Maintain LPR status through LLC Company

[Alex Ve 5]

I would like to ask, if I can live outside the US without the risk of losing my GC and LPR status by opening an LLC company in the US.

The company will be on my name as well as the bank account and it will be operated by a friend and we will offer web services. Most of the work will be done by my friend since he lives permanently in the states and I will be assisting him remotely while working full time in Greece.

Does anyone knows if I can maintain safely my LPR status by owning a business in the US but living abroad?

Thank you.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Alex Ve

[aleful 1,905]

hi

no, the reason you got a GC is to live in the US, you will loose your GC if you decide to live abroad over a year

become a USC first, once you are a US Citizen, you can live wherever you want

but as a LPR, you must reside in the US

you can file a reentry permit and stay up to 2 years abroad, but at some point you must return to live here

how did you get your GC and do you have a 2 year GC or 10 year GC?

Edited January 30, 2016 by aleful

[Alaska2012 462]

Nope!

[aaron2020 11,651]

No. A green card is for living in the US. Foreigners without green cards can have a US LLC.

[Alex Ve 5]

hi

no, the reason you got a GC is to live in the US, you will loose your GC if you decide to live abroad over a year

become a USC first, once you are a US Citizen, you can live wherever you want

but as a LPR, you must reside in the US

you can file a reentry permit and stay up to 2 years abroad, but at some point you must return to live here

how did you get your GC and do you have a 2 year GC or 10 year GC?

I got it through lottery on november 2015. It's 10 year GC.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

ok

so you can start the company in the us with your partner, 90 days before your 5th year of being a LPR you can apply for citizenship

once you are a USC, you can do whatever you want to, mover to Greece if you still want to, but remember, even if you move abroad, as a USC you must file taxes

what I don't understand is why did you apply for the lotto if you really don't want to live here?

Edited January 30, 2016 by aleful

[Alex Ve 5]

hi

ok

so you can start the company in the us with your partner, 90 days before your 5th year of being a LPR you can apply for citizenship

once you are a USC, you can do whatever you want to, mover to Greece if you still want to, but remember, even if you move abroad, as a USC you must file taxes

what I don't understand is why did you apply for the lotto if you really don't want to live here?

Oh, that sucks...I knew that as a USC I can live abroad but I was hoping I could do the same as an LPR by owning a company.

Well, I applied for the lotto cause I was unemployed, I didn't have a relationship and I didn't expect to win at all.

But during all this period I got a job in a highly growing company and had a very good cooperation and close relation with the owner of the company. He trusted me his company and he asked me to go back to work for him with a better salary.

Plus I didn't like at all life in NY during my stay.

[Alex Ve 5]

If I file a re-entry permit for two years, will my employer's hiring offer be enough reason for approval to re enter the US after two years?

[Alaska2012 462]

If you do get a re-entry permit and come back you can't count those two years towards your citizenship

[Boiler 45,535]

No

[flfreddy 92]

The rules are per trip max 180 days no Qs asked. If 180-365days - have to show cause and secondary inspection. > 365 days... good bye green card.

The legal way to do it is do GC stamping which I heard people fly into Guam or US territories, rest for the weekend, reset the 180 days count and fly back. You can try that a few times, but too often, you get secondary inspection questioning as well. But well in a year or 2, you know whether to stay or abandon GC.

Edited January 30, 2016 by flfreddy

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

The rules are per trip max 180 days no Qs asked. If 180-365days - have to show cause and secondary inspection. > 365 days... good bye green card.

The legal way to do it is do GC stamping which I heard people fly into Guam or US territories, rest for the weekend, reset the 180 days count and fly back. You can try that a few times, but too often, you get secondary inspection questioning as well. But well in a year or 2, you know whether to stay or abandon GC.

Sorry, not that easy. More than twice and you'll likely be referred to an immigration judge, unless you can show continued ties to the US: rental agreement/home in your name, bank account, drivers license, tax returns filed, job, etc etc. It's not enough to just get your passport stamped on staying for a couple of days every 6 months. The actual requirement is not that you come back every 6 months but that you can show your country of residence is the US and that that is where you reside (or intend to reside).

It's also absolutely not true that <180 days = no questions asked .... I've personally been asked questions, exactly those sort, after just a 5 month absence. The CBP officer made it abundantly clear that if I tried this again I'd be in trouble. I wasn't intending to try it again but I was kind of shocked because like you I had been led to believe <180 days would be no problem at all. After my experience I did some online searching and found it definitely is not that unusual. I suspect that since they started getting everyone to input all their info to the airline companies, it's much easier for CBP guys to see exactly what any traveller's travel record is while they are right in front of them - as well as whether you are entering on a one-way ticket or have another return ticket out of the US. My 5-month absence /quiz I was still on a return ticket out and they could see that. When I returned the next time, with the rest of my family who had been out 11 months, there was actually no secondary inspection and no real questions - because we were all on one-way tickets and the intent to reside was clear.

Alex should of course have applied for a re-entry permit before he left, but he didn't. Didn't even get a drivers license. I doubt a trip back for a few days every 6 months will keep him his green card longer than a year.

[Boiler 45,535]

The rules are per trip max 180 days no Qs asked. If 180-365days - have to show cause and secondary inspection. > 365 days... good bye green card.

The legal way to do it is do GC stamping which I heard people fly into Guam or US territories, rest for the weekend, reset the 180 days count and fly back. You can try that a few times, but too often, you get secondary inspection questioning as well. But well in a year or 2, you know whether to stay or abandon GC.

Horribly wrong.

[flfreddy 92]

Horribly wrong.

Alex, as a layman, I just offer what I know... you can take it as a starting point, find out more. If people here who are seniors say its not true, please go with the majority.... I dont intend to mislead.. my apologies.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Alex, as a layman, I just offer what I know... you can take it as a starting point, find out more. If people here who are seniors say its not true, please go with the majority.... I dont intend to mislead.. my apologies.

Horribly wrong is not a starting point. The advice should not have been given at all if you have done zero to research it. Immigration to the US is not instinctive.