family in the US, etc.

[shewshain 0]

Once again, thanks for the answers.

I don't think I will have sufficient ties, because except filing taxes and keep my bank accounts open, I cannot do a lot more.

As a consequence, is there a procedure to abandon that status?

[Ian H. 207]

There is a process for officially abandoning your LPR status. It's called form I-407 and I think you can submit it while in the US. However, abandoning your status would result in you having to start from the beginning, should you wish to come back to the US as an LPR.

What you can do is apply for the reentry permit, it is valid for 2 years or the date when you have to do ROC, whichever is first and as long as you reenter the US before the reentry permit expires, you will not lose your status. However, you have to maintain ties to the US, but that doesn't mean that you have to meet all of the things I describe above, those are only examples.

So if you file your taxes and keep a bank account here, that would be enough. LPR's are required just like USC's to file taxes while abroad. If you didn't have a reentry permit, then you would need more ties to prove because they might assume that you abandoned your status.

The reentry permit shows that you don't intend to abandon your LPR status as long as you reenter while it's still valid. You can file the I-131 now and you only have to be in the US for the biometrics appointment, you can request on the application for the doc to be mailed to the embassy.