Re-entry visa?

[brandoncwalker 0]

Ok, so my wife came from the Philippines on a K-1 visa. We married and applied for change of status and all that good stuff. I work out of the country for 4 months at a time and then return for 4 months. We would like to spend the time Im not working back in the PI (its much cheaper and I can catch a tax break too) Now can we do this on her advance parole? Or do we need to wait until her green card shows up? Or would it be better to get a re-entry visa? She can also fly back to the states as much or as long as needed ( the 4 months I will be working) if she needed to show more time in the states.... advise? We applied for change of status and advance parole in the middle of July this year, would like to be able to go the Pi this January.

thanks

[JDWright 30]

I think you may be cutting it close, I think the time they consider too long abroad to be 6 months. But I'm not 100% certain, may be best to wait until GC comes in.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Ok, so my wife came from the Philippines on a K-1 visa. We married and applied for change of status and all that good stuff. I work out of the country for 4 months at a time and then return for 4 months. We would like to spend the time Im not working back in the PI (its much cheaper and I can catch a tax break too) Now can we do this on her advance parole? Or do we need to wait until her green card shows up? Or would it be better to get a re-entry visa? She can also fly back to the states as much or as long as needed ( the 4 months I will be working) if she needed to show more time in the states.... advise? We applied for change of status and advance parole in the middle of July this year, would like to be able to go the Pi this January.

thanks

As long as she remains in the US more than outside the US, she will have no problems. A re-entry PERMIT is only needed if the LPR is going to remain outside the US for more than 1 year and up to 2 years and knows it and applies before leaving the US. The magic number is 180-days. If she remains outside the US for more than 180-days, the CBP might give her more scrutiny when she returns. Also, she will interrupt her continuous residency which affects when she can file for US citizenship. A trip of 4 months is fine. If she uses her AP to re-enter the US, she will be sent to secondary inspection so expect it to take longer than if she uses her GC. Just remember that the CBP cannot revoke her GC. They can ask her to relinquish it voluntarily which she should not ever do. They can detain her and have her appear before an IJ to determine if she is still a LPR or not. Also, while outside the US, she must maintain ties to the US which includes filing taxes and maintaining a residence.

Dave

[Boiler 46,408]

Such questions are horribly complicated and attract simplistic responses.

Obvious first question is why involve the US at all, sounds like you are only here to maintain your GC status, why not just live in PI?

[brandoncwalker 0]

We would like to live in the PI lol but Im not close enough to retire yet. Im on a contract for 5 more years. If we can make it work for that time going back and forth then cool. I guess the biggest thing is if something happens in the states I want to make sure she can come home with me. I have to stay out of the states 11 months out of the year to get the tax break, she can stay for as long as needed to keep her status up. I guess that's about as clear as mud lol