Re-entry question

[aaron2020 11,651]

I could delay this, worst case scenario. Stay in the US for two more months, apply, go to biometrics, then depart.

It is my wedding I was talking about, sorry for not making it clear.

Then we want to try have a baby, and since we have health problems, doctor advised to try in vitro fertilization. It is free overseas since she has got good insurance. In the US it costs a fortune, we can not afford it, and anyway she doesn't have a green card yet to spend that much time in the US. The whole procedure takes time, a lot of tests are needed before the procedure. It might even not be successful the first time, so we might have to try multiple times.

So I might have to stay overseas for a while the next couple of years.

Should I apply for the reentry permit?

I am afraid not to lose my plane ticket, delay the whole thing, pay lot of money for ticket and rep, and then be denied rep, or, if accepted, denied admission upon my arrival to the US, even with a REP?

Thank you for your replies, please continue posting, I really don't know what to do.

I will try to see an immigration attorney tomorrow

You can delay the wedding and stay to get the biometrics for the Re-Entry Permit. Problem solved.

If you plan to stay out a couple of years, then it would be wise after your warning to go get a REP, right? Why would you ignore CBP's warning?

Even with a REP, you still need to maintain ties to the US to keep your green card. Have you been filing US tax returns while living abroad?

You may want to ask the lawyer about how to maintain your LPR status.

Edited January 10, 2016 by aaron2020

[Expat1 971]

Hello,

I have traveled abroad for less than 6 months, and returned to US. When being admitted, the admission officer told me that I spend a lot of time abroad, and told me that next time I would need a Re-entry permit. If I don't have it, I may not / would not be allowed admission.

I need to depart soon and there is no time to wait for a re-entry permit.

What can I do? Can I apply now and have the biometrics taken abroad?

Or just depart, come back, hope I would be admitted and apply then for a re-entry permit?

We were out 11 months, got the same hard time, left a month later, and returned 5 months after that.

Not a single raised eyebrow on the second entry.

Make sure you have rock solid evidence that you do not / did not intend to abandon your status.

Understand that you were violating the rules and didn't get caught. This doesn't mean it was okay and not a problem.

Your choice on what is more important. Continue to violate the rules and lose your green card or stay for a Re-Entry Permit.

Being out 6 months to a year is not "violating the rules"

[Friend2ya 9]

I am afraid not to lose my plane ticket, delay the whole thing, pay lot of money for ticket and rep, and then be denied rep, or, if accepted, denied admission upon my arrival to the US, even with a REP?

How much is the plane ticket vs your GC? So you are willing to sacrifice this journey? Please I am not rich, but money will come back!!

Flight ticket can be postponed, maybe airline would give you 3-6 months for you to reuse it..for an extra fees.

Must have your biometrics in the US, apply and request in the I-131 form that you want your permit to be sent abroad to the US Embassy.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Friend2ya

[trublubu2 62]

EXACTLY @Friend2ya!

@jhn16,

you most likely won't lose your plane ticket if you call the airline TODAY, explain what's going on, what you need to do in terms of not travelling on the pre-planned date and ask for your options.

you'll probably have to pay change fees and the difference of price for the new ticket on the new date--please DO NOT book a new flight until you find out what immigration tells you, that's my thoughts for you.

the other option the airline might give is that you'll have to cancel out the current ticket (for a fee, if you're allowed to do so based on what type of ticket you hold) and keep the money as an airline credit for booking at a later time.

you'll lose your ticket if you do not take ANY action and let your flight day and reservation come and go without notifying the airlines of your situation beforehand.

best of luck with your situation, and please consider what others are saying in the thread about not taking chances with abandoning your GC.

How much is the plane ticket vs your GC?

Flight ticket can be postponed, maybe airline would give you 3-6 months for you to reuse it..for an extra fees.

Edited January 10, 2016 by trublubu2

[jhn16 0]

I just talked to the airline, the ticket can not be exchanged for refunded. So it's gone.

[jhn16 0]

We were out 11 months, got the same hard time, left a month later, and returned 5 months after that.

Not a single raised eyebrow on the second entry.

Make sure you have rock solid evidence that you do not / did not intend to abandon your status.

Being out 6 months to a year is not "violating the rules"

You stayed abroad for 11 months without a rep? Did they warn you go get one and you didn't?

[mlh 93]

I just talked to the airline, the ticket can not be exchanged for refunded. So it's gone.

You can do as was suggested and just pay the change fee to change the departure and return dates. It will cost you the change fee + the difference in flight cost, but better than losing the entire cost (depending on how much the ticket was originally).

[jhn16 0]

The penalty fee and fare difference combined are more expensive than a new ticket. But that's not the point, this is not about the ticket. That's the least of my worries. I can get a new one.

I have things I can postpone but it's not easy to do so.

Other things bother me:

- Do I really need to get a REP? Can't I enter back without one? CBP told me I would need one, and put something in the computer (not sure what? = I have once stayed more than 6 mths abroad in the past and didn't put anything in the computer, and now for less than 6 mths, they did?). Stamp on my passport doesn't say anything, like "advised I-407" or "I131". For the first time, the stamp doesn't even say "ARC". All previous stamps have ARC written by CBP.

-Will I be issued a REP?

- If Issued a REP, will I be able to enter the US without any problems?

I am ready to spend for new ticket, ready to postpone everything, but I need to know it's worth it.

Edited January 10, 2016 by jhn16

[Dave&Roza 748]

I could delay this, worst case scenario. Stay in the US for two more months, apply, go to biometrics, then depart.

It is my wedding I was talking about, sorry for not making it clear.

Then we want to try have a baby, and since we have health problems, doctor advised to try in vitro fertilization. It is free overseas since she has got good insurance. In the US it costs a fortune, we can not afford it, and anyway she doesn't have a green card yet to spend that much time in the US. The whole procedure takes time, a lot of tests are needed before the procedure. It might even not be successful the first time, so we might have to try multiple times.

So I might have to stay overseas for a while the next couple of years.

Should I apply for the reentry permit?

I am afraid not to lose my plane ticket, delay the whole thing, pay lot of money for ticket and rep, and then be denied rep, or, if accepted, denied admission upon my arrival to the US, even with a REP?

Thank you for your replies, please continue posting, I really don't know what to do.

I will try to see an immigration attorney tomorrow

Here is my take on your situation--please remember that it is the CBP person you get upon re-entering the US that matters, not what those here on VJ say.

You have spent a lot of time outside the US already. By your own admission you have a couple of trips greater than 6 months and had no problems, but now you were out less than 6 months and the CBP has warned you to get a REP before your next travel. So how long have you had your GC? So how much time have you spent in the US since you received your GC? How much time have you spent outside the US? I bet the amount out is greater than the amount in. The CBP must think you are not living in the US and are actually vesting the US just to keep the GC. Trips of less than 6 months do not get looked at too much. Trips between 6 months and a year can cause extra scrutiny as can several shorter trips and especially when the amount of time outside the US is greater than the amount inside the US in any 365 day period. Trips greater than 1 year and up to 2 years REQUIRES a re-entry permit. A REP does not guarantee you re-entry to the US, but it helps to show that you went to the trouble to try to maintain your LPR status.

So you have a few options here. 1) remain in the US for more than 6 months and then travel. That trip should be less than 6 months in length--the shorter the better; 2) go ahead and leave the US when you have planned without REP and see what happens upon re-entering the US. I would take along evidence that you are maintain ties and actually living in the US; 3) wait and apply for a REP, do the biometrics and have the REP sent to the Embassy in the country you will be visiting.

I suggest you go over to the USCIS website and look up maintaining you LPR status to see what the rules are. The burden of proof of whether you have abandoned your LPR status is on the USCIS when you appear before a IJ, but you do need to show that you have followed all the rules about filing taxes, and maintaining a residence in the US and that you do intend to return to the US after a TEMPORARY stay outside the US. One thing to be careful of is if you use services like health care over seas, it must be something that any non-resident of that country can qualify for. If you are getting resident benefits for that country, that is like 4 nails in your coffin as proof you have abandoned your LPR status.

So the questions for you are, 1) do you want to be a LPR of the US?; 2) are you willing to do what it takes to remain a LPR of the US?; 3) are you willing to risk your LPR status for your current plans? 4) are you willing to start your journey all over knowing that it is time consuming and expensive?: 5) can you start your journey over--what happens if you loose your GC? Do you have the means and ties to the US to re-apply? It sounds like you have a GC but your future wife does not. SO how would you apply for another GC? You loose your GC, you may not be living in the US anytime in the near future--something to really consider. You might want to be sure you keep your LPR status and then begin the rest of your plans.

To be honest with you. It sounds like you have not lived in the US and you are not planning to do so in the near future. The more of your story I hear, the more I think your chances of keeping your GC should you leave the US again is getting less and less. You need to stay in the US for more than 6 months before your next trip. I would not even risk getting a REP right now. Postpone the wedding until you have spent 7 months in the US, take your trip to get married and return to the US after about 3 weeks outside the US. That to my mind would be the safer choice for keeping your GC.

Life is full of choices and you have to weigh what is important to you and your future wife and future family. Your immigration situation right now is full of unknowns. It comes down to how much risk you are willing to accept and go from there. You have our opinions and some people's experiences, but it boils down to your situation and the fact that you have been warned and your file has been flagged.

As I said before, choose wisely,

Dave

Edited January 10, 2016 by Dave&Roza

[jhn16 0]

Here is my take on your situation--please remember that it is the CBP person you get upon re-entering the US that matters, not what those here on VJ say.

You have spent a lot of time outside the US already. By your own admission you have a couple of trips greater than 6 months and had no problems, but now you were out less than 6 months and the CBP has warned you to get a REP before your next travel. So how long have you had your GC? So how much time have you spent in the US since you received your GC? How much time have you spent outside the US? I bet the amount out is greater than the amount in. The CBP must think you are not living in the US and are actually vesting the US just to keep the GC. Trips of less than 6 months do not get looked at too much. Trips between 6 months and a year can cause extra scrutiny as can several shorter trips and especially when the amount of time outside the US is greater than the amount inside the US in any 365 day period. Trips greater than 1 year and up to 2 years REQUIRES a re-entry permit. A REP does not guarantee you re-entry to the US, but it helps to show that you went to the trouble to try to maintain your LPR status.

So you have a few options here. 1) remain in the US for more than 6 months and then travel. That trip should be less than 6 months in length--the shorter the better; 2) go ahead and leave the US when you have planned without REP and see what happens upon re-entering the US. I would take along evidence that you are maintain ties and actually living in the US; 3) wait and apply for a REP, do the biometrics and have the REP sent to the Embassy in the country you will be visiting.

I suggest you go over to the USCIS website and look up maintaining you LPR status to see what the rules are. The burden of proof of whether you have abandoned your LPR status is on the USCIS when you appear before a IJ, but you do need to show that you have followed all the rules about filing taxes, and maintaining a residence in the US and that you do intend to return to the US after a TEMPORARY stay outside the US. One thing to be careful of is if you use services like health care over seas, it must be something that any non-resident of that country can qualify for. If you are getting resident benefits for that country, that is like 4 nails in your coffin as proof you have abandoned your LPR status.

So the questions for you are, 1) do you want to be a LPR of the US?; 2) are you willing to do what it takes to remain a LPR of the US?; 3) are you willing to risk your LPR status for your current plans? 4) are you willing to start your journey all over knowing that it is time consuming and expensive?: 5) can you start your journey over--what happens if you loose your GC? Do you have the means and ties to the US to re-apply? It sounds like you have a GC but your future wife does not. SO how would you apply for another GC? You loose your GC, you may not be living in the US anytime in the near future--something to really consider. You might want to be sure you keep your LPR status and then begin the rest of your plans.

To be honest with you. It sounds like you have not lived in the US and you are not planning to do so in the near future. The more of your story I hear, the more I think your chances of keeping your GC should you leave the US again is getting less and less. You need to stay in the US for more than 6 months before your next trip. I would not even risk getting a REP right now. Postpone the wedding until you have spent 7 months in the US, take your trip to get married and return to the US after about 3 weeks outside the US. That to my mind would be the safer choice for keeping your GC.

Life is full of choices and you have to weigh what is important to you and your future wife and future family. Your immigration situation right now is full of unknowns. It comes down to how much risk you are willing to accept and go from there. You have our opinions and some people's experiences, but it boils down to your situation and the fact that you have been warned and your file has been flagged.

As I said before, choose wisely,

Dave

Dave,

Thank you so much for your post.

I do realize that spending more time in the US is the best to do, but it is not possible. Not because of some wedding, I'm sure she'd understand, but because:

-I would have to stay away for her (hard to stay away for 6 months)

-We both have severe problems, doctor said chances we ever have kids are slim and can only be done by in vitro fertilization (very expensive in US). For that, I need to be abroad, and waiting is not an option since we are not so young anymore. The faster, the better.

I do not have any benefits abroad, but my wife does, both public and private insurance, and it would cost nothing compared to US.

I guess I could stay in the US for two months for biometrics, but no longer than that.

I see reading the I-131 form, under the question of how much time spent abroad in last 5 years, one is more than 4 years (in this case, you may be issued a 1 yr rep)

I was abroad for less than 4 yrs in last 5 yrs, so I don't fall in worst category,

My only options are to depart now without a rep, or two months from now after biometrics.

[NikLR 13,227]

If you're going to do a or b... I suggest the latter.

[Hypnos 6,576]

A green card is for living in the US. If you aren't living in the US then you aren't entitled to a green card.

As I asked above, it would be clearer if you could detail approximately how long you have spent both inside and outside the US since your green card was issued (assuming it was issued within the past 5 years; otherwise your time spent inside/outside the US for the past 5 years). You've said you've spent significant amount of time outside the US, but numbers would help.

[jhn16 0]

I have spent about half in, half out, for first 3 out of 5 years, maybe a bit more in the US, except for last couple of years where I spent most abroad.

I own a house in the US, have a bank account, debit card, cable and internet bill, have American parents (naturalized), I never caused any problems.

It's just that I met someone abroad and it's hard to have a family, wife, kids, when I have to stay away for 6 months each year, especially since we both have severe problems (I have doctor's papers to prove).

What should I do?

a) leave now without getting a REP (CBP advised to get REP)

b) postpone leave until after biometrics?

c) stay in the US for 6+ months, forget about family and kids

Edited January 11, 2016 by jhn16

[belinda63 3,039]

Lots of people here spend over a year without their families. That is not an excuse. The in-vitro thing I could understand if you were the woman but for a man it only involves making a "donation" which takes less the one hour. You know you are required to have health insurance in the US since you are an LPR. Have you been filing US taxes since obtaining your green card?

Long and short you have been playing with the residency requirements. No one knows what will happen the next time you enter, they may just say "welcome back", they may check the computer, who knows. But for the past four years you have a history of not residing in the US so the decision is your to make.

[jhn16 0]

Lots of people here spend over a year without their families. That is not an excuse. The in-vitro thing I could understand if you were the woman but for a man it only involves making a "donation" which takes less the one hour. You know you are required to have health insurance in the US since you are an LPR. Have you been filing US taxes since obtaining your green card?

Long and short you have been playing with the residency requirements. No one knows what will happen the next time you enter, they may just say "welcome back", they may check the computer, who knows. But for the past four years you have a history of not residing in the US so the decision is your to make.

Belinda,

I appreciate your post, thank you.

I must say. however, that is not as simple as you think, just "make a donation". I wish it was. I thought it was, too, until not long ago.

Before that, I need several tests done (a have a full list given by the doctor). After I take those tests, I need treatment to improve the quality of "donation", treatments that may work or may not work (I need to be there for more tests to see which treatment is better). I have severe problems, I am not very comfortable talking about this.

The entire thing would last few months in the most optimistic scenario, If have to repeat. then I would have to take multiple trips.

The cost of IVF in US is over 10k and most insurance won't cover,

I know a lot of people leave families overseas. I wish I had a family (wife and kids) to leave overseas and support them until they can move to US, but I don't have one.

This is not about excuses, they are irrelevant, I do realize I am not in the best situation, but my only two options are really those listed above.