Travel Restrictions

[Tom 0]

Anyone know how long a LPR can travel outside the U.S. with a green card?

I've read it somewhere, but I can't remember where. I believe it's up to one year, but maybe it's changed.

[meauxna 15]

Try the pinned post at the top of the forum.

[Tom 0]

The USCIS website sort of says a year at http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/B4.pdf

Has anyone ever had trouble returning from abroad with a green card under a year?

[meauxna 15]

The USCIS website sort of says a year at http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/B4.pdf

Has anyone ever had trouble returning from abroad with a green card under a year?

There is much more to it than simply the amount of time out of the US. This is why I recommended you to the pinned forum, and more specifically, the CIS page called Now That You Are a Permanent Resident.

[Tom 0]

Well, in looking at "Now That You Are a Permanent Resident" it seems that if a resident is abroad less than a year, there is no problem upon reentry to the U.S. Has anyone experienced otherwise? I can't find anything to the contrary in the pinned section of this forum.

From USCIS at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

"International Travel

A Permanent Resident of the United States can travel freely outside of the US. A passport from the country of citizenship is normally all that is needed. To reenter the US a Permanent Resident normally needs to present the green card (Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551) for readmission. A reentry permit is needed for reentry for trips greater than one year but less than two years in duration."

[riblet 0]

The two main potential problems I know of for absences less than a year are:

- did you in act in any way which could be considered abandoning your permanent resident ( I was often hassled when I chose to complete my university up in Canada, they really questioned me regarding my plans and how long i was gone for). Once you have been granted the privilege of a green card they expect you to want to stay in the U.S.

- an absence of more than 6 months will interrupt the time period required to apply for naturalization

Well, in looking at "Now That You Are a Permanent Resident" it seems that if a resident is abroad less than a year, there is no problem upon reentry to the U.S. Has anyone experienced otherwise? I can't find anything to the contrary in the pinned section of this forum.

From USCIS at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

"International Travel

A Permanent Resident of the United States can travel freely outside of the US. A passport from the country of citizenship is normally all that is needed. To reenter the US a Permanent Resident normally needs to present the green card (Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551) for readmission. A reentry permit is needed for reentry for trips greater than one year but less than two years in duration."

[Milka 0]

Hi,

as far as I know, you can only travel for 6 month. If you want to stay longer, than you have to let them know before and fill out some papers. Etc.

Good luck to you.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

You could be denided after just a week if they think you have failed to maintain your US residency or if they think you are have been working in another country or any other reason that they can come up with to show that you have failed to maintain your status...

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

Move to another country intending to live there permanently.

Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

Remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period.

Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns.

Kez

[meauxna 15]

Hi,

as far as I know, you can only travel for 6 month. If you want to stay longer, than you have to let them know before and fill out some papers. Etc.

Good luck to you.

Then you should read the pinned information, too. Your understanding is wrong.

[tiberonsuave 0]

Well, in looking at "Now That You Are a Permanent Resident" it seems that if a resident is abroad less than a year, there is no problem upon reentry to the U.S. Has anyone experienced otherwise? I can't find anything to the contrary in the pinned section of this forum.

From USCIS at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

"International Travel

A Permanent Resident of the United States can travel freely outside of the US. A passport from the country of citizenship is normally all that is needed. To reenter the US a Permanent Resident normally needs to present the green card (Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551) for readmission. A reentry permit is needed for reentry for trips greater than one year but less than two years in duration."

My boss and good friend and his wife were out of the country together for over a year in Aruba. They had some minor issues but nothing major.

t

[Yodrak 7]

t,

ménage à trois?

Yodrak

My boss and good friend and his wife were out of the country together for over a year in Aruba. They had some minor issues but nothing major.

t

Edited January 30, 2007 by Yodrak

[tiberonsuave 0]

t,

ménage à trois?

Yodrak

My boss and good friend and his wife were out of the country together for over a year in Aruba. They had some minor issues but nothing major.

t

LOL no...but I did meet MY wife while working in Aruba.

t

[Tom 0]

Hi,

as far as I know, you can only travel for 6 month. If you want to stay longer, than you have to let them know before and fill out some papers. Etc.

Good luck to you.

Then you should read the pinned information, too. Your understanding is wrong.

Meauxna,

I assume you refer to the pinned section of this forum, i.e. Adjustment of Status (Green Card) General Discussion. I've read through it and haven't noticed anything in addition to that posted in this thread. Is there something else? Can you post the section to which you refer? I'd really appreciate it.

My wife and I intended to bring our son back to the U.S. through a DCF and she left the first week of January; I am joining her Tuesday. We bought our tickets last November without knowledge of the Adam Walsh Act and that it would prevent us from a DCF after Jan. 23rd.

I filed an I-130 with the Laguna Niguel Ca. Service Center yesterday, but according to their site, it might take 6 or more months before our son receives an immigrant visa due to backlog. Prior to Jan. 23rd, the embassy told us 2 weeks with a DCF.

We are discussing her staying in her country until our son's visa is ready, but I have become very wary of inmigration and am leaning toward bringing my wife back until our son's visa is ready.

When we filed for her Adjustment of Status, we also filed the I-131 for advance parole, but she received the greencard first and we were told at her interview we didn't need the advance parole, so I assumed we wasted the money. We never did receive any paperwork from the I-131. This whole thing is just a huge CLUSTER F***!

That said, I am enormously grateful to those who have shared their experiences coming back into the U.S. with a greencard!

Thanks!!

[meauxna 15]

Meauxna,

I assume you refer to the pinned section of this forum, i.e. Adjustment of Status (Green Card) General Discussion. I've read through it and haven't noticed anything in addition to that posted in this thread. Is there something else? Can you post the section to which you refer? I'd really appreciate it.

My wife and I intended to bring our son back to the U.S. through a DCF and she left the first week of January; I am joining her Tuesday. We bought our tickets last November without knowledge of the Adam Walsh Act and that it would prevent us from a DCF after Jan. 23rd.

I filed an I-130 with the Laguna Niguel Ca. Service Center yesterday, but according to their site, it might take 6 or more months before our son receives an immigrant visa due to backlog. Prior to Jan. 23rd, the embassy told us 2 weeks with a DCF.

We are discussing her staying in her country until our son's visa is ready, but I have become very wary of inmigration and am leaning toward bringing my wife back until our son's visa is ready.

When we filed for her Adjustment of Status, we also filed the I-131 for advance parole, but she received the greencard first and we were told at her interview we didn't need the advance parole, so I assumed we wasted the money. We never did receive any paperwork from the I-131. This whole thing is just a huge CLUSTER F***!

That said, I am enormously grateful to those who have shared their experiences coming back into the U.S. with a greencard!

Thanks!!

Tom, this post is a lot more useful than your first one, and I'm more inclined to invest the time in the answer vs your first post. I hope you can appreciate the difference.

The part of the pinned post I was referring you to is this one:

In the mad visa chase, we often overlook the end goal, Permanent Resident status. This is what allows a non-USC to live, work and travel freely in/out of the US indefinitely. Many times, people don't know what their rights and responsibilities are as PRs, or what documents they'll hold to show that status.

I highly recommend the following links for the foreign AND US partners.

Now That You Are A Permanent Resident

Rules about what you can and can't do as a PR.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/B4.pdf

How Do I Remove the Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage?

If you've been married for less than 2 years when you become a PR.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1____ (links may be munged)

Welcome to the United States:

A Guide for New Immigrants

OK, seems a bit hokey, especially since you've got a USC partner to show you the ropes, but take a look! There are things in there that I never even considered!

(removed from USCIS website) <---- this is actually still on the site. Look in the Citizenship section

The areas that I think should be of interest to you are the page Now That You Are A Permanent Resident, especially the Maintaining your PR status section.

As to your current situation;

Bummer about the DCF, I know.

BUT, you should very seriously reconsider the 6 months to IV story you've got. Looking casually at the timelines posted by VJers, I think it will take longer than that. CSC are posting 6 months processing for the I-130. After that, it goes to the NVC for a couple of months, and then on to the Consulate, where there may be an additional couple of months. You can find out more about Immigrant Visa processing by reading the Guides, and the IR/CR forum.

As far as the "wasted" money, I do hear what you're saying, but it is like an insurance policy. If your wife's AOS had been one of the 2+ year flavors, you'd be happy she had that travel document. The turnaround of AOS cases in a mere 6 or so months is a very new development--you should not be upset that she got her PR status so soon--it is worth a hefty premium in additional fees, IMO. Ask anyone who is still waiting for their AOS to complete months or years after their interview. I give you this for perspective only--if you disagree, please don't tell me.

Since you have now provided some context for your original question, I'm more comfortable saying that a stay of over 6 months will break the continuous residency requirement for naturalization. I don't know if US citizenship is a goal of your wife's, or what her urgency is for that, but we postponed some traveling and living in our 2nd home abroad until my husband naturalized (we did go abroad for several months at a stretch while my husband was a PR). Now that he is a USC, we can go as long as we like.

A trip out of the US for 11 months, with home & child outside the US, and USC spouse as well---you are painting an entirely different picture. There is little quantified about abandonment of PR status, but I have learned that it is very fact-specific. One immigration lawyer puts is so: It is possible to lose your PR status in a single day, and it is possible to be gone for years and retain your PR status. Reading the entire Now That You Are page gives you a better idea of what is expected, but mainly, it's that the US is your permanent and primary residence.

Sure, lots of people probably never give this a thought, they go to their home country and return to the US every 11 months or so and get scanned in, and they probably retain their PR status. It would not be responsible of me, or anyone else here, to tell you that that is what YOU should do. You say you don't trust Immigration--what you should not trust is the myriad rules, tacked on laws and additional bills that have made our immigration law so insane.

All I can offer you is the information that is out there, highlight potential problems for you to investigate further and leave you to make your own choices.

That's what I did, took a conservative stance, and we're done and dusted. I'm normally much more of a cowboy, but I felt so responsible for this person that I brought over here that that is how *I* played it. Over the past 5 years or so I have read too many sad stories--I didn't want to be one, and I'd rather not lead you to be one either. Please understand that some answers here at VJ or elsewhere are & *should* be a lot more conservative than necessary in real life.

Let me know if you want more leads for research. I know of one immigration attorney who says he is a specialist in abandonment cases, but you might only want that in your back pocket. One thing he does often say is that it is a lot easier to deal with this *ahead* of time than when it's potentially too late.

Glad you asked? lol